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Aged Care Courses Vocational Placement

Your first day as a student on vocational placement can be daunting and sometimes confronting.  For many students this is the first time they have set foot in an aged care facility.  Caring for the most vulnerable elderly can give back tenfold and be an enormously rewarding job. It’s a great feeling of achievement at the end of a shift to know you have made a real difference to another person’s health and wellbeing.

Vocational Placement Buddies

At the start of each shift you will be allocated a ‘buddy’ who is a qualified carer with an Aged Care Certificate III qualification or higher. Your buddies might be different every day. Buddies are rarely qualified trainers or assessors and have you to look after along with their normal workload. Some may be very keen to share with you all they know and others may be less inclined.  This doesn’t mean that person isn’t a good carer, it’s just they may like to work quietly.  If you’re working with a buddy that’s on the quiet side pay attention to how they interact with the clients and learn from their lead.

Make sure you tell your buddies where you are up to with your training and the practical experience you’ve had so far. This will help them to understand the level of supervision you’ll need for the day.

Remember, always ask if Vocational Placement is organised for you. To find out more click here.

When Do I Attend Vocational Placement?

This really depends on your course provider.  Many Aged Care courses on the Sunshine Coast require students to attend vocational placement at the end of all their theory. It can be hard to remember everything so make sure your training provider offers you practical training in personal cares and manual handling just before you go on placement.  This will really help to prepare you.

All Care Training incorporates block style vocational placements into its Aged Care Courses on the Sunshine Coast.  Students are placed in facilities quite early in their training to consolidate freshly acquired knowledge and apply this into practice.  On return to the class room students are encourage to debrief as a group and learn from one another’s experience under the guidance of their qualified trainer.  New information in following lessons tend to make a lot more sense as you relate this knowledge to your experience in the workplace. Further placements add to reaffirm your knowledge.

Good luck and enjoy!

Bringing the Care to All Care Training