Sandwich Caring Role

Communication eases anxiety of the patients and eliminates more possibilities for mistakes, and lets each party know what is expected of them it also helps the care worker to communicate and use their skills to meets the service user’s rights and needs. In a care home, there are elderly people who may have speech difficulties, be hard of hearing, but the care worker should not use the effective communication skills too much because if the care worker speaks to one of the elderly which has hearing difficulties he must ensure he does not speak to loud as the elderly person may feel intimidated and may feel that the care worker is

7. The importance of the practitioner as an agent of change and their role as facilitators of positive practice including the development of carers as active participants in children and young peoples’ lives (Ref. 5.3, 4.1, 4.3)

Identify the positive outcomes for children and young people that practitioners should be striving to achieve

In order to exercise your duty of care, staff must ensure that any decisions and choices people make are based on understanding the consequences and potential risks of what they want to do. Care worker role is not to prevent people from doing what they want, but making sure that they know the possible results. This can result in some very finely balanced decisions, especially where there are concerns about someone’s capacity to understand the possible risks and consequences from their actions. The question of capacity to make decisions is highly complex and staff must consider it carefully. It is very easy to make the assumption that because someone has dementia, a learning disability or a long-term mental health problem, for example, they lack the capacity to make decisions about important issues affecting their own life.

The need for older people to have their autonomy to make a decision and be an active partner in the decision making process must be recognised and is an essential component in person centred care. ‘’The older person and family have the right to make informed decisions about all aspects of their care and the nurse respects the level of participation desired’’ (An Bord Altranais, 2009). Nurses most realise the importance of patients participation in their care and strive to uphold it as a principle of person centred care, ‘’Lack of time and/or restrictions on patients choice and involvement, was listed as the number 1 factor to hinder quality nursing care’’ (An Bord Altranais, 2009). As nurses it is our responsibility to take the time to overcome communication barriers, for example, a hearing or speech deficit. The nurse can opt to use non-verbal communication to facilitate the decision making process for the patient. Patients are entitled to information about every aspect of their care and should be frequently updated. Information about management and prevention of conditions, procedures, assessments and investigations ,diagnosis, treatment, follow on care, referrals and services available to patients( i.e. health, social) should all be disclosed to patient (Department of Health,2001). If they

1. UNDERSTAND KEY LEGISLATION AND AGREED WAYS OF WORKING THAT SUPPORT THE FULFILMENT OF RIGHTS AND CHOICES AND THE MINIMISING OF RISK OF HARM FOR AN INVIVIDUAL WITH DEMENTIA.

In dementia care we often look to family, advocates other professionals and carers in order to gain consent when the individual no longer has the capacity.

Individuals who have communication problems need support to enable them to express themselves effectively. It is therefore important for the carer to be aware of the individuals preferred method of communication and also to support the individual to use their preferred method. Individuals have the right to communicate through their chosen method and their choice should be acknowledged and respected by supporting them. The individual’s right are particularly important when using specific communication methods

Of course there will be important conflicts of interest between service users and their carers which will need to be faced up to at an individual level. But services should not be provided by exploiting the personal commitment and dedication of carers. Families who care for individuals whose behaviour presents challenges are subject to considerable and continual stress, both physical and psychological. Although staffs is not permanently on duty as family carers can be, they are still subject to the same stresses when supporting people whose behaviour challenges. This is true even in settings which aim to do no more than contain people. Similar concerns apply to staff as to carers. The higher aspirations often found in progressive services impose extra strain on staff and here too it is important to balance the demands of working constructively with people who can be very difficult, day in and day out, with the needs of individual staff for emotional and practical respite and ongoing support. Demographic changes and rising expectations will

Good communication with the individual should be enhanced. Both individual and carer must compromise and negotiate to what would benefit most for the individual as long as it is safe. Thorough information should be given and must acknowledge the benefits of their choices. This is a way of recognising rights and choices of the individual. One example is the resident’s choice not to use his/her walking frame. This is one conflict of decision – making. Decision should be tailored to the needs of the resident

While working with vulnerable groups of individuals in health and social care settings there are times when care workers are faced with a conflict of interests. Very often ethical dilemmas will not have the right answer and will depend upon a number of considerations. When the care worker is faced with a dilemma and will be expected to make a decision. Before making a decision, the care worker must consider their risks to the individual and any other people, the policies of the organisation and if they have all the facts of the case.

Consequently as a student of psychology, and as a human resource employee, I know that the greatest disconnects often occur with gaps in communication between the care givers and the cared for. As your case manager, I shall serve as a liaison

Citizenship is an essential element within my workplace, due to the nature of the work. Effective teamwork plays an important part in maintaining an adequate level of care and dignity for the resident’s under our care. The Layout of the residential care facility that I work at combined with the different and challenging care levels of the residents mean that effective communications play an important role in maintaining a safe and efficient workplace, and ensuring that the highest level of care is afforded to the residents. All members of the care team need to communicate effectively to ensure that care plans are adhered to and that any issues relating to medical care or psychological wellbeing can be understood and addressed by the relevant

Some people might say care planning is the most natural thing in the world, so why do we need policies and legislations in place to show us how to do it? (Care planning in health and social care – Marjorie Lloyd - page 1).

Strengths-based practice – every family has its own strengths and means to deal with a problem and it’s the social service worker’s role to help the family identify them and use them