Alberta Report
Title(s) Used
Health Care Aide (HCA)
Programs
HCA Certificate Programs are offered in:
- Community College
- Private Schools
- Dual Credit in high school
Registry
As of 2019 the HCA Directory was created to help oversee the provincial exam process and registration of HCAs in the province.
Regulation
Alberta is currently working toward regulating HCAs in the province but at this time they remain unregulated. There is a standardized curriculum owned by Alberta Health, and a provincial exam that must be taken and passed for the HCA certificate to be awarded.
Additional
There is a committee made up of 7-8 PSIs that work together on vetting exam questions for the curriculum.
The curriculum is accredited by the Education Standards Advisory Committee (ESAC) which is a subsidiary of the College of Licensed Practical Nurses of Alberta (CLPNA).In order to run the program, institutions must go through the accreditation process.
Scope of Practice
The HCA Competency Profile for Alberta (2018) can be found at the following link
Employment Prospects
There is currently very high demand for HCAs in all areas of healthcare in Alberta. Long term care, homecare and assisted living have continuously been short staffed, particularly in the rural areas of Alberta.
Educator Group
Currently in development.
Rachel Burwell from Red Deer Polytechnic and Abby Boychuk from Keyano College are working towards the creation of a regional educator group for Alberta.
Challenges
- The current standards set out by Alberta health for assessment of curriculum. 100% of course grades coming from the final exam only with a 70% passing grade.
- Shortages of healthcare professionals to teach clinical and labs
- Clinical challenges related to the single site public health order for long term care facilities
- Recruitment and retention of learners into the HCA programs.
