Diploma 3 302

Michael James Diploma 3 Assignment 302
Page 12 of 12

Question DIP 1.1 - Describe the duties and responsibilities of own work role.

My role includes, but is not limited to overseeing the different aspects of each service users day-to-day needs which involves prompting service users in personal hygiene to money management, grocery shopping, dispensing medications.

My role also includes conducting supervisions, developing support skills in the staff, all the aspects of incident reporting to the management, paperwork and of any court appointments, assisting in managing finances including cash handling, interaction, direction and counselling with the individual, dispute resolution and dealing with various emergency services when necessary.

My duties and responsibilities also include;
Conform to all laws, policies, procedures and guidelines laid down by my the governing bodies such as the CQC and my employer.

Promote an independent lifestyle for the vulnerable adults I am supporting.

Carrying out support duties and other administrative aspects of the business, as relevant to the position.

Provide personal and practical support services for people with a wide range of mental health and physical disabilities.

Support service users with mobility and other physical disabilities, including incontinence and support in use- and support of aids and personal equipment.

Help in the promotion of mental and physical activity of service users through talking to them, taking them out, sharing with them in activities such as reading, writing, hobbies and recreation.

Prompt and support service users to complete practical tasks such as; set tables and trays, serve meals, feed service users who need help, prepare light meals, cleaning, launder clothing, wash up, and tidy and clear away.

Complete a daily diary and take part in staff and service users' meetings and in training activities as required and directed by management.


Question DIP 1.2 - Explain expectations about own work role as expressed in the relevant standards.

Relevant Standards;
The standards which I am to maintain and are applicable to me are set by the various governing bodies such as the CQC, as well as my employer.

I an expected to have a competent understanding of the standards, laws, policies and procedures for my role as a support worker. I am to do this through education, training and ongoing refresher courses.

I am expected to comply and maintain, not just to the minimum standards set by the health and care governing bodies in performing all of my duties and responsibilities, but should seek to exceed the standards and requirements laid out by these governing bodies.

Question TC 1.2, Question DIP 2.1 - Explain the importance of reflective practice in continuously improving the quality of service provided.

Reflective practice is this process of ongoing evaluation of individual performance compared to standards of practice set forth by the governing health and care bodies. This process is important as it helps highlight areas in my practice which may require improvement or it may reveal how a task may be performed in a better way and achieve a higher level of success.

Reflective practice involves a need for ongoing education, constant performance evaluation by seniors and management, open communication with others and any changes in the way I perform a task to enhance my level of performance.

Reflective practice involves four main components which are;

DO – REVIEW – LEARN – APPLY or
ACT – OBSERVE – REFLECT – PLAN,

each one of these can be broken down in to further stages.

Question DIP 2.3, Question TC 1.4 - Describe how own values and belief systems and experiences may affect working practice.

As a support worker my personal beliefs, values and world-view, if unchecked, can mean I show partiality to a particular group of people and may respond positively to people who share my values and less warmly or even negatively to people who have different values. The way in which I respond to people is linked to my world-view and what I believe.

It is therefore important to ensure that the standards for best practice and professional conduct are fully understood so every service user it treated fairly and without partiality.
We all have our own values and beliefs. Sometimes I may be caring for individuals with very different beliefs to my own. As a support worker I have to make sure that my beliefs
do not affect how I support and care for individuals.

The questions I should ask myself with regard to treating everyone equally are;
How do my values, opinions, views and beliefs impact on my work practice?
Am I able to separate personal and professional responses when dealing with someone
who does not hold the same values as I do?
Am I able to objective and see what difference exists between personal and
professional practice?
Am I able to overcome a strong personal belief, value or feeling to safeguard the service user I am supporting and work in partnership with work colleagues?

To ensure the values, beliefs and world views I hold firmly do not impact the service users negatively I should be seeking too include two core elements.

Equality - The universal value of every human being.
Tolerance - Acceptance of those individuals who believe or do not believe like I do.

These core values are cause for reflection and consideration of personal beliefs to see if I do indeed hold to these values or not.

Even after reflection, if I am still unwilling to embrace these two essential values, I am required by law to ensure I treat every person equally and to provide the same quality of support for every service user I support, not just for those who share my world-views and beliefs.

Every service user I support has human rights which include the right to:
be respected and be treated as an individual
be treated equally, without discrimination
be cared for in a way that meets their needs
be protected from danger and harm.

The values and beliefs are formed and transformed by the following:

Family background: 
The make-up of my immediate and extended family and themy impact; whether I were an only child or were there many children; sibling rivalry; a mix of genders; the history of My family; whether there was a harsh discipline or permissive attitude.
Environment:
The house/flat/caravan I grew up in and its location, within town or rural setting, within a certain geographical area, or a different country. 

Cont:
Finances: 
Whether I was wealthy or struggled to have my basic needs met.
Education:
The ethos of my school; whether single or mixed sex; boarding or day school; inspirational teachers; success academically; whether I was bullied; whether I developed special interests. 
Moral influences: 
Religious or spiritual belief system including if I embraced or rejected these values passed onto me as being of central importance to the way I think, believe and live my life.

It is important to reflect and review if these influences have promoted the core values of equality and tolerance:

Question DIP 3.1 - Evaluate own knowledge, performance and understanding against relevant standards.

Evaluate means to review evidence from different perspectives and come to a valid conclusion or reasoned judgement. This is about reflecting on and evaluating honestly my own performance, and discovering ways to improve it through skills development. This requires I work with others to identify my strengths and weaknesses, find out what information and support is available to help me develop a plan covering my personal and professional aspirations, and then put those plans into action.

To be able to effectively evaluate my performance I must first have the knowledge through training and education which will give me the understanding and skills I need to carry out my role.

This education can be developed through a number of channels, such as;
Classroom training on relevant subjects
Apprenticeships
On the job training
Supervisions
An understanding of my organisation and how it operates
Monitoring my performance regularly to make sure that it is as effective as possible.
Regular and useful feedback from colleagues and seniors on my performance.
Regularly describe and analyse any improvements that need to be made
Maintain a level of knowledge and understanding that enables me to carry out my role effectively.
Change the way I work in line with any relevant or new approaches or recommendations.
Use feedback from clients, contacts or colleagues to identify any skills gaps.
Develop a personal development plan and update it regularly to include new aims or
achievements.


I need to be able to:

Apply knowledge/experience effectively, yet be open to exploring new ideas.
Invite a two-way exchange of information and feedback with others.
Strive to add value by achieving results in the best way.
Be committed to developing myself to improve performance.

Question DIP 4.1, Question TC 3.2 - Identify sources of support for planning and reviewing own development professional interests and development opportunities.

There are many sources of support that I can access and many different ways that I can help myself, when developing my support work. The appraisal or supervision system in my workplace can be a good starting point. This gives me a good opportunity to use the experience and knowledge of my manager to help me plan how to move develop in my career.

Other sources of support and planning include;
Assessor - Who comes in to watch me do my job and then talks to me about any concerns they have seen and then advise and support me with my performance and development.
Instructors & Teachers – I can request help from them with any concerns about my work and progress and they will regularly feedback to me on my progress and development. They can also conduct observations every few months.
Colleagues - I can talk to other support workers about my work to get guidance on things, and also observe or shadow them to help I see how some things are done.
Meetings - Have staff and key stage meetings where progress is discussed and I get to know about any new plans and any changes that are going on.
Training - To be able to learn the things that I am struggling with by going on various courses to improve my development.
Mentors - Someone who is assigned to me to be able to answer my questions about the job and put me on the right path. 
Self assessment - Reflecting on my work helps me to plan different ways of doing things and helps me see my progression.
Yearly appraisal - This is a meeting to discuss my development progress where I can ask questions and review the things in my job description to make sure I are meeting them.
Course folder - My employer may have one of these, which holds records of all the courses available for me to go on.
Staff notice board - Courses or training sessions are advertised here.
Line manager - They help me by answering any concerns I have about work.



Question DIP 5.1 - Evaluate how learning activities have affected practice

A learning activity is a doorway to knowledge and more efficient productivity. Learning activities can therefore be very effective tools in training educating and employee development. Learning activities can come in a number of forms such as; one-to-one interactions, group activities and classroom training.

How the learning activities will affects the work practice depends on the learning activities focus itself, for instance working in partnership with parents to better understand behaviour of a service user. Once a learning activity has been participated in, there should be a time of reflection, planning and action.

Question TC 1.1 - Explain what Reflective practice is.

Reflective practice is simply the process in which I critically think about and analyze my actions with the goal of changing and improving my actions and practice.

Reflection is the process that we consciously undertake to gain further understanding and add meaning to our daily lives.

Reflection is associated with learning that has occurred through experience and is an activity that helps I make sense of and learn from situations.

Reflection therefore, is a means of assisting us to think, to explore our thoughts and feelings and to work through an experience, in an attempt to gain new understandings, fresh insights and self awareness.

Reflective practice is a process which enables me to achieve a better understanding of myself, my skills, competencies, knowledge and professional practice.

Reflective practice is an active deliberate process of critically examining work practice. A company, a group of people or an individual is challenged and enabled to undertake the process of self-examination to empower them to realize better and more effective ways of working in an upward spiral of transformation.

Transformation comes from learning, and learning is derived from experience but not just experience for I have to reflect on my experience. So for the reflection to do any good I not only need to engage in reflection I must also record it. By thinking about what I am doing and why I am doing it; this is what turns my experiences into meaningful learning.

The objective is to identify what we have learnt in order to construct new or different approaches to our future practice, or to recognise and validate effective practice to utilise in the future.
If I am to become a reflective employee I have to use that learning to increase my professional knowledge and skills to the benefit of not only myself but also those under my care.

Therefore reflection is a purposeful thoughtful activity to:
Gain new insight
Gain new ideas
Acquire new understanding
Enhance patient / client care

Reflection helps me to:
Stand back and think of a situation
Gain a new perspective
Make sense of our experiences
Construct meaning and knowledge that guides actions in practice

The reflective process has six main components, which are:

Stage one:
Description of the event - Describe in detail the event I are reflecting on. Include for example where I were; who else was there ; why were I there ; what were I doing ; what were other people doing ; what was the context of the event; what happened; what was My part in this; what part/s did other people play; what was the result?

Stage two:
Feelings - At this stage try to recall and explore the things that were going on inside My head, i.e. why does this event stick in My mind? Include e.g. how I were feeling when the event started; what I were thinking about at the time; how did it make I feel; how did other people make I feel; how did I feel about the outcome of the event; what do I think about it now?

Stage three:
Evaluation – Try to evaluate or make a judgment about what has happened. Consider what was good about the experience and what was bad about the experience or didn't go so well.

Stage four:
Analysis – Break the event down into its component parts, so they can be explored separately; what went well; what did I do well; what did others do well; what went wrong or did not turn out as it should have done; in what way did I or others contribute to this.

Stage five:
Conclusion - I now have a lot of information on which to base My judgment. It is here that I are likely to develop insight into My own and other people's behaviour in terms of how they contributed to the outcome of the event.Remember the purpose of reflection is to learn from an experience. During this stage I should ask Myself what I could have done differently.

Stage six:
Action plan - Plan what I would do if I encountered the event again. Would I act differently or would I be likely to do the same? How will this incident affect My future practice? What additional knowledge and skills do I need to develop?

Question TC 1.3 - Explain how standards inform reflective practice in adult social care.

Best practice standards are the most effective standards that are widely agreed upon as providing the most current thinking and practice against which I can measure what I am doing. The basis for best practice standards may be derived from various sources including statutory, regulatory, research, or care industry specific learning and experience. Standards set by the CQC such as the essential standards, best practice code for social care workers tell us how we should be working most efficiently. We can use these standards to think about the way we work and measure ourselves against them. It can be compared to doing my own annual evaluation at work, but on a frequent basis, always striving for improvement within the confines of the best practice standards. 

The process of reflective practice is a renewed emphasis on self evaluation to help attain the highest possible degree of acceptable performance. Reflective practice is essential for progressive learning and delivery of professional service.

However, the reflection and subsequent action plan agreed upon, must always ensure that the standards and best practice policies are maintained and upheld. Without constant measurement against the laws and standards, reflective practice may produce care/actions plans which do not incorporate the established standards of the care industry.

The standards within the work practice may be adapted for certain individuals due to reflective practice; for example if a individual prefers breakfast in bed and this is what they wish for I could talk to managers and nurses to see if this is a possibility and so it is documented in care plans and their needs are met and all employees will also be aware this is what the individual prefers.

This type of reflective practice does not violate any industry standards and also meets the specific needs of the individual.

The most important concept here is that I, as an individual, routinely monitor my processes, practices and outcomes and then make changes based on my evaluation compared to the best practice standards for those I support.




Here are some I statements often applied to reflective practice:

*I monitor my processes, practices and outcomes of my work.
*I evaluate my own performance using "best practice" benchmarks.
*I reflect on my interactions with others.
*I share my reflections with others and incorporate their feedback in my evaluation.
*I use reflection to solve problems.

Question TC 2.1 - Explain how people may react to and respond to receiving constructive feedback

Constructive feedback is feedback that is positive and helpful which includes elements of training and education.

Some people might not like what they hear because they have not been trained to receive feedback or the feedback given was negatively critical and so they ignore the good and justified feedback, others might take on board what they have done poorly and the advice on how to improve their practice. With a small group of individuals they will not want to change and will not want to receive any feedback.

People may react in different ways to constructive feedback, some people may take it on board and use it to improve better work practice, where as others may take offence and feel they are being spoken down to and patronised.

Two key elements are necessary with regard to constructive feedback. Each element relies on both parties playing a positive role in the feedback process.

Firstly each individual should be taught about the benefits of constructive feedback and that this process of feedback is part of their development and training in the care industry.

Secondly, the individual presenting the feedback needs to ensure they are not delivering the feedback in a negative or critical way or the student would not receive the instruction as it will be see as a negative experience, and not how it should be as a positive directive for future conduct.


Question TC2 2.2 - Explain the importance of seeking feedback to improve practice and inform development

Constructive feedback empowers the individual to perform at the best practice standards and gives focus to a better way to do the duties.


Seeking constructive feedback is important to improve practice because:
It sets up targets and the individual receiving feedback knows what to improve on.
It gets the person motivated and focused.
It helps identify weaknesses and strengths.
It allows expression and emphasis on what is important to the organisation and the job
and hence what the individual concerned should prioritise 
It builds a good relationship between examiner and worker of credibility of the
feedback 
It induces a challenge to change as a form of motivation 
It encourages a learning environment
It reduces uncertainty in the employees mind which reduces stress and increases
confidence
It establishes in the individuals mind what needs regular attention, and establishes a
training which focuses on those areas through a routine.

Question TC 2.3 - Explain the importance of using feedback in improving own practice.

The importance of feedback from other people to me can be a very useful way for me to learn more about myself and can help me to improve my proficiently of the job. I may think I am doing particular duties to the best practice standard but feedback from qualified sources can alert me to any areas I am not completing the duties fully to the standards of best practice.

This feedback given can be formal or informal. Formal feedback being given during a
supervision or appraisal or my study assessor will visit me at work with service users as part of my course, and will give me feedback on my performance which will be written in my assessment plan.

Informal feedback often comes from work colleagues, when I talk about work events while having a cup of tea or coffee, during a break, or over lunch. Service users can also give I valuable feedback on how I have done a job for them.

All of these sources of feedback are vital for my development and progression in my role. When I receive feedback in the workplace from various people I need to ask myself these questions;
Who gave I the feedback?
Was the feedback positive or negative?
Did I find the feedback helpful and did I learn anything?
How will I use the feedback to assess my practice?



Question TC - 3.1 Describe the components of a personal development plan.

S - Specific
M - Measurable
A - Achievable
R – Realistic & Relevant
T – Time bound

Specific:
Be clear about what I want to achieve.
Measurable
What is the value to me of this achievement in contrast to my role, professional career path, impact on knowledge and understanding,
Achievable
Ask myself if what I a thinking of doing is truly achievable, how can it be done: do I have funding, transport, support, access to resources, time to commit to training?
Realistic & Relevant
Consider if the training or development opportunity will benefit what me in my professional role.
Time-bound
Set a realistic time frame to help keep I focussed but do not set the time frame so short you burn yourself out.

Question TC 3.3 - Explain the role of others in the development of a personal development plan in identifying strengths and areas for development.

Role of others in my personal development is very important as these individuals see me working every day and know me capabilities of strengthens and weaknesses. This gives them the unique ability to help me set reasonable targets and time frames to complete a goal I am seeking to achieve.

The role of others can help me evaluate the achievements I am seeking to complete and help me to set realistic targets. They can provide me with information and new ideas for my goals, they can help me identify my strengths and they can help me identify areas for development, they can also develop a working and study partnership with me to assist me in completing the goal

These people may include; family members, close friends, work colleagues, advocates, assessors, supervisors, line managers other care professionals.


Question TC 3.4 - Explain the benefits of using a personal development plan to identify ongoing improvements in knowledge and understanding.

A personal development plan helps identify ongoing improvements in knowledge and understanding because it records what I have done and how well I have done it.

I can therefore, track the various accomplishments which I have made and also identify the areas which require a development and greater knowledge and understanding. I can use the goals set through the 'SMART' process to see where I need to improve or gain better understanding.

This process has a number of benefits for my personal life and working career which include;
It helps me to integrate personal and academic development and increases the ability to review my progress against my goals.
It also enables me to become more focused and effective in my learning and understand how I learn the best.
It enables me to identify any opportunities for learning and personal development outside of the work setting.
It helps me improve my general skills for study and career management.
It encourages a positive attitude toward learning and career progression through-out life.