Many moments in the past, whether I completed my bachelor’s degree, I had a dream of myself seated on a front porch of our home in Manila, a book laid on my lap with its pages proudly opened, hailing the illustrations and text of Human Anatomy and Physiology. In my dream, I was afraid I won’t complete a degree. In that dream, I was lured to take bachelor’s degree in nursing. This never happened in real life. I took a program in Computer Science, even completed a post degree program thereafter. However, this dream of seeing myself with that book (even while I’ve finished my bachelor’s degree) continued to bother me through dreams… Last year, I made a bold decision to study Health Care Assistant, and only then I was reminded of those dreams, as if pointing me to a certain direction.

Studying Health Care Assistant program at Sprott Shaw College has unveiled upon me a myriad of information about caring for both young, especially old. With my physical strength and mental stability at this age, I often set aside the truth of the adage “Life is short” until I took this program. A person may never understand until she truly witnesses and experiences it. As time extends toward the future, our body deteriorates slowly mostly in correlation with how we care for our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health. Reading Sorrentino’s Canadian Textbook for the Support Worker showed me the sad reality of aging—changes that happen to our body, mind, including our sense of taste, touch, smell, and sight. Growing old can be lonely… Back in the Philippines, we frown upon people who leave their parents to a long-term facility. Canadian culture differs, however. Fortunately, there is an option for home care. Regardless, there’s a Health Care Assistant whom we can depend on to provide care to seniors, pregnant woman, people with health challenges, infants and kids. This is why I’m taking this program because I want to provide the one-of-a-kind care to clients, only by the grace of God.

To enjoy relating to people, it’s important I’m interested about them. It’s important for me to know their background, their likes, and dislikes, and to maintain eye contact (considering how their cultural background accepts this) while speaking with them. To those who have negative emotions, it is important for me to show them respect and dignity. To be an effective and appropriate communicator, it’s necessary for me to be conscious about my nonverbal communication—body language, touch and silence, and my verbal communication—tone of voice, speaking clearly, slowly and distinctly, pausing.

My healthcare profession values all these characteristics and abilities as it will impact the quality of care provided to clients. All healthcare professions, whether you’re a nurse practitioner, RN, physiotherapist, occupational therapist, or health care assistant, value all these characteristics and abilities as they directly relate to people.

I generally enjoy relating to people, whether that person is different to me, or they may require assistance. Was I not born for a purpose? Doesn’t helping and assisting give life more meaning?

It may of course be difficult to relate to people who constantly express negative emotions. I had a friend who bombarded me with his negative perceptions in life. He was generally anxious, and his worry can be contagious… As friends, we were in equal power. However, as HCA, we are in a position of power because of our knowledge and familiarity with the role and particular healthcare service (Gjyne, 2020). With power comes humility and flexibility. The requirement is to accept our clients as they come to our service and to avoid communicating a sense of superiority, also known as arrogance or misuse of power.

I generally enjoy communicating with people. I believe this is what sets this job apart. It’s leaned toward people skills. It requires not only knowledge and skills but wisdom. As HCA promotes independence, it is important that I develop the skills of empowering people to assist themselves, to encourage them, and to assist in solving problems. Having worked in data analytics and web development, also in customer service and technical support, I enjoy challenging myself with problems with the goal to solve them. This time, the challenge is more on dealing with attitudes, behaviours, personality, illness, and their dependence on us.

Am I generally patient with myself and others? I developed these skills when I began to homeschool my two kids from 2019 to 2021. I never understood the importance of patience until I realized that I could cause my kids’ learning to hamper if I teach out of anger or impatience than out of love, compassion, and true desire for them to learn—not in a rush, but at their own pace.

This morning, a somewhat similar scenario was given to our group. A Health Care Assistant was helping his client to pick his outfit but took him slower time than usual. Due to HCAs personal issues, she sighed loudly and said, “I don’t have all day.” I felt bad for the client while reading the scenario as the client’s speed may be beyond his control. Let’s remember that we’re caring for those people whose best option is to have someone be there for them.

I am no perfect HCA. I may get impatient later, but this is the reason why I’m taking the HCA program at Sprott Shaw—to equip me once I immerse myself in this job with clients and other health care professionals. Many skills can be developed through eagerness and constant practice. When I lack something, it is in both theory and practice that will guide and help me toward caring for clients in a real-world situation.

CONCLUSION

I know that being an HCA is not always rainbows, sunshine and butterflies. There will surely be struggles later. However, it’s my determination on the very day I decided to pursue this path to stick to my plan and contribute to the needs of our clients, and generally the health care industry. It is my desire to inspire other HCAs to deliver appropriate service to our clients in a person-centered, compassionate care.