The Essential Guide to Continuing Professional Development (CPD) for Care Home Workers

Whether you run a small residential care home or manage a large network of care providers, prioritising the continuous professional development of your staff is essential.

In this blog post, we’ll explore the importance of CPD (Continuing Professional Development) for care home workers. We’ll explain why CPD is essential in the social care sector and how online social care courses can play a key role in ensuring your staff remain at the forefront of social care.

Understanding the Role of Care Home Workers

A care home worker provides essential support to people living in a residential care setting, which may include older people or people with disabilities.

The responsibilities of care home staff include various tasks that make daily life more comfortable for the home’s residents. They provide support according to the individual needs of each person, which may include:

• Help with bathing, dressing, and eating
• Providing emotional and social support
• Help with movement and transfers
• Posture control to avoid pressure sores

Essentially, a care home worker needs to have a comprehensive skill set that allows them to meet the unique needs of each individual they support effectively.

Why is CPD for Care Home Workers Necessary?

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) plays a vital role in the health and social care sector and is mandatory for positions that require professional registration.

The sensitive nature of a care home worker’s role means that they need to maintain high standards of safety and be compassionate. The ever-evolving nature of the health and social care sector makes it essential for care workers to keep up to date with the latest care techniques, best practices and changes in legislation. This is where CPD comes into play.

Continuous Professional Development training provides care home workers with ongoing opportunities for learning and development, which keeps their knowledge current and their skills sharp.

This not only has a direct impact on the quality of care that residents receive but also reduces the risk of accidents or injuries and helps residents to feel more secure.

Essential CPD Courses for Care Home Workers

Professional bodies such as the CQC set out mandatory training requirements for health and social care workers. But when planning the training program for your staff, you may wish to include additional non-clinical health and social care courses that improve the quality of care within your residential care settings.

This could include topics such as:

• Medicines Control and Administration: This course bundle focuses on the correct handling, administration and disposal of medication in a care setting.
• Care Certificate: A comprehensive course covering the fundamental skills needed in the health and social care sector.
• Principles of Dementia Care: This course focuses on diagnosing, treating, and maintaining the quality of life for dementia patients.
• Privacy and Dignity: A course focussing on how health and social care workers can support the privacy and dignity of those in their care.

Caredemy online social care courses are approved by Skills for Care and CPDSO accredited. Online CPD courses are a convenient way for care home workers to fit vital CPD training into their schedule.

Keeping CPD Training Records

Care home workers must keep an accurate record of the hours they’ve spent learning. This includes online courses and additional CPD training activities such as webinars, workshops and conferences.

All Caredemy CPD courses are certified and accredited by the CPD Certification Service. Upon completion, learners will receive a recognised certificate, which serves as evidence of Continuous Professional Development training.

Training managers can also track staff CPD activities through the Caredemy LMS, making it easy to collate evidence of training for annual inspections. Please don’t hesitate to contact our Sales team for more information about Caredemy CPD training and moving your training programme to the Caredemy LMS.

Learning is a continuous journey, and CPD training forms an integral part of the learning process for care home workers. Online CPD training courses play a crucial role in ensuring that care workers understand the latest developments within the care sector. This allows them to carry out their work safely and provide the best possible service for those in their care.