Health care assistants, the people who bathe, wash, and assist the elderly with their daily lives, have the highest rate of accepted time-loss injury claims of any occupation in the province, and a recent conference at the Saanich Fairground was an effort to bring those numbers down.
The Hearts & Hands Conference for 2017 had two main themes: communicating with patients with dementia and their families, and self-care, which is a hot topic among first responders and social workers. One workshop explored how laughter in the workplace can be a method of self-care.
Stephen Symon, a manager at WorkSafeBC specializing in health care and social services, said that while there are occupations that are more hazardous, like manual tree fallers, health care assistants frequently have musculoskeletal injuries while moving and lifting clients. They can also be injured by violent residents. As a result, WorkSafeBC counted over 16,000 accepted time-loss claims in the last five years, meaning workers are unable to return to work the next day.
B次元官网网址淚 think for most of them, it starts with team and community in their workplace,B次元官网网址� said Symon, which includes positive relationships between HCAs and management, families, and residents.
Symon said that while some conference attendees were managers, it is aimed squarely at workers. WorkSafeBC believes that if health care workers are healthy themselves, they can provide better, safer care to residents.
Elizabeth Causton, the keynote speaker and a former clinical counsellor, agrees.
B次元官网网址淭he tendency of health care workers is to make their own health their last priority. To give everything until thereB次元官网网址檚 nothing left to give, and to think thatB次元官网网址檚 somehow honourable. I donB次元官网网址檛 think that is going to necessarily change just by hoping that health care workers understand how detrimental that is. I think health authorities have to start encouraging people to value themselves.B次元官网网址�
Causton said that there were around 150 attendees in Victoria and 250 in Vancouver, with long waiting lists, so B次元官网网址渢he people who do this work are hungry for education and eager to do the learning.B次元官网网址�
Causton wanted to emphasize the importance of setting boundaries as a frontline worker. Often times, she said, front-line workers become a surrogate family member, because they see the same patient and their family for years. They also blur the line between life and work, checking in on residents on their days off instead of replenishing and renewing in their own life.
Anna Morris, who currently works at Oak Bay Lodge, has been a health care assistant for 19 years. She attended the conference last year and was eager to return.
B次元官网网址淚 just took away so much information. I thought it was phenomenal, and right away I wanted to come back.B次元官网网址�
She works the day shift, so she reads a morning report from the two prior shifts for updates, and she personally prepares six to nine residents for breakfast. She helps them bathe, shave, comb their hair, put on their clothes, and walk to the dining rooms. She also delivers laundry, prepares residents for lunch, and places them back in bed for naps.
With time restrictions, Morris said that workers often try and B次元官网网址減lay the heroB次元官网网址� by attempting moves by themselves B次元官网网址渨hen in reality youB次元官网网址檙e putting yourself at huge risk.B次元官网网址� Repetitive stress injuries and sprains are common. Morris herself has also been kicked in the back and had her wrist injured by a resident while on the job.
B次元官网网址淚B次元官网网址檓 taking care of 60 people all day long, but I still have to go home and take care of me,B次元官网网址� said Morris.
