Excellence in CARE • SEPTEMBER 2018 .31 Do these staff with the equivalency-based qualifications have relevant knowledge and skills to work in aged care at this Level? In most professions qualifications are completed before the person starts work. While qualifications can be helpful in a new job most workplaces need to train that person further and bring them up to speed with on the job training. Does having a qualification (or its equivalent) prepare new staff for their role? This can be a problem if the person has been given equivalency at Level 4 but may not have set foot in an aged care facility. This is another area where ongoing aged care specific education becomes vital. Are the qualifications fit for purpose? Careerforce admit that the qualification is not always a good fit for our Industry (presentation by Gill Genet to the Home & Community Health Forum 5th July). Careerforce advise that they have put in a request to NZQA to review the Health and Wellbeing qualification. The problem seems to lie in the diversity of the people’s roles for whom the qualification is meant to prepare for Health care work. The NZ Certificate in Health and Wellbeing is not a specialised aged care qualification; it is a generic course for people who wish to work in Health care. This could be in a hospital, doctor’s office, dental surgery or a dozen other places where health care is provided. While qualifications are important and employers have obligations to meet under the new equity law requirements, should they be the main focus for your training programme? In an ideal world both education requirements from the ARRC contract and qualifications should work together, however this is often not the case. On a day to day basis it is easy to put education on the back burner but in the long run a comprehensive training programme can make the difference to a resident receiving poor care, empty beds in a facility or unhappy Managers. It is time your facility looked at the programme it has in place, how it is being understood and what value it is bringing to your resident’s lives and the profitability of the facility. With new technology supplying online training, webinars and the number of excellent courses available there are now many different options and no excuse not train your staff to the minimum standard and beyond! Julie Sparks Altura Learning Ph 027 4438659