Training Requriements & Opportunities
The Code of Rights states that consumers have a right to
services of an appropriate standard. This means that as a
care worker, you have a responsibility to ensure you have adequate
training and/or experience to provide support. Training
should be updated regularly to ensure you are following the latest
prescribed practices. This is not only for the safety of your
consumer but for your safety also. Geneva's training also
provides a great way to meet other care workers and exchange
thoughts, ideas, problems and solutions.
National Certificate in Community
Support
Have you completed a health care qualification in the last five
years? If not, you may be getting left behind.
Ministry of Health are taking steps to ensure that all workers
in the health field have a formally recognised qualification.
This not only ensures a quality of care for our consumers that
meets with the Code of Rights, but also provides career progression
for our staff.
Geneva Homecare offers all staff the opportunity to complete the
Careerforce National Certificate in Community
Support. Careerforce is an Industry Training
Organisation supporting the health and disability sector.
Qualifications are usually started at Level 2 -
Foundation Skills. Topics covered in the course are:
Safety & Security, Quality & Well-being, Supporting
Consumer Plans, Understanding Your Role, Manual & Patient
Handling, Infection Control, Medication Administration, Keeping You
Safe.
If you have not completed any study recently and are worried
about the prospect of this - please be assured that Geneva will
assist you every step of the way. This is not a difficult
course and each of the nine workbooks can be completed in two to
three hours. You may also have the option of completing them
at our classroom sessions or in study groups.
Geneva will support you fully in this training including the
payment of all course fees and assessment fees and an on-call
assessor who can help you with any queries.
The next step is Level 3. There are a few
options here, depending on your area of specialty, however most
choose to complete the Core Competencies.
This is more in-depth learning and covers the more practical, hands
on aspects of your role. Many people skip Level 2 and go
straight to Level 3.
There is a cost of $250 to complete Level 3, however this is
still minimal by comparison to other options.
Once you have completed Level 3, the world is your oyster.
It opens up a variety of work opportunities, as well as the chance
to move to further study at a Level 4. This
includes such courses as the National Certificate in Mental
Health as well as papers in Dementia or
Diversional Therapy.
The great advantage of study through Careerforce is that you can
continue to work while studying. Most of the work can be done
from home in your own time. For further information on this,
contact Linda Rogers on (09) 355 0161 or check out the website at
www.careerforce.org.nz.
Patient and Manual
Handling
Levels of back and shoulder injuries are particularly high among
care workers. The nature of your work places constant strain
on your muscles and joints. Geneva provide courses and
information to help keep you safe and to prevent these
injuries. If you have not yet received an invitation to
attend, please call Linda Rogers to book a place on our next course
- (09) 355 0161. This is something you can't afford to
miss.
Other Training
Most of the training you require is included in the Level 3
National Certificate in Community Support (as outlined
above). If however you choose to complete only Level 2, you
may need to attend some additional courses. We run regular
sessions on a variety of topics including dealing with challenging
behaviours and providing personal care. If you would like to
know more about these topics, please speak with your Geneva
Consultant or Linda Rogers for further advice.
Open Polytechnic
Geneva has a partnership arrangement
with Open Polytechnic that provides all Geneva staff and their
immediate family a 25% discount on ALL courses (not just health
related).
For all training enquirues, please contact Linda Rogers on (09)
355 0161, or email lindar@genevahealth.com.