Inside the Circle – May 2, 2023

Our hands are the most common way for us to spread germs. As we touch people, surfaces and objects throughout the day, we create many opportunities for germs to get on our hands. We can infect ourselves with these germs by touching our eyes, nose, or mouth. Good hand hygiene is a great way to stop the spread of diseases and infections. Washing your hands has the power to save lives and can stop the spread of illness including common colds, and more serious diseases like influenza and COVID-19. It is easy to touch something and not even know that you have picked up an illness until you start feeling ill later. It is important that we all perform hand hygiene properly and regularly, as it is very important in protecting our own health, and the health of our clients.

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According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are several important steps to follow to properly wash your hands:

1. Wet your hands with water.
2. Apply enough soap to cover all hand surfaces.
3. Rub your hands palm to palm.
4. Place your right palm over your left hand with interlaced fingers and rub. Repeat with your left palm over the right hand.
5. Rub palm to palm with fingers interlaced.
6. Rub the back of your fingers with your opposing palms.
7. Clasp your fingers of your right hand in your left palm. Rub in a circle, and then forward and backward. Repeat with the other hand.
8. Rinse hands with water.
9. Dry hands with a single use towel.

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To learn more about hand hygiene, please visit the following resources:

All PSWs and Homemakers are entitled to annual vacation under the Collective Agreement. Vacation time and vacation pay is based on length of continued service, calculated as of September each year. The following is a breakdown of vacation benefits:

Please note that the time you book off for vacation is not paid. Instead, vacation pay is paid out each year in September. If you would like to request for your earned vacation pay to be paid out in advance, you can email payroll@circleofcare.com. To submit vacation requests, please do so through the PSW app on your phone. All requests for vacation time will be reviewed by your Service Coordinator.

For any other questions about vacation time entitlement, please refer to the Collective Agreement.

Circle of Care requires that all PSWs and Homemakers be certified with valid and current CPR training, and that employees be properly fitted for N95 masks. Upcoming sessions for both CPR and mask fit have been booked for May and June. Appointments must be booked through our vendor, First Aid Care, and can be booked by calling 905-272-9214 or by clicking the button down below.

Important reminders – please read:

• Please arrive at the training session 15 minutes before the class begins.
• After you have booked your appointment, please speak to your Service Coordinator if you need any scheduling arrangements and have clients that you will need to be booked off from to attend the CPR and/or mask fit training. Please try to book a date/time where you do not have client visits scheduled.
• Your schedule will be blocked as ‘unavailable’ for you to attend the session. You do not need to use your phone to sign into the training.
• You will be paid a total of 4 hours for the training (CPR) and 1 hour for mask fit – this will be added to your schedule 1-2 weeks after the session has been completed and you will receive payment. The code will appear on your paystub as ‘Miscellaneous’
• All bookings/cancellations must be managed through the online portal. You will receive a confirmation email/text notification and will also receive a session reminder.

We also encourage you to review our CPR Tips and Guidance below.

We invite you to submit your questions or feedback below. Please note that it may take us longer to provide some answers, so if you’ve asked a question that hasn’t been answered yet, we will get back to you in the coming weeks.