Work in the wellness care sector

COVID-19 has increased the need for health care assistants in long-term care and assisted living settings across the province. The Health Career Access Plan provides a path for applicants with no health intendance experience to get hired and receive paid employer sponsored health care assistant training as office of their employment.

Last updated: Apr half dozen, 2022

On this page:

  • Why work in health care
  • Available positions
  • Join the Wellness Career Access Program
  • Submit your expression of interest
  • Recruitment procedure
  • Electric current communities with the highest needs

Why work in health care

B.C.'due south health intendance system provides disquisitional services that we all use. Employment is stable and available in communities across the province.

Employers offer reliable employment with competitive salaries and benefits. Benefits may include a pension program and medical, dental and extended health intendance coverage.

Passionate and caring wellness care workers make a difference in their communities every 24-hour interval. The sector is committed to creating working environments that support and value various skills and lived experiences.

It is important that the workforce reflects the people they support. The Health Career Access Plan is committed to inclusive hiring practices, providing equal opportunity for participation to underrepresented groups, including women, Ethnic peoples, persons with disabilities, members of visible minorities and LGBTQIA2S+ applicants.

How to get your career started

COVID-19 has increased the need for health care assistants in long-term care, home support and assisted living services.

Normally, to become a health care banana, you must complete six to eight months of post-secondary didactics at your own expense earlier yous can apply for a position.

Through the Wellness Career Access Plan, the Province will pay for your post-secondary education.

New hires in the programme beginning in a wellness care support worker position and receive paid training that leads to full qualification every bit a health care assistant.

Role descriptions

All successful programme applicants must beginning equally a health care support worker before advancing to a health care assistant position.

Health intendance back up worker

Wellness care back up workers are supervised past registered nurses or other regulated wellness care professionals. They provide a variety of critical non-clinical, non-straight care supports to patients and residents.

Typical duties include:

  • Participating equally an integral member of a health intendance delivery squad
  • Establishing a caring human relationship with clients, residents and families
  • Providing support and assistance with mealtime activities
  • Providing support and aid in carrying out activities
  • Performing housekeeping duties
  • Greeting and directing visitors
  • Restocking supplies
  • Completing and maintaining relevant records

Health intendance support workers earn $21.37 an hour.

Wellness care assistant

Health care assistants are members of the health care team who provide personal care in a variety of wellness care settings including acute care hospitals, assisted living facilities, group homes, residential care and community care.

They are supervised by registered nurses or other regulated health intendance professionals and follow established care plans to provide personal intendance such every bit bathing, training, dressing, assisting with meals and oral hygiene.

Other duties include:

  • Helping in the delivery of nursing intendance, including taking temperature, pulse and respiration readings
  • Documenting data on a patient's chart
  • Responding to call bells/alarms in hospital settings
  • Observing and monitoring patient progress, symptoms and behavioural changes and reporting significant observations
  • Utilizing mechanical aides (specialty beds, lifts, wheelchairs and stretchers) to send patients
  • Providing assistance with positioning, lifting and/or transferring patients using established lifting/safety techniques
  • Maintaining a clean and safety environs for patients and staff

On average, health care assistants earn an annual provincial salary of $45,883.

  • Discover out more about what a Wellness Care Assistant is, what they do, and the qualities that make someone a proficient fit
  • Watch a video highlighting the health intendance assistant role

Join the Wellness Career Access Programme

The Wellness Career Access Program happens in 3 stages.

Stage 1: Start as a wellness care support worker

Submit your expression of interest.

Following your expression of interest, your name and contact information will be shared with employers recruiting for health care support worker positions in your preferred region or customs.

If you receive and have an offer of employment under the program, work and preparation will begin.

Delight note that you must be a Canadian denizen or permanent resident to participate at this time.

Required qualifications

By order of the Provincial Wellness Officeholder, all health intendance staff who work in B.C. must be fully vaccinated confronting COVID-nineteen. You are fully vaccinated fourteen days later on your second dose of vaccine.

Applicants to HCAP should be prepared to provide proof of vaccination to employers during the application process.

  • Hospital and Community (Health Care and Other Services) COVID-19 Vaccination Condition Information and Preventive Measures – October 21, 2021 (PDF, 524KB)
  • Residential Care COVID-19 Vaccination Status Information – Oct vi, 2021 (PDF, 506KB)

Education

  • Grade 10, including the successful completion of English ten, or equivalency
    • English competency requirements are established by the BC Intendance Aide and Community Health Worker Registry
    • Cess criteria differ between individuals whose get-go linguistic communication is English and those whose first language is not English
    • Some mail-secondary institutions may have higher education requirements. Tuition-free upgrading may be bachelor

If English is non your commencement language, English language Linguistic communication Learning courses are bachelor.

Skills

  • Ability to communicate finer, both verbally and in writing
  • Ability to establish and maintain relationships with clients, residents and coworkers
  • Ability to work independently and in cooperation with others
  • Physical ability to deport out the duties of the position
  • Ability to operate related equipment

Stage 2: Consummate basic training and onboarding

All newly hired health care back up workers must complete a provincially standardized training and onboarding programme. This is provided by your employer.

You will exist paid for your time and whatsoever form fees will be reimbursed.

Stage 3: Become a health care assistant

Afterwards you complete basic grooming, you enter a structured, mandatory health care banana education programme that you lot complete while you lot are working.

  • Employees who do not undertake the health care assistant preparation are not eligible to piece of work every bit health intendance support workers and accept their salary paid by the province
  • The program is delivered as a partnership betwixt your employer and an established post-secondary institution
  • It volition take about a year complete and is provided to yous at no cost

Health care support workers volition be paid $801 a week while attending full-fourth dimension course or participating in clinical training every bit office of the education program.

On completion of the programme, y'all earn a recognized postal service-secondary credential and are eligible to annals equally a health care assistant. Once registered every bit a health intendance assistant, participants will complete a 12-calendar month return of service.

Health intendance assistants can piece of work across B.C. in long-term care and assisted living facilities, provide community dwelling house back up and contribute to care that is delivered in acute care infirmary settings.

Submit your expression of interest

Exist prepared to provide:

  • Beginning and last name
  • Telephone number
  • Email address
  • Postal lawmaking
  • Preferred wellness region (where you want to work)

Submit your expression of interestThe course takes less than 5 minutes to consummate.

Recruitment process

One time yous have submitted an expression of interest, you lot are entered into a pool of applicants that is viewable past employers participating in the program. These employers may then appoint applicants directly to discuss opportunities, request work histories and other documents, schedule interviews, and hire successful applicants. Please note, depending on geographical need, not all applicants may exist contacted straight past employers.

Information technology is of import to know that to work in the long-term intendance and assisted living sector, participants volition demand to undergo a Vulnerable Sector Criminal Record Check as part of the hiring process.

Please make sure that y'all provide contact information where you tin can be easily reached so you practise not miss whatsoever opportunities.

Electric current communities with the highest needs

In that location is loftier demand in the following communities and available participants may be hired sooner.

If you are interested in working in whatsoever of the following communities, delight email HCAPInfoQuery@gov.bc.ca with:

  • Your name
  • Email address
  • Telephone number
  • Location

For home support, permit us know if you currently have a BC driver's licence and access to a reliable vehicle.

  • Burns Lake
  • Vanderhoof
  • Smithers
  • Terrace
  • Prince Rupert
  • Chetwynd
  • Fort Nelson
  • Dawson Creek
  • Fort St John
  • Fort St James
  • Quesnel
  • Prince George
  • Kamloops: home support and some long-term care
  • 100 Mile House: long-term care
  • Kelowna/West Kelowna: home support and some long-term care
  • Penticton and South Okanagan: home support
  • Salmon Arm, including Shuswap: home support
  • Vernon: home support
  • Creston: long-term care
  • Promise
  • Agassiz
  • Chilliwack
  • Mission
  • Sechelt: long-term care and home back up
  • Bounding main to Heaven: domicile support
  • Northward Vancouver: long-term care and home support
  • Bella Bella: long-term care
  • Bella Coola: abode support
  • Cormorant Island: long-term care and abode back up
  • Mt Waddington (Port Hardy and Port McNeill): long-term care and abode support