Personal Support Worker Erin Meadows/Schlegel - PPSWKS (1 Year)

Begin a rewarding career in the high-demand field of health care, helping those who need it the most. In just two semesters, students will be ready to start caring for people who need assistance due to illness, aging or disability in many different health-care settings. In Sheridan's PSW program, students will learn to provide person-centred, emotion-based care to clients across the lifespan.

Learn how to assist clients of all ages with activities of daily living, including:

• assisting with mobility (e.g., lifting and transferring)
• providing personal care with dignity and respect
• engaging clients in social activities and alleviating the effects of isolation
• providing therapeutic communication and building therapeutic relationships
• caring for people with common acute and chronic illnesses

The best way to learn is by doing — that's why Sheridan's PSW program supports learning through a clinical skills lab, simulations and clinical placements. The program includes 350 hours of hands-on clinical practice in two practicum settings: a long-term care facility and a community setting. Sheridan will arrange students placements, and a faculty member will supervise them. Many students receive job offers from their placement employers.

All professors teaching in Sheridan's Personal Support Worker program are experienced nurses with bachelor's or master's degrees. They're also heavily engaged in the personal care field and bring their experience and passion for personal support work to the classroom. 

Sheridan's PSW program has been developed with an emotion-based care philosophy in accordance with the Ministry of Colleges and Universities Personal Support Worker Standard and in collaboration with industry partners to ensure a current, accurate and quality curriculum.