Elder Care in St. Catharines, Ontario

Over the past summer I have worked as a Personal Support Worker at Extendicare Nursing Home in Oshawa, Ontario. I have begun to explore further into the health care field and have really enjoyed working with older adults. I have also worked as a summer student at General Motors of Canada, which has given me great time management skills, working fast and efficiently to get a specific job done. Over the past five years, I have gained valuable employment experience working at White Feather Farms. I have had the opportunity to develop excellent communication skills while working with many employees and assisting customers. I have also gained experience working with children as a camp counselor for the Oshawa Community Health Centre, which entailed me to become more assertive and work under pressure. I am currently in my third year at Brock University in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing Program. Throughout all of my educational experiences, I have thrived off helping others and taking a leadership role in teamwork, providing me with a strong work ethic. In University I have many assignments and responsibilities that I need to maintain; therefore my priority setting abilities are very well-built and structured. I think it is very important to give back to the community through volunteering. I volunteered at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church as a Sunday school teacher for children under the age of five. This has given me the opportunity to work on my organizational skills by creating lesson plans each week for the children, and has also allowed me to give back to my church by helping them reach out and educate young children about God. I have also volunteered at the Oshawa Community Health Centre as a reading assistant in the H.E.A.R.T. program, which is the “homework, education, activities & reading together” program. As a reading assistant I helped children ages 6-11 develop their reading and writing skills based on their appropriate age levels. This allowed me to use my creativity and make children excited and eager to learn. Since I am in my third year at Brock University in the nursing program, I have been placed at Greater Niagara General Hospital on their surgical and medical floors for two clinical placements. I have also been placed at St. Catharines General Hospital on the labour and delivery and pediatrics units. I have learned many new skills that can allow me to be great assistance along with being a fast and efficient worker who is always ready for something unexpected. This experience has also provided me with excellent experience working with older adults and those who are ill, allowing me to become a more patient and hardworking person. I absolutely love working with older adults and thoroughly enjoy my time spent with them. Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing from you soon. Sincerely, Laura Kirkpatrick Extendicare, Oshawa, Ontario Nurse Aid (Summer 2014) • Cared for various groups of residents and assisted them with their activities of daily living • Experience with electronic documenting (POC) • Cared for many residents that required assisted transfers (one and two person transfers/ Hoyer lift) Greater Niagara General Hospital Clinical Placement for Nursing Program, Surgical/Medical Floor – First and Second Year Student • Assisted in transferring patients to certain facilities • Took patients morning vital signs • Assisted with patients morning hygiene and helped with giving patients their breakfast and lunch • Actively listened to patients concerns about upcoming surgeries or tests and comforted them during these times Bella Senior Care Residence Brock University third year Nursing Placement-Mental Health Rotation • AM care • Dementia/Alzheimer's Care