CAMPBELLTON (GNB) – The provincial government is investing more than $424,000 to help the Campbellton campus of the Collège communautaire du Nouveau-Brunswick deliver two new programs focused on senior care.
“By investing in programs that help support job creation and senior care, we are investing in people,” said Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour Minister Donald Arseneault. “Ultimately, these programs will help address staffing challenges at the Campbellton Nursing Home and elsewhere throughout the province with high-end care that our seniors and their families deserve and expect.”
The Personal Support Worker – Acute Care program, offered in English, will begin at the end of January 2017 and train up to 15 people over 40 weeks at CCNB Campbellton. It will train students to deliver long-term and acute care associated with personal support services, community services, and physical and mental health care services. Clinical practicums will take place at intervals during the program, preparing graduates to work in the health care system.
A 28-week program, entitled A Helping Hand for Seniors, begins at the end of November, and will train up to 20 people between the ages of 55 and 64 to become nursing home attendants, helping patients with such things as dressing and grooming and administering medicine. Depending on registration, the course may be offered in both French and English. It will be delivered at the CCNB campus and also on the job at the Campbellton Nursing Home and other health-care facilities in collaboration with the Department of Post-Secondary Education, Training and Labour. The program will be funded through the Targeted Initiative for Older Workers, and will include general training, technical training, safety training and 12 weeks of workplace experience.
“These training programs are an opportunity for New Brunswickers to help us provide the right care, supports and services for our seniors,” said Seniors and Long-Term Care Minister Lisa Harris. “Your government is working collaboratively on initiatives to ensure that we are providing sustainable services to seniors, either in a long-term-care facility or in their own homes.”
“By offering these programs in continuing education, CCNB, in co-operation with the provincial government, is once again demonstrating its ability to respond to employment needs,” said Liane Roy, president and CEO of CCNB. “These two training programs, focused on acquiring practical experience within a team of health-care professionals, will enable students beginning their post-secondary education, and those wishing to return to the workplace at age 55 or over, to provide quality long-term care to people in our communities.”
“The Campbellton Nursing Home is very appreciative of this initiative to provide training for local people. This training will qualify them to give health care to the residents of our nursing home, most of whom have higher acuity levels of care,” said Ruth Lions, president of the nursing home’s board of directors. “The collaboration with the provincial government to address the challenge of finding qualified staff is very encouraging.”
Details on the Personal Support Worker course are available through CCNB Campbellton. More information on A Helping Hand for Seniors can be obtained through the college, or from the department’s regional office in Campbellton: 506-759-6666.
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