This week is Healthcare Provider's Week. It's no secret that healthcare relies heavily on newcomers and without immigration, we simply wouldn't have enough workers to care for our friends and family in Saskatchewan.
Everyone has a unique story of how they ended up in healthcare, read up on Judith's journey:
Judith is a Continuing Care Assistant (CCA) in a long-term care facility. Working as a CCA for 15 years is not that easy, she has experienced and witnessed everything at work from laughter to sadness to happiness.
Judith came to Canada in 2008 with her family. She was a teacher in the Philippines while her husband was an Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) at Saudi Arabia until her cousin sponsored them to come to Canada.
When Judith started her new life here, she worked at Tim Hortons. She got pregnant with her youngest here and when she was on maternity leave, she enrolled at the Saskatoon Business College (SBC) to become a Special Care Aide. She quickly got hired and has been working at the same facility ever since.
Her son Justin was seven years old when they arrived and is now a Registered Nurse in Prince Albert, her daughter Joyce was five years old when they arrived and is now a CCA just like Judith, and her youngest, Jhamela, was born here and is now in high school. Her husband worked in the manufacturing industry when they arrived in Canada and now works as a CCA in the same facility as Judith.
Judith's whole family has focused their lives on healthcare and Judith is so happy and proud to be a public healthcare worker.
She thanks God for this opportunity; she's the breadwinner for her family back home. She sends money to them monthly and in emergencies. She feels so lucky to have a CCA job that can support both her extended family in the Philippines and her own family here.
Being surrounded by different colours and cultures at work is not a hindrance to Judith. She gives her best to serve and work for all their beloved residents and co-workers. She believes that God created us in different colours and cultures, but we are all the same. "We eat food, we sleep, we get tired, we have emotions... in short, we are all the same. We are human beings." As a CCA taking care of residents, she says she need to be careful and think first of what to say to residents and her coworkers and consider what it would be like to be in their shoes. She wants to appreciate, acknowledge, take care of, and most of all treat the residents as if they were her own family.
Working almost every day, residents see her, and they can feel Judith's care for them. Judith becomes part of their everyday living and can feel how they trust her. Her residents also care for her too.
She remembers when she went to the Philippines for a month-long vacation. When she came back, residents were so happy to see her back. They had missed her and were calling her name very loudly and they were happy that she was back to work again. Judith is so touched thinking that they missed her while she was away and they were so excited that she could be there for them again.
The team sees to it that everybody is involved and included in planning parties, and everyone's ideas for better planning and everything is included. As they work together, they can say that unity and being oneness is their goal and what they want to do is to make their jobs easier and enjoyable.
"No matter what country we came from, we are all the same, and we should love and respect each other. I'm so proud to be a CCA and take care of residents and let them feel that they are important and loved. Thanks to the Lord I am a CCA. God bless everyone."
Judith has taken the following training in order to do her job:
- Continuing Care Assistant Certificate/Diploma (CCA)
- Workplace Assessment and Violence Education (WAVE)
- Transferring, Lifting and Repositioning (TLR)
- Gentle Persuasive Approach (GPA)
- Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System (WHMIS)
- ARF
- Abuse-Free Policy
- Privacy Training
- Trauma Informed Practice: Collaboration and Connection/Creating Safety
- Professional Assault Response Training (PART)
The part of her job that she likes best is when they are doing care and residents are interacting with her and her partner, they are always talking, singing, joking around, laughing and happy. Making residents feel included in conversations and most of all making them feel that you treat them as they are your family is important all the time to Judith.
Giving the residents what they need is also one of her favorite parts of the job. Since her own mom is far away from her, while taking care of residents, she feels like she's taking care of her parents too.
One of her memorable moments is Christmas parties. She volunteers to buy gifts for the residents and even spends her own money to buy some items for residents like food, pop, chips, clothes, socks, bras, etc. The smiles on the faces of her residents are priceless and makes Judith happy too.
What does Judith do in an evening shift?
- listen to the report/endorsement
- talk to days staff about residents' concerns
- get orders of residents for supper
- put residents to bed who need to put to bed (if they got up early, are too tired and want to have supper in bed)
- get up residents who need to get up or who are going somewhere with family or appointments
- help the dining staff set up for supper
- bring residents in the dining room
- feed/assist residents with supper
- after supper, bring residents to their rooms
- prepare/transfer residents to bed with her partner
- give HS Care (HS care is bedtime care and includes washing, changing, toileting, and transferring into bed)
- answer call lights
- fill out the book/record
- give report
- tidy up residents' rooms
- talk to residents
- sing with residents while doing care
- answer questions of residents
Healthcare relies heavily on newcomers to care for our clients, patients and residents. The sacrifice that newcomers make to come here cannot be understated. It requires learning a whole new culture, leaving behind everyone and everything you knew, learning a new system, finding new friends, and adapting to a new life here in Canada.
Judith, and so many others like her, clearly love and have a passion for their chosen careers.
Thank you to the healthcare workers that have chosen this career. We appreciate you!
