Funding
Q: Why should I enroll in PREP LTC?
A: By enrolling in PREP LTC, LTC homes will access:
• Support from Regional Engagement Liaisons to help your home.
• Assessment of your needs and barriers.
• Support with placement coordination.
• Connections with post-secondary schools.
• Tools, resources and templates.
• Funding to backfill preceptor time and/or as honoraria for preceptors and to establish or expand a student placement coordination role.
Q: How can I use PREP LTC funds?
A: There are three opportunities for funding.
1. Preceptor funding may be used to:
• Hire staff, including agency staff, to backfill team members during the time they are providing dedicated preceptor time to students other than when they are being shadowed on rounds.
• Pay honoraria to preceptors as appreciation.
• Pay administrative staff to take on the administrative tasks of the preceptor.
• Pay retired nurses to provide some dedicated time to students.
• Pay overtime to other team members to take on some preceptor responsibilities and/or to backfill preceptors.
2. Preceptor education funding is:
• Provided within 60 days of clinical preceptors completing the PREP LTC eLearning Course
• Used to offset the cost of backfilling clinical preceptors taking the course
3. Student placement coordination funding may be used to:
• Recruit and onboard a student placement coordinator.
• Pay a team member or hire a coordinator to coordinate student placements in your home.
Q: Is there a minimum and maximum amount of funding a home can receive?
A: This year offers a flexible funding mix of up to $40,000, giving homes the freedom to use the funds where they’re needed most! Pick the best option to meet your home’s clinical student placement needs.
Option 1*
• Receive $30K student placement coordination funds within 60 days of registering, plus up to $10K in backfill/honoraria or more
Option 2*
• Receive up to $40K solely for backfill/honoraria or more
Both options include unlimited eLearning Course funding, which homes receive within 60 days of clinical preceptors completing the course.
*The backfill/honoraria amount depends on the total number of students registered and the number of homes that apply.
Q: Can I request only $15,000 of the coordination funding and use the remainder to support preceptors of clinical placements?
A: No, the student placement coordination funding is for $30,000 to cover a ½ time salary for this role. This amount will be provided within 60 days of applying for it.
Q: If I apply for student placement coordination funds AND for clinical placements, can I receive up to $70,000?
A: No. You may receive up to $40,000 in funding, including the $30,000 for coordination, but you may receive more depending on the number of funding requests we receive.
Q: If I apply for the student placement coordination funds of $30,000, does that mean our home would only be eligible for $10,000 in student placement funds?
A: If you apply for coordination funds, you would be eligible for up to $10,000 additional in clinical placement funds, but you may receive more, depending upon the number of funding requests we receive. We encourage you to register for as many placements as you can account for. (Please check with your finance department.)
Q: How were the funding amounts determined?
A: The PREP LTC team assessed the development of clinical placement programs within the LTC sector. We determined that preceptors need to spend about one day a week dedicated to teaching, mentoring, providing feedback or evaluating students under their supervision and a few days at the beginning of a placement to execute orientation activities. The funding amounts are based on our findings and the average hours a student, by role, spends in a home. We recognize that these times may vary depending on the academic and placement programs the students are participating in.
Q: Does the length of time of the clinical placement determine the amount of funding an LTC home receives?
A: No, the length of time of the placement is not a factor in the funding received.
Q: Can homes provide funding to preceptors?
A: Yes, preceptor funding can be provided to preceptors in the form of an honorarium or to appreciate the preceptor. Funds are not to be used as a wage increase or supplement. You may also use funds to backfill a team member who spends dedicated time precepting and mentoring eligible placements under their supervision outside of their regular duties.
Q: Can we use the funds for any student placements? NPs, Food Services, etc.?
A: Funds are to support preceptors mentoring students in personal support worker (PSW) and nursing (PN, BScN, NP) programs, as well as IEN and SPEP candidates in Ontario.
Q: Can I apply for this funding if I hosted an IEN or SPEP placement?
A: Yes; if you hosted an IEN or SPEP candidate, you may apply for funding to backfill preceptors who spent dedicated time supervising them or to provide honoraria as appreciation to these preceptors.
Q: Once my home enrolls in PREP LTC, am I eligible for funding?
A: Once an LTC home enrolls in PREP LTC, it will receive an email with a copy of its responses and a UNIQUE LTC HOME LINK FOR STUDENT REGISTRATION. Homes must register their students by January 31, 2024, at 5 p.m. to be eligible for funding.
Q: Can homes use the funds to bring in and give guidance to high school co-op students?
A: Currently, secondary school co-op placements are not eligible. However, please see our Experiential Learning in Long-Term Care Guidebook and other resources for LTC homes offering placements for secondary school students on the Ontario CLRI website.
Eligibility
Q: Is my LTC home eligible for PREP LTC funding?
A: If your LTC home has or will have PSW or nursing (PN, BScN, NP) students or IEN or SPEP candidates whose placements end between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, regardless of the start date, your home will be eligible for funding to backfill preceptor time or as honoraria for preceptors. The preceptor must be a team member from your LTC home who supervises the students and dedicates time to support the students outside of their regular duties.
Q: What types of organizations with LTC residents are eligible for PREP LTC supports?
A: Long-term care homes and organizations, including hospitals with licensed LTC beds, that take on nursing and/or personal support worker (PSW) students, IEN or SPEP candidates for clinical placements are eligible for funding. Contact prepltc@the-ria.ca for any questions regarding hospitals’ eligibility for preceptor funding supports.
Q: What if I did not have any clinical placements in my LTC home?
A: By enrolling, you may register for student placement coordination, which will provide funding to help work on getting clinical placements. In addition, your home will have access to support from our engagement team, tools, resources and preceptor education. If you decide to place students in your home, you will also have access to backfill or honoraria funding for preceptors.
Q: What are the preceptor funding eligibility criteria for placements?
A: Any clinical placement being completed by PSW and nursing students as well as IEN and SPEP candidates, are eligible for preceptor funding. A placement must have been completed in your LTC home between April 1, 2023, and March 31, 2024, regardless of when it started, to be eligible for Year 3 funding. For example, a placement that began on February 1, 2023, and ended on June 30, 2023, is eligible for backfill funding. However, a placement that began on January 5, 2024, and ended on May 30, 2024, would not be eligible for funding.
Q: Is funding available for all clinical placements or only for consolidation placements?
A: At this time, we are accepting registrations for consolidation placements or those supervised by a preceptor from a long-term care home. Placements supervised by a clinical supervisor from their post-secondary institution or supervised in groups are not eligible.
Q: Is there a limit to how many clinical placements homes can register in PREP LTC?
A: No, there is no limit. The funding amount each home receives will be based on the total number of applications from all LTC homes in Ontario to ensure a fair distribution of funds. Please check with your finance department to ensure that you are able to account for the amount of funding you applied for.
Q: Can the preceptor be an existing team member?
A: Yes, the preceptor can be an existing team member, but they will need to be backfilled by additional staff when they spend dedicated time with students outside of their regular duties.
Preceptor Education
Q: Are there credentials needed to be a preceptor?
A: We do not require preceptors to have specific credentials, but each LTC home may have specific requirements. We recommend that current and future preceptors (any team member who would like to pursue precepting) take our PREP LTC preceptor eLearning Course.
Q: Can any team member take the PREP LTC preceptor eLearning course, or does it have to be only those precepting PSW and nursing students?
A: Any team member in any discipline may take the PREP LTC eLearning Course. Homes will receive $210 to cover backfill costs for clinical preceptors taking the course, within 60 days of completion.
We also encourage students and clinical placement candidates being supervised to take the eLearning Course. However, homes will not receive backfill funding for students or other team members who complete the course.
Enrollment Process
Q: By what date do LTC homes have to enroll in PREP LTC?
A: LTC homes should enroll in PREP LTC as soon as possible to gain access to all the resources including funding. Enrollment for Year 3 will close on December 19, 2023.
Q: How do I register for student placement coordination?
A: When you enroll your LTC home, you will have the option of registering for student placement coordination. The last date to enroll AND register for clinical placement coordination is December 19, 2023.
Q: How do I register student placements to receive funding?
A: Once an LTC home has enrolled, it will receive a confirmation email with a UNIQUE LTC HOME LINK FOR STUDENT REGISTRATION. You may register multiple students at one time and return to the same link to register more students throughout the year. The last date to register students is January 31, 2024.
Q: When is the last date for LTC homes to enroll in PREP LTC and register their students for funding?
A: We encourage all LTC homes to enroll and register for coordination and clinical placement funding as soon as possible. The last date to enroll in PREP LTC and register for student placement coordination support is December 19, 2023. The last date to register clinical placements is January 31, 2024, for LTC homes to receive funds. PREP LTC funds must be spent by March 31, 2024.
Q: Do we need to spend these funds within a specified time?
A: Yes, LTC homes must spend the funds by March 31, 2024.
Q: What if I made an error in the enrollment or registration forms submitted?
A: Please email us at prepltc@the-ria.ca, and we will address the error.