Clinical Educator – Nursing and Personal Support

VHA Home HealthCare (VHA) is one of the largest not-for-profit home care providers in Ontario. Our team is made up of close to 3,000 caring and committed professionals who love what they do. Our providers tell us: “Home care is where I can truly make a difference. There is such a sense of accomplishment from helping people live independently at home.” Our teams work together to provide high quality, client-centred care to those who need it most in their homes, schools, retirement homes and other community settings. Many of our team members manage their own schedules in the community and they say, “The freedom and flexibility can’t be beat.” Providers form meaningful bonds with the clients and families they serve over time and are supported by a diverse regional team and beneficial home office programs. Team members tell us “I love the inclusive culture. I feel welcome and at home.” 

View more comments from our clients and their family members.

Pay Range

Commensurate with Experience

Purpose of the position:
The role of the Clinical Educator (CE) – Nursing & PSW is to provide clinical practice leadership and guidance to assist nurses and personal support workers, to develop, enhance and maintain their competencies to advance practice excellence and client-centeredness in care and service delivery. They are instrumental towards developing homecare specialists and leveraging adult learning principles to engage learners in taking an active role in professional development. This position promotes foundational and advanced practice competencies of clinical staff through knowledge translation at the point-of-care, team-based learning, classroom, and virtual-hybrid teaching modalities.

Based in the Best Practice and Education (BP&E) team, the CE will work in collaboration with Professional Practice Leaders (PPLs) to plan, develop and facilitate delivery of education and orientation programs, and will contribute to the evaluation of those programs. They will work closely in partnership with the Integrated Client and Community Care (IC&CC) and Strategic Solutions and Partnerships (SS&P) program teams to facilitate and provide ongoing support to staff, to develop education programs to meet learning needs, and sustain clinical competencies. The CE will liaise and collaborate with clinical leaders from VHA partners, including occasional working on-site with system partners, to facilitate communication among teams and co-develop competency training for point-of-care nurses and PSWs.

The CE is responsible to review and contribute to performance evaluations of nurses and personal support workers as requested; including participation in the disciplinary process where there are practice issues or concerns to support in development of learning plan (evaluating clinical competencies; re-training; and recommending ongoing support/monitoring activities). The CE acts as a role model; provides peer-support – virtually, or at the point of care, sets evidenced based practice standards for performance; and provides innovative and flexible learning opportunities to promote a strong evidenced-based, continuous professional development.

The VHA Clinical Educator position follows a hybrid model subject to the terms of VHA’s Remote Office Work Policy. This will require the CE to regularly come into VHA Offices / sites at agreed upon intervals in addition to other key-meetings/trainings as required by their core responsibilities to be met – subject to change based on performance, operational and/or business needs. Main offices are located in the GTA and Whitby with rare occasions for business trips to conferences or training opportunities beyond those locations.

Key skills, experience and behaviours required for this position:

• Current Registration and licensure with the College of Nurses of Ontario required.
• Undergraduate Degree in Nursing is required with preference given to candidates with or currently enrolled in a Graduate Degree program in Nursing or Education.
• 3-5 years progressive experience in nursing, with at least 2 years experience in a home/community OR 2 years experience in an acute care setting. Experienced with facilitating nurses’ clinical education / development (formal or informally) would be considered a strong asset.
• Ongoing membership with professional association (i.e., RNAO).
• Good understanding of the health care services and delivery processes in the community and home care sector. 
• Ability to explain and apply the theoretical, empirical and experiential foundation of nursing/ clinical practice, and to develop and disseminate evidence-based knowledge. 
• Demonstrated ability to apply adult learning principles to plan, develop, deliver/ facilitate and evaluate education programs to meet client needs, support evidence-based best practice, and promote a client centred philosophy of care.
• Demonstrated commitment to client and family centered care concepts and ability to incorporate into their teaching and learning curriculum.
• Demonstrated knowledge of online learning modalities and willingness to learn the development of online learning modules. 
• Demonstrated ability or comfortable working in technology-driven environment.
• Demonstrated ability to provide leadership in education within a coaching/ mentoring context.
• Strong clinical practitioner with an ability to use knowledge-transfer techniques to put research-based knowledge into practice.
• Demonstrated critical thinking skills and ability to plan, organize and prioritize in a continuously changing environment. 
• Demonstrated ability to create a culture of curiosity, inquiry and willingness to challenge the status quo.
• Superior interpersonal, verbal and written communication skills coupled with strong conflict resolution, resiliency and self-management skills.
• Demonstrated ability to work independently and as a member of a collaborative interprofessional team.
• Demonstrated ability to achieve professional and organizational performance targets.
• Awareness and understanding of all relevant legislation related to practice standards, standards of safety and quality, and employment standards – including human rights legislation.
• Demonstrated commitment to modelling lifelong learning and continuous professional growth.
• Valid driver’s license and use of a car on the job required. Travelling will be required to VHA sites in the GTA/Whitby and occasional business-trips to conferences/training sessions at other locations.

What makes VHA’s compensation unique?

• Benefits and pension plan for permanent eligible employees

• Compensation for education and professional development

• VHA is a leading learning organization so we can provide you with comprehensive orientation and training at the start and throughout your career

• Mentorship and peer support

• Career development opportunities

• Employee and family assistance program

• Wellness resources

• Perks & discounts

• Staff & service provider events

Accommodation and VHA’s commitment to DEI

At VHA Home HealthCare (VHA), we passionately strive to uphold our commitments to being an Equal Opportunity Employer. We champion inclusion and diversity in all parts of our organization and are strong believers that a diverse workforce is key to the ongoing and future success of VHA. We aim to review all applicants with fair and unbiased recruitment practices where opportunities are presented based on merits, skills, and experience. VHA is committed to providing reasonable accommodation and our services are accessible and sensitive to the needs of diverse groups. If you require any accommodation, please let us know in advance as we are happy to comply.

How to Apply?

Our online application should take about 5 to 10 minutes to complete.

VHA is accredited with Exemplary Standing by Accreditation Canada; an RNAO Best Practice Spotlight Organization designate; and a founding member agency of United Way Greater Toronto.

Thank you to everyone who applies. We will review applications as they are received. We’ll only be contacting those selected for further discussion.

In every role and at every level, we lead with purpose, build bonds that matter, and we’re passionate about providing spectacular care.