Patient Service Associates
Formal Description
“Nurse aides, orderlies and patient service associates assist nurses, hospital staff and physicians in the basic care of patients. They are employed in hospitals, nursing homes, assisted care facilities for the elderly and other health care establishments. Emergency medical care attendant are employed by private ambulance services, urgent care centers or other health facilities.” (NOC 2021)
Sample Job Titles
This category includes a variety of job titles that may not necessarily be reflected by the category title. For a full index of job titles, see the category entry on the ESDC site. Example job titles include:
Continuing Care Assistant
Geriatric Aide
Hospice Worker
Long Term Care Aide
Nurse Aid
Orderly
Patient Care Assistant
Personal Support Worker - Nursing Care
Respite Care Aide
Support Services Assistant
Typical Employment and Education Requirements
The requirements listed for each occupational category will tend to vary across particular roles, job titles, and contexts. The following typical requirements are listed on the ESDC’s 2021 entry for this occupational category:
- “Some secondary school education and on-the-job training or a personal support worker, nursing aide or health care aide college or private institutional program, or a college nursing orderly program and supervised practical training are required.”
- “Completion of specialized courses such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and first aid is usually required.”
- “An appropriate class of driver’s licence may be required for medical attendants.”
Success with a Social Sciences Undergraduate Degree and Beyond
When reviewing typical requirements, please remember:
- Degree and diploma listings often end with a purposefully open-ended phrase (“or a related field”, “or a similar discipline”) that acknowledges the variety and applicability of social sciences and liberal arts degrees.
- Employers often focus less on the name or title of a candidate’s degree, and more on how they articulate their transferable skills and experiences.
- Many qualifications and certifications are available as post-graduate certificates aimed at recent university graduates; these can make an excellent further education option for a social sciences or liberal arts degree.
Related Categories
Here are a few other categories that might interest you:
Related Sectors
Whereas Economic and Social Development Canada’s ‘occupational’ categories tend to focus more on the duties and functions that people play in specific roles, exploring careers by ‘sectors’ helps us to sort by employer type, industry, or general field of work. Here are just a few of the sectors that may be relevant to this category:
Academic Program Connections
As you select your program of study and the courses you will take, you can chart a path towards success in this sector from any one of our social sciences departments and programs. Here are just a few examples of academic disciplines that have connections with this sector:
