PSWs make a difference in long-term care
Friday January 18, 2008 -- Deron Hamel
With a combined 25 years of service to residents in Ontario long-term care homes, April Bricknell and Nancy Gainforth say working as personal support workers (PSWs) is a rewarding experience.

As PSWs at Picton Manor, Bricknell and Gainforth help the home’s residents with all aspects of daily living. From bathing to feeding to being a friend to residents, PSWs play a major role in any long-term care home and impact lives on a daily basis.

Both women, who began working at the Picton long-term care home when it opened in 2001, agree that it’s being able to spend time with residents that makes the job worthwhile.

Bricknell, who has been a PSW for 16 years, began her career in long-term care when she took a job working in the kitchen of a home while she was still in high school. Since then she has worked in several departments in long-term care.

“I (became) a PSW because I really enjoy one-on-one patient care,” she says.

Bricknell acknowledges that, like with any job, being a PSW has challenges. Working with residents who have dementia can be a difficult part of the job, she notes. But by being patient and understanding when working with residents who have dementia, challenges can be overcome, she says.

When residents are upset, agitations need to be accommodated, she adds. This means PSWs need to take the time to talk with them, walk with them or help them reminisce.

Encouraging residents who are agitated to talk about their families or their past occupation also helps ease residents who are agitated, says Bricknell.

“Things like that just seem to turn them right around,” she says.

Gainforth says the aspect of her job that she likes best is “trying to get all the people who live here feel like they’re still at home.”

Like Bricknell, Gainforth says she enjoys her work as a PSW, an occupation she has had for the past nine years. She says she would recommend the job to people considering becoming a PSW — provided they have what it takes.

“You have got to really, really love trying to help older people as if it were (your) mother or grandmother,” she says. “They really have to enjoy being around people.”