Personal Development Essay

MODUL – Introduction to personal development in health, social care or children’s and young people’s settings (L2) (3) (M) 1.1 Describe the duties and responsibilities of own role My duties and responsibilities as a carer are: to provide high quality care for residents while complying with the company’s policies and procedures, any legislations and standards relevant to care work so the physical, emotional, social, intellectual and spiritual needs of individuals I look after are met and provide safe environment for all people working or coming to care setting; to be prepared to work within a team at all times; be flexible, adaptable; to build and maintain relationship with residents and support them with their Activities of Daily Living (such as assisting with personal care, meaningful and purposeful daily and social activities, helping them to make informed choices) and so maintain and improve their independence, individuality and mobility; to attend mandatory training, meetings; to keep up to date with new legislation, employer’s policies, procedures; to maintain confidentiality; to work in person centred way, to reduce discrimination by Equality and Inclusion; to record any necessary information in clear and professional way/language. 1.2 Identify standards that influence the way the role is carried out * Codes of practise – for example Code of Practice for Social Care Workers and for Employers of Social Workers * National Occupational Standards – regarding quality of care, qualification of carers * National Minimum Standards – for example National Minimum Standards for Care Homes for Older People * Internal policies and procedures, * Legislation (Health and Safety at Work Act – including COSHH – Control of Substances Hazardous to Health Regulations which apply to use, storage, dispose such substances, RIDDOR – Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations – require to report any work related injuries, diseases and dangerous occurrences, Manual Handling Operation Regulations, Fire Safety Regulations) 1.3 Describe ways to ensure that personal attitudes or beliefs do not obstruct the quality of work Not to criticise others, always be aware that everybody is different and so respect what they say, feel, want even though I do not agree with it, be and act as professional at all times. Listen to them actively. Try to avoid conflicts. 2.1 Explain why reflecting on work activities is an important way to develop knowledge, skills and practice Reflecting on our own practices, actions we took in providing care, in interaction with colleagues, visitors or other professionals is an integral part in one’s personal development. The reasons why it is are as follows: looking back at what we did, how we reacted in certain situations (with positive results as well as difficult ones) helps us to examine why we practice the way we do, if it is in correct way or we can do it better or we need to change it; also helps us to identify the areas of our own practice that needs to be further improved, developed. It’s a good tool for addressing our strengths and weaknesses and based on this knowledge it helps to develop new areas of learning, find different ways of how we perform our work and so to become more effective and professional support worker. 3.1 Identify sources of support for own learning and development * Internal and external trainings * Team meetings * Supervisions and appraisals * Communication with and observations of experienced colleagues * Online research, thematic literature 3.2 Describe the process for agreeing a personal development plan and who should be involved In first two weeks in the company I was issued a Personal Development Plan which took me through my first three months here. Its integral part were 8 standards in which was explained how to carry out job effectively at high standards making sure that principles of communications, privacy, personal care, safeguarding etc. are fully understood. The standards included important information, questions and exercises which needed to be solved within 3 month probation period. Another part included inductions to manual handling, food hygiene, fire safety, infection control and other work relevant areas through trainings and watching dvds. Again the timescale was set for probation time. Working in a team, communicating with the clients, staff and supervisor and mentor I was able to understand and gain necessary information to meet my personal development plan objectives. In this process were involved following people: home manager, me, head carer, deputy head carer.