Hello, beautiful world! Welcome to my second blog. Hope everyone is full of big bright smiles. 🙂
I cannot believe spring is just around the corner! I have been awfully busy these past few weeks due to school. Tests, quizzes, lectures, assignments, attending workshops and presentations are keeping me quite busy these days. Along with these elements, I recently began my evening classes where we get to practise our approach and develop hands-on skills.
As a Health Care Assistant student in-training, it is extremely important to practise our hands-on skills. I cannot stress enough how important it is to familiarize ourselves with a comfortable approach, especially when it comes to interacting with our clients. Many of us may find this portion of the program scary or challenging. Then there are those who may not have much trouble at all. It all depends on you.
This program is a hybrid, which means it involves both theory and hands-on learning. This also means there will be a point in time where we will have to practise our skills with one another. Which is why I highly recommend getting into the habit of interacting with one another and getting used to giving each other constructive feedback.
When it comes to hands-on learning, each of us is going to perceive real life situations differently, which is absolutely okay but being able to execute those skills in a comfortable, yet natural manner, takes time to craft and that is the challenging part.
For those of you who are considering this profession, time management is key and this is where practising our skills is going to come in handy.
Here are a couple of suggestions and reality checks that I have for you:
Ask questions
When in doubt, regardless if it’s theory or hands-on learning, ask questions because chances are if you have a question regarding a series of steps, providing care, or whatever it may be, your fellow classmates may also be thinking the exact same thing. So, instead of awkwardly staring at one another and undergoing moments of pin-drop silences, seek immediate clarifications.
Be open-minded
Keep an open mind towards constructive criticism. When it comes to hands-on skills and in-class activities, it is extremely important to keep a positive attitude when receiving feedback from others. Instead of criticizing or becoming defensive at what others say, take a moment to listen and appreciate one another to further gain insight.
Hygiene
Please get used to having BM on your gloves. This profession involves a variety of smells as we will be dealing with blood and bodily fluids. There is absolutely no way getting around this. Therefore, best practice consists of us consistently washing our hands and wearing gloves at all times.
Know yourself
Figure out what exactly triggers you. In this profession, there are going to be good days and bad days. Some residents may express their token of appreciation with the care we provide and others may simply dislike us. That’s just the nature of this profession. It is important to not to take such situations personally and know that as Health Care Assistants we are working towards the best interest of our clients.
Stay tuned for more updates!
If you’re interested in this career or program, fill out the inquiry form on this page or contact the Program Advisory team directly at 1-866-580-2772 or [email protected] for more information!
