Health Care Aide works with a patient lift - supplied by Training Inc.

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Training Inc. program fills continuing need for Health Care Aides

Oct 29, 2021 | 2:48 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB. — As Canada`s population continues to age, so does the need for Health Care Aides. There are several avenues to fulfill the educational requirements, one is Training Inc. in Lethbridge.

The Health Care Aide program has a duration of eight months and is offered twice a year, with September and January start dates.

Marian Teierle, the Health Care Aide Program Administrator at Training Inc., explains the program includes class and facility time, with in person classes, as well as time at area facilities with a clinical instructor, where students can put into practice the skills they`ve learned in class.

“Students work on placement segments, the first of which is a total of 80 hours, the second placement is 160 hours and the third 80 hours. They work with various assisted living facilities in Lethbridge for direct placement. When they complete the program, they then have to write a final provincial exam and when they pass the exam, they are issued a Health care Aide certificate.”

Training Inc.`s Health Care Aide program is fully accredited by the province and follows the provincial government curriculum, meaning the program is evaluated and licensed by the province. Potential students can apply for admittance to the program at any time for the September and January start dates.

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While other post secondary institutes offer similar programs for Health Care Aides, Teierle notes there are specific plus factors for entering the program at Training Inc.

“There are smaller class sizes and we offer both a day and an evening program, which most post secondary institutes do not. We offer the evening program because some students have jobs during the day, which allow them to continue their job and attend classes in the evening, as it runs from 4:00-pm to 10:00-pm.”

“We found that we may have only nine of ten students in that evening class but, it is an added bonus. So if you`re a stay-at-home mum with children, you wouldn`t be able to attend the day program but, you could attend the evening program.”

Teierle noted the smaller class sizes allow for more individual support.

“We really care about our students and we want them to enjoy their experience. Some students come in with no knowledge of health care at all but, they feel they want to help.
While the minimum age to enroll in the program is 18, we have all ages that enroll, all the way up to mature students who may have been at home and now want to start a career or those who want to change their career.”

“Some students come into the program because their ultimate goal is to go into the LPN program or the Registered Nurse program but, they aren`t sure that`s what they want to do, so they will take the Health Care Aide program because it`s short, at just eight months and gives them a better idea of whether they want to go on.”

Some of them are quite happy to work as a heath care aide and it is the first step in bed-side nursing. Once students have a Health Care Aide certificate they may work a year and then register to go into the LPN or RN program – they want to get a little bit of experience first.

When it comes to employment opportunities, Teierle says that because their students do their placements in local facilities, many times, because they are there for so many hours, the facility staff really get a good idea of the students` capabilities and many of them receive offers of employment very quickly or they`re asked to provide their resume before they have even completed their course.

Employment growth graph

“In many cases, if we put six students in a particular facility, those six will be hired. So from an employment perspective, this program is a good investment with excellent job opportunities.”

Teierle says Training Inc. does a six month follow-up after students complete their training and finds many of their students are employed in the Health Care field.

From the employment perspective, there is a very high demand for health care aides. Training Inc offers the Health Care Aide program to assist in meeting this need in our community”