Investing in Our Staff
At Carewest, we believe offering excellent care to our clients and residents starts with our staff. We've worked hard - and continue to work hard - to be an employer of choice. We're good at what we do because great care requires great staff. Carewest's belief in and commitment to staff is reflected in our core values:
- Opportunities for staff to utilize their full skill set;
- Investment in staff through opportunities for ongoing learning and development;
- Ability to support staff in the increasingly complex world of health care, including long-term care, rehabilitation and recovery and community programs;
- Comprehensive and committed employee occupational health and safety program;
- Clear, honest and open employee communication;
- Opportunity for employees to create their own career path within a large and diverse organization;
- Team focused environment;
- Systems and processes that support the work of staff and care providers.
Ongoing Education
Carewest believes well-trained and educated employees are an essential part of the work we do. That's why we invest in ongoing education and in-services at all levels throughout the organization.
Carewest conducts regular assessments of educational needs as well as responds to informally identified needs, tailoring education and in-service training programs around those needs. These programs are supplemented by other numerous and ongoing educational offerings, which are facilitated by knowledgeable and experienced trainers.
As a result of expertise developed at Carewest, we offer program-based education in partnership with Alberta Health Services as well as internal learning programs. Many of Carewest developed learning modules and Just-In-Time Teaching sheets are used by other organizations across Canada. Carewest also delivers the Bow Valley College Advanced Assisting with Medication Delivery course.
Carewest Education Services uses varied and innovative teaching methods to capture the attention of the learners while assuring that the content is covered. Some novel methods include board and computer-based games.
From the first day of employment, Carewest works with employees to ensure their full understanding and appreciation of Carewest and its culture . We provide a paid, comprehensive general orientation to all new employees, during which each new employee is paired with an experienced Learning Guide. This provides an opportunity to establish the beginnings of a mentorship. Orientation at Carewest does not, however, finish when the orientation week comes to a close but extends until the end of the probationary period or until pertinent learning needs identified by the new employee are met. Their progress is reviewed regularly.
The Carewest Orientation program is reviewed and changed regularly to meet the changing needs of the workforce.
Training
In addition to our internal education and in-services, Carewest is known province-wide for its external teachings. At Carewest, residents who have a diagnosis of dementia live in homelike settings as part of our Supportive Pathways program. All employees who work with residents with dementia go through our Supportive Pathways education program, which focuses on recognizing the person behind the disease.
Our education program has proved so successful that , we've taken it to the next level, offering a "Train the Trainer" course so other organizations can learn from us and take those lessons back to their organization.
Staff Recognition
We think it's important to recognize staff for the good work they do every day. Events, such as the Carewest Gala, the Employee Family BBQ and many site-based activities are held throughout the year to help celebrate our work and say thank you. We have also a comprehensive Employee Recognition Program that includes awards such as the following:
- Excellence Award: Awarded to staff whose efforts have had a major, positive impact for the individual sites or Carewest as a whole.
- Gold Award: Awarded to staff whose efforts have had a major, positive impact at the team, program or service level.
Winners receive valuable gift certificates and are honoured at a semi-annual site-recognition luncheon.
Staff Surveys
We think it's important to hear from staff first-hand about how we as an employer, are doing, what they like about Carewest and the areas in which we can improve. That's why every two years we perform a comprehensive staff survey where we seek feedback from staff. We take the results to heart and take concrete steps to improve the areas that need work while ensuring we continue to perform in the areas in which we're doing well.
