The Canadian institute for Health Information just released new data about how many health-care workers have been impacted by the novel coronavirus as of June 2021. The report revealed that nearly 95,000 health-care workers have been infected with COVID-19 and 43 have died from the disease throughout the pandemic. The majority of the infections were in Quebec (12.3 per cent) and Ontario (4.4 per cent).
The Ontario government is investing more than $2M over two years to provide new and recently hired personal support workers (PSWs) and nurses with financial incentives to encourage them to work in retirement homes. The new Recruitment and Retention Incentive Program will be delivered by the Registered Practical Nurses Association of Ontario (WeRPN), and will help recruit and retain skilled PSWs and nurses while building on Ontario’s plan to modernize the provincial retirement homes sector.
Since October 2020, thousands of personal support workers and direct support workers have been entitled to a temporary hourly raise in recognition of the important work they do and the risks they have faced during COVID-19. However, other PSWs working in settings like long-term-care homes and retirement homes didn’t qualify for the raise — and now, with the Ontario premier’s promise to make the raise permanent, they’re asking to be included.
Ontario long-term care homes are asking the province to mandate COVID-19 vaccination for their staff as well as healthcare workers in all settings. The Ontario Long-Term Care Association (OLTCA) says making vaccines mandatory province wide would both protect residents and ensure facilities don’t lose their staff to other healthcare facilities.
Interviews are essential to any recruitment process, which is why you should always take some time to prepare for them. To help you out, in this article we have put together a list of the most common PSW interview questions you're likely to be asked during an interview for this type of caregiving role.
The Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) has warned that an impending surge in virus case counts could represent a threat to the province. “This pandemic is ending but a fourth wave could still inflict a deadly toll on the unvaccinated,” OHA president Anthony Dale said in a statement. The association called on Ontarians who had not yet received two doses to get fully immunized before an anticipated autumn increase in case counts—in what is now being called the pandemic of the unvaccinated.
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