In a world where there is a never-ending job list of open healthcare related positions, the question can become “where can I go to school in order to get the most out of my healthcare career?” The Caring Support Podcast team was excited to get the chance to have a conversation with Kaydene Campbell, RPN and Vice President for CLI College of Business, Health, and Technology to discuss life on the CLI campus and what students can expect when they chose one of the dynamic and in demand healthcare career programs offered at CLI College.
You can listen to the conversation here:
I'm Kaydene Campbell and I'm the Vice President for CLI College of Business, Health, and Technology. I've been working with CLI for over 14 years. I'm also a registered practical nurse and a lifelong learner, so I am constantly trying to learn something new every day.
I came to Canada in 2009 and went to work as a receptionist at CLI College a couple months after I came into the country. At that point they had two programs, the Personal Support Worker program, and the Developmental Service Worker program. Prior to that, I used to work with the Ministry of Education in Jamaica, in the school’s personnel department, so education is not new to me. I started working as a receptionist, and I realized that there's a lot of changes and adjustments that need to be done. I started by updating their registry, the system that they have for filing and stuff like that, and the owner at the time said, ‘Oh, this is good! I've always needed this done!”, but because he was not working full time with the company, and he had no prior experience I would say with what needed to be done. With the experience that I had before starting working with them, I implemented all of those changes to the system and then their system started to work a bit better. A couple of years later, we decided that we were going to add more programs. I kind of liked the PSW program so I said, let me do the program to see what it's all about. I registered, did the program part time at CLI, and I liked it.
I started volunteering a little bit here and there with Christian Horizons and then I decided to venture into nursing. I went to Seneca College, I did the RPN program part time and then I came back and continued working with CLI and was promoted to the Administrator for the campus. Fast forward a couple of years and we decided that it's time for us to venture out. So, we opened the Edmonton campus.
Every year at the beginning of the year, we would do the CLI College Vision Board that shows what we wanted to accomplish within that year, and we worked towards accomplishing those tasks within the year. So right from 2009 I had a good relationship with the owner, and we worked together to really grow the school. Now we have six campuses: we have two in Alberta, one in Edmonton, one in Calgary, and then we have four in Ontario, the one in Sheppard, Hamilton, London, and we have a French campus in Scarborough.
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We have the Developmental Service Worker program, we have Recreational Therapy and Gerontology programs. We also have Mental Health and Addictions program as well as the Home Support Worker program. You may not think that Food Support Worker is healthcare related program, but it can be, so we also have the Food Service Worker.
That program is approximately 49 weeks. So, it's quite extensive and most of our students, once they finish the in-class portion of the program, they go out in the field for their practicum, and they get hired.
PSW is 35 weeks. It's not as much as nurses do for schooling, but they are the eyes for nurses because while a nurse will think about giving medication and do an assessment for the patient, it's the PSW that's always with a patient. If you have a PSW that is working consistently with the client, they're able to tell you what the client likes or dislikes. They're able to tell you any changes that the client may have had over the duration of the care that they have given to them. How to Find a PSW Job with No Experience in Canada
I would say just continue professional development because you may learn something today in the sector and it changes tomorrow. PSWs are not regulated, some of the people working in the field don't know about these changes. So continuously read about what health care changes are out there, continuously understanding that the complex care that you must give to your clients, even understanding some of the disease progressions that your clients have, that comes in handy because it helps you to better care for your client.
We have the winter semester coming on and for PSW, we have a class starting January 23rd and then we have the Developmental Service Worker program along with the Mental Health program starting February 6th. And then in March we have the Recreational Therapy and Gerontology, as well as the Food Service Worker and the Home Support Worker program.
They can go to the website and fill out the application form that's there and one of our admissions persons will reach out to them and invite them in to do the admissions interview as well as the admissions test.
Anyone that's looking to enter the healthcare field now, I would suggest two programs that are really in demand are the Food Workers Service Program and the Personal Support Worker program, but most importantly, the Personal Support Worker program, because no matter what province you go, you're going to be in demand.
You’re in a world where you can be anything. Just be kind. Because you don't know what another person is going through. If you have this demeanor about you, people won't approach you. You have to be approachable and be willing to listen to what other people have to say and if you can help somebody, then help and just encourage that person to extend a helping hand whenever they are in a position to do so as well.
Just to note, CLI is a culture based on everyone is equal and within our office environment, we don't see each other as coworkers. We see each other as brothers and sisters. So if you're going through anything, all of us is passing through the same thing that you are, so we try to make it a day where there's just kindness and happiness. It's like a family environment.
Kaydene is Vice-President of CLI College of Business, Health & Technology & Franchise owner for Nurse NEXT Door Markham. Kaydene is a Registered Practical Nurse (Seneca College) and also has her Bachelor’s in Business Administration (Yorkville University), and is currently doing her EMBA with the University of Fredericton with a concentration in Health & Safety.
With over 19 years of experience in the education sector, she initiated the remarkable process of turning the college around, creating a new culture, different expectations, and a unified purpose. Today she has helped build six campuses, four in Ontario and two in Alberta.
Before working at CLI College, Kaydene worked with the Ministry of Education in Jamaica in the School Personnel department.
As a lifelong learner, Kaydene prides herself on always finding a better way to improve the quality of education they deliver to their students. At CLI, they have a solid commitment to transforming teaching and learning at CLI College.
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