Course

Personal Care Skills I

Important Notice

This course is not active. Please contact Department Chair for more information.

Course code
HCSW 1130
Credits
6.00
Semester length
15
Max class size
Lecture 35:1, Laboratory 10:1, Clinical 10:1
Typically offered
To be determined

Overview

Course description
This practical course focuses on the acquisition and application of care-giving skills aimed at maintaining and promoting comfort, safety and independence for individuals in a residential care facility, assisted living facility or home. Lab practice, selected supervised clinical experiences and community and home support field experiences will provide an opportunity for students to apply the caring philosophy and the knowledge and skills learned in all of the semester courses. This course is comprised of classroom, lab and clinical experiences running concurrently.
Course content

Throughout this course, students will apply the concepts related to assisting with personal care skills with a holistic and caring approach.  Also, students will develop beginning competencies in these skills:

 

1.        Principles and rationale for personal care

                •caring

                •needs based care

                •family, and diversity

                •promotion of independence

               

2.        Safe practice in relation to care-giving based upon the following principles

                •body mechanics

                •medical asepsis

                •safety

                •dignity, respect and comfort

                •responsibility and accountability

 

3.         Problem-solving

                •need based care

                •organization of care

                •reporting, recording actions and results of care

                •evaluating for effectiveness of care

                •adapting to “crisis” situations

 

4.         Responsible and Accountable behaviour

                •legal and ethical guidelines

                •parameters of roles as a Health Care Support Worker

                •abiding by designated procedures in performance of Section 2 skills

                •recognizing the legal implications involved in performance of Section 2 skills

                •values and beliefs, standards of practice, and cultural norms respected

                •codes of ethics

 

5.        Personal care activities promoting safety and comfort

                •bathing

                •skin care

                •oral care

                •perineal care

                •dressing and grooming

                •bed-making

                •safety devices in the home and in care facilities

  

6.        Personal care activities promoting movement and ambulation

   •positioning in bed, chair or wheelchair

                •range of motion exercises (active)

                •walk, sit and stand

                •correct lifting and transfer techniques

                •transporting by wheelchair and stretcher

                •safety in transportation in cars/taxis

 

7.        Personal care activities promoting nutrition in continuing care facilities

                •preparing and serving foods

                •clean-up, safe handling, and food storage

                •safe techniques when assisting with eating

                •maintaining dietary and/or fluid intake

 

8.        Assessment skills

                •monitoring temperature, pulse and respiration

                •measuring and recording height and weight

                •measuring and recording intake and output

 

9.         Personal care skills promoting elimination

                •toileting

                •administering suppositories, enemas**2

                •care of established ostomies

                •catheter care

                •emptying urinary drainage bags

                •application of external catheter

                •bowel care **2

                •change and clean a catheter drainage bag **2

                •assist with pre-measured rectal medication **2

 

10.       Medications

                •recognizing and reporting adverse effects of common drugs

                •applying OTC medicated ointments

                •assisting with pre-measured oral medication **2

                •applying prescription or medicated soaps and ointments **2

                •assisting with ventilatory equipment **2

                •assisting with pre-set oxygen equipment

 

**2 indicates Section 2 skills

Learning activities

1.           Self-study

2.           Lecture/discussion/demonstrations

3.           Laboratory practice – supervised and unsupervised

4.          Practical experiences in a variety of residential care facilities

5.          Audio-visual materials and computer resources

Means of assessment

Students are evaluated in both the laboratory and practical components of this course.  Course evaluation is consistent with Douglas College course evaluation policy.  An evaluation schedule is presented at the beginning of the course.

 

This is a MASTERY course.

Students will receive a detailed outline of the performance expectation at the beginning of the course.

 

Evaluation of skill mastery in lab practice will include:

  1. A demonstrated ability to carry out the skill safely and knowledgeably.
  2. An ability to answer questions related to the rationale for actions within skills, either verbally or                              by pencil/paper quiz.

 

Evaluation of mastery in the clinical setting will include:

1.       The demonstration of required psychomotor skills.

2.       Student participation in the evaluation of their own clinical performance.

3.       Satisfactory performance, as assessed by the clinical instructor.

Learning outcomes

This course is based on the competencies as outlined in the Provincial Curriculum Guide for Home Support and Resident Care Attendant Programs, 1992.

In this course, students will have opportunities to:

1.     Develop an understanding of the principles and rationale underlying care-giving and personal assistance skills.

2.     Demonstrate the ability to perform care-giving skills in an organized manner, ensuring resident/client safety and comfort.

3.     Demonstrate the application of a creative and flexible problem-solving process in the provision of care.

4.     Demonstrate responsible and accountable behaviour in the classroom, practice lab, clinical, and home settings.

Textbook materials

Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students

1.             Peer evaluations

2.             Gloves

3.             Transfer belt

4.             Health Care Support Worker Evaluation Record

5.             A list of additional materials will be provided for students at the beginning of the semester.

Requisites

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer details for HCSW 1130
There are no applicable transfer credits for this course.

Course Offerings

Winter 2025