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104.6 Professionalism, Practicum and Career Pathways
Conduct at sites, the 130 hour practicum, renewal and growing your career
Your materials
Slides (PowerPoint) Handout (Word)
For instructors
Facilitator guide Printable pre and post tests Quiz (LMS import)
What you will learn
- Show professional conduct on a team and at a practicum site
- Explain the practicum hours, logs, checklist and supervision
- Describe the value CHWs bring to clients, employers and communities
- List the steps to keep and renew your Ohio CHW certificate
Start here
Think of a professional you deeply respect. What do they do that earns your trust?
Lesson
What professionalism looks like
- Reliable: On time, prepared, and follows through. If you cannot make it, you call ahead.
- Trustworthy: Keeps confidences, follows privacy rules, and tells the truth in notes and reports.
- Respectful: Honors every client, coworker and partner, and respects each role on the team.
- Knows the edge: Stays within CHW scope, asks questions, and refers when something is beyond the role.
Your 130 hour practicum
Ohio requires 130 clinical hours. Ours happen in community settings.
- Orientation and shadowing: 20 hours learning the site and watching experienced staff.
- Supervised client work: 60 hours with clients across at least three life stages.
- Groups and outreach: 30 hours of group education and community outreach.
- Your IDEAS project: 20 hours on a community action project with partners.
- Logs and checklist: Log every hour; your supervisor signs it and rates the competency checklist.
- Evaluations: Check-ins at 65 hours and at 130 hours.
At your practicum site
Do
- Ask your site supervisor before acting on anything new
- Log hours the same day and get them signed
- Keep client information inside the site's systems
- Thank staff and clients for teaching you
Do not
- Do tasks you have not been trained or approved for
- Post about clients or the site on social media
- Use your personal phone or email for client contact
- Log hours you did not complete
Why CHW value matters upstream
- What we see: Ms. Price in Slavic Village keeps ending up in the emergency room for asthma attacks.
- Why it happens (upstream): Mold in her rental, no regular doctor, and CHW programs that close when short-term grants end.
- What we can build on (assets): A CHW who helps fix the housing problem and find a doctor, a tenant group, and employers who pay for CHWs long term.
Growing your CHW career
| Step | What it can look like |
|---|---|
| Certified CHW | Outreach, navigation, education, home visits |
| Specialty CHW | Maternal health, chronic disease, violence interruption, behavioral health |
| Lead CHW or supervisor | Training new CHWs, reviewing notes, running programs |
| College credit | Applying CHW training toward a certificate or degree |
| Health professions | Nursing, social work, public health, medicine and more |
Keeping your certificate current
- Know your renewal date: Ohio CHW certificates renew every two years, on a March 31 cycle.
- Earn 15 contact hours: Complete 15 hours of continuing education each renewal period.
- Include the required topics: At least 1 hour on Ohio nursing law and Board rules, and 1 on professional boundaries.
- First renewal is different: The 15 hour rule does not apply to your first renewal.
- Keep your proof: Save CE certificates for six years in case of a Board audit.
Situation: the practicum shortcut
Situation: Jamal is behind on practicum hours. A friend at his site offers to sign his log for a Saturday health fair he did not attend. 'Everyone does it,' the friend says.
What should Jamal do?
- Say no, kindly and clearly
- Log only the hours he actually worked
- Tell the program coordinator he is behind
- Make a plan with his supervisor to catch up
Talk it over
- What kind of practicum site would stretch you the most?
- Which CHW specialty or next step interests you, and why?
- How can we show employers the value of CHW work?
Study sheet
The big idea: Professional, honest work builds trust, opens doors to jobs and careers, and keeps our certificates and programs strong.
Key points
- Professional CHWs are reliable, trustworthy, respectful and know the edge of their scope.
- Ohio requires 130 clinical hours; our practicum covers shadowing, client work, groups and an IDEAS project.
- Log hours honestly the same day and get them signed by your site supervisor.
- CHWs prevent crises by working upstream; steady funding for CHWs is itself a health issue.
- The CHW career ladder includes specialties, lead and supervisor roles, college credit and health professions.
- Renew every two years with 15 contact hours, including 1 on law and rules and 1 on boundaries.
Remember
- 130 practicum hours: 20 orientation, 60 client work, 30 groups and outreach, 20 IDEAS
- Renewal: every two years, 15 contact hours
- Required CE: 1 hour Ohio law and Board rules, 1 hour professional boundaries
- First renewal: the 15 hour rule does not apply
- Keep CE proof for six years
Ask yourself
- What professional habit do I want people to notice in me at my site?
- Where do I want my CHW career to take me in five years?
Vocabulary
| Word | What it means |
|---|---|
| Professionalism | Reliable, honest, respectful conduct that earns trust from clients, teams and partners. |
| Practicum | Supervised hands-on training in a real community setting; Ohio requires 130 clinical hours. |
| Site supervisor | The qualified person at a practicum site who guides your work and signs your hours. |
| Hour log | A signed record of each practicum hour: date, site, activity and supervisor. |
| Competency checklist | A list of CHW skills your supervisors rate to confirm you can do each one. |
| Site agreement | A signed written agreement between the program and a practicum site. |
| Career ladder | A set of steps for growing in a field, from entry jobs to lead roles and degrees. |
| Contact hour | A unit of continuing education, roughly one hour of approved learning. |
| Renewal period | The two-year cycle after which an Ohio CHW certificate must be renewed. |
| Audit | A Board check that asks you to prove you completed your continuing education. |
Real-life situations
Running late on day one
Rosa's first practicum day at a clinic in Clark-Fulton starts at 8:30. Her bus is running 25 minutes late.
What to do
- Call or text the site supervisor now, using the number given for the site
- Give a realistic arrival time
- Apologize briefly when you arrive and get to work
- Plan an earlier bus or backup ride for next time
Why: Calling ahead shows reliability, even when things go wrong.
Asked to do a task you were not trained for
At a senior center in Lee-Harvard, a busy staff member asks Terrell to sort residents' pills into their weekly boxes.
What to do
- Politely say this is outside your CHW role
- Offer to help with something you are trained to do
- Tell your site supervisor and the program coordinator
- Note it in your practicum log
Why: An RN may never delegate medication administration to a CHW in Ohio, and students work only within their training.
The social media post
After a great health fair in Glenville, Brianna wants to post photos of herself with community members on Instagram.
What to do
- Check the site's photo and social media policy first
- Post only with written permission from everyone shown
- Never post anything that shows client information
- When in doubt, post a photo of the setup, not people
Why: Being seen at a health event can reveal private information about a person.
Planning for renewal
Devon was certified last spring. He asks when he must renew and whether he needs CE hours this first time.
What to do
- Help him find his expiration date on his Board record
- Explain the 15 hour rule does not apply to his first renewal
- Encourage him to start CE anyway, including law and boundaries topics
- Suggest a calendar reminder and a folder for CE certificates
Why: Ohio exempts the first renewal from the 15 hour rule, but good habits make every later renewal easy.
Activity: My practicum and career plan
About 25 minutes.
- List two practicum sites you would like and why, including the life stages you would serve there.
- Write a 3 sentence introduction you will use on your first day at the site.
- Choose one next step on the career ladder you want to reach in five years.
- Set a calendar reminder for your first certificate renewal and list two CE topics you want.
- Post your plan in the course discussion and comment on one classmate's plan.
Post-test
Ten questions. You need 75% to pass, with one retake. Your result is saved in this browser.
Sources
- Ohio Administrative Code 4723-26-13, Standard curriculum
- Ohio Administrative Code 4723-26-05, Continuing education
- Ohio Administrative Code 4723-26-02, CHW certification
- Ohio Administrative Code 4723-26-12, Training program standards
- Ohio Administrative Code Chapter 4723-26 (rule 4723-26-07, Prohibitions on delegation)