A new 75 hour mandatory home care aide training course was passed in the recent Fall 2011 state election (5 hours orientation for new hires plus 70 hours formal classroom training). Our company was already one of the few Home Care Agencies approved to teach the old 28 hour class, Fundamentals of Caregiving, so we had a head start in grappling with the challenge of implementing the training for our new employees.
Over the past 2 years we have trained more than 100 caregivers in our in house Fundamentals of Caregiving class. Four of our managers were approved to teach the Fundamentals class, and the training has made Homewatch CareGivers stand out in our ability to handle clients with chronic illnesses, broken bones, end of life, stroke, etc.
We already have developed a new 70 hour course curriculum and the state of Washington has sent its approval for us to teach our 70 hour course in house. In effect, we have taken the voter approved legislative change in stride. We will start teaching the 70 hour curriculum to new hires in first quarter, 2012.