torstai 21. joulukuuta 2023




 Professional growth 
a.k.a.
“From novice to expert” 

According to Patricia Benner the professional growth consist of five stages: Novice, advanced beginner, competent, proficient and expert. At the beginning of ones professional carreer a person is inflexible in his/ her professional behaviour and incapable to foresee what might happen in different situations. When a person gains more experience he/ she will be more capable to recognize different meaningful components of a situation. This is because advanced beginner already has some konwledge and know-how, but to go further he/ she needs more in-depth experience to become a competent professional. Even in this third stage a competent person lacks speed and flexibility, but can rely on advanced planning and his/ her organizational skills. He/ she can identify different situations faster and more accurate than advanced beginner. Proficient workers already starts to see the “big picture” instead of individual events which gives them ability to modify their plans and react accordingly. An expert is a person who gets the job done. He/ she has a wide range of professional skills combined with in-depth experience, so that he/ she can rely in his/ her intuition more than rules or guidelines. An expert can identify relevant knowledge from irrelevant and focus on what really matters so that he/ she can reach the goal. (Healtresearchfunding. 2023.) 

Professional growth is a life long process where a person will gain more professional competencies by doing, by learning and by educating oneself. One must challenge him-/herself to achieve more professional know-how and if needed, jump away from ones comfort zone. Only by challenging your way of working, your values and yourself as a professional, you can obtain better professional competencies.  

Sources:

Healtresearchfunding.org. Patricia Benner Novice to Expert Nursing Theory Explained. 2023. Available: https://healthresearchfunding.org/patricia-benner-novice-to-expert-nursing-theory-explained/. Quoted 21.12.2023


Picture: www.pexels.com/ Pixabay

keskiviikko 20. joulukuuta 2023



Digitalization in social services


Digitalization is both electrification of services and the renewal of operating methods. It’s about how tecnology can help us to work faster and more efficiently. Digitalization changes working methods by creating new alternative functions. Covid-19 caused large jump in digitalization. That made teleworking possible.  


Effects of digitalization are large. Digitalization have changes work methods and social services. It’s easier to use digital programs and you can use those regardless time and place. But there is many types of customers and everybody can’t use digital services. The elderly can’t use computers or smart phones and that is a large problem with digitalization. Some people rather go to office and communicate with customers. And some people doesn’t have tools to use electronic diveces.  


Digitalization has positive and negative aspects. It increase efficiency in different work methods. You can choose where and how you work. Digitalization has created new methods to meet customers and have meetings. Negative sides of digitalization are that it cut down human interactions. Also technology can some day take our jobs and technology and electronic devices are hard to use and easy to addict. 



Sources:

Centria university of applied sciences. 2023. Digitalization (PowerPoint slides).  Quoted 20.12.2023.  

Hyppönen H. & Ilmarinen K. 2016. Sosiaali- ja terveydenhuollon digitalisaatio. Tutkimuksesta tiiviisti 22/2016. Finnish institute for healt and welfare, Helsinki. 


Picture: www.flickr.com/ John B Photografía

tiistai 19. joulukuuta 2023


Customership and professional dialogue

Trust relationship 

Building a trust relationship is always an individual process, sometimes it takes less time, sometimes more. Trust is strongly related to interaction. If you feel that the other person understands you, you will gradually dare to open up more and more about yourself. Trust can create a positive continuum. When you feel that another person trusts you, it increases your own trust in that other person. When you feel that we are working together to develop ways to go forward in difficult situations, a relationship of trust can develop.  

  

There are many things that social worker must consider. Her/his work is governed by laws, workplace or organizational rules and budgets.  It's the worker's responsibility to make sure the client gets the help she/he needs, but at the same time there are a lot of formalities that can't be ignored. The employee builds a relationship of trust with the client through his or her own personal personality, but employee´s organization can also influence the client's attitude towards the encounter. For example, if a customer has a previously negative image of an authority in an organization, this can create a prejudice against the customer. Then the employee must work even harder to establish a trust relationship.  

  

Emotions 

Social workers need good emotional skills. You must be able to recognize the feelings of others. Empathy is big importance in social work. An employee with good emotional skills is able to receive the client's emotions and deal with them separately from his/ her own emotions. I think it's also important to show your emotions, but that also requires the skill to show your emotions in the right way, so that it doesn't 

negatively affects the client situation. You need good situational awareness and the ability to deal with your own emotions. Social work is an emotionally demanding job. Interaction situations also affect the employee, and he or she will have to deal with his or her own emotions. 

  

Customer oriented approach 

Work is customer-oriented when it´s done with the customer and not only for the customer. Then the customer participates in the development of the service, customer is not just the object of the service. Customer orientated approaching should be emphasized empathy, dignity, activation, choices, listening, participation. Genuine interaction gives space for listening. It's important to really hear what the customer is saying.  

  

Seeing the customer's situation holistically helps you shape the working methods for the customer’s needs. Each customer is an individual, and with each individual you should find a suitable way of working with the customer. Decisions should be made together, and not so that the employee dictates how the customer should act. Therefore, the customer should be seen as an active participant, not only as an object of services. 

  

Healthcare challenges are complex. Developing a customer-oriented approach in every aspect of social and health care requires a common understanding of customer-oriented working. 

  

Is it discussion, dialogue or debate? 

Discussion and dialogue are very similar interaction situations, but dialogue is about finding common ground. Trying to seek an even deeper understanding of each other in order to find a common vision. In the discussion, it is possible to disagree on things, but in a positive tone. In a debate, the aim is to put your point of view out strongly and win the debate. The aim of the dialogue is not to find winners and losers, but to reach a consensus. 

As a working in the social sector, you should always strive for dialogue with the customer. It's important to listen to the customer. When the customer feels that we are together taking her/his affairs forward, it increases the feeling of participation. Of course, there are situations when the discussions are tight, but even then it would be important to try to eventually reach a situation where instead of debating, we can focus on thinking about a common goal. 

  
Sources:

Pelottava luottamussuhde – luottamus ja vastuu sosiaalityössä. Available at: https://blogi.thl.fi/pelottava-luottamussuhde-luottamus-ja-vastuu-sosiaalityossa/ Quoted 19.12.2023. 

Tunteet (sosiaalialan) työssä. Available at: https://blogit.metropolia.fi/uudistuva-sosiaalialan-osaaminen/2019/02/06/tunteet-sosiaalialan-tyossa/ Quoted 19.12.2023. 

Asiakas- tai ihmislähtöisyys – tasavertaisuutta ja vastavuoroisuutta ammattilaisten ja palvelun käyttäjien kanssa. Available at: https://www.oamk.fi/epooki/2017/asiakas-ja-ihmislahtoisyys-sosiaali-ja-terveydenhuollossa/ Quoted 19.12.2023. 

Väittelyn, keskustelun ja vuoropuhelun ero. Available at: https://greatplacetowork.fi/artikkelit/vaittely-keskustelu-vuoropuhelu/ Quoted 19.12.2023. 

Picture: www.pexels.com/ SHVETS production


 



THE CRITERIA OF GOOD SERVICE IN SOCIAL AND HEALTH CARE 


Criteria for good service in the social and health sector. Act on the status and rights of patients and social care clients. The quality of the service is measured by the following criteria: Customer orientation, Patient/customer safety, Justice, Timeliness of treatment, Competence, Fluency, Efficiency (health benefit), Personel sizing, Freedom of choice. The legal principles regarding treatment are defined in the Patient Status and Rights Act (No. 785/1992). 

The right to be treated respectfully and appropriately without violating the patient/client´s dignity, personal religion or privacy.  

The ethnic/cultural background of the patient must be taken into account. 

The right to good treatment. 

Everyone permanently living in Finland is entitled to health care and medical care and medical treatment as required by their state of health. 

The patient/customer has the right to good and high-quality social and health care.  

All patients/clients have the right to self-determination. Urgent care. Patients should be given the necessary treatment to avoid danger if it is not possible to assess their will due to unconsiousness or another reason. If the patient has previously firmly and competently expressed his will regarding a certain treatment, he must not be given it against his will. 

The customer has the right to receive high-quality and good social care. The customer must be treated in a way that does not violate his human dignity and his religion and privacy are respected. Social care must take into account the client´s wishes, opinion, interest, individual needs, mother tongue and cultural background. Social care personnel must explain to the client his rights and obligations. If the social care staff does not speak the language used by the client or the client is not understood because the client has a sensory or speech impairment, an interpreter must be obtained for the client. In the implementation of social care, the client´s wishes and opinion must be taken into account first and his right to self-determination must be respected. The customer must be allowed to participate and influence the implementation of social care services. The customer´s case must be handled and resolved in accordance with  the customers interest. The patient advocate promotes and realizes patient´s rights and improves the quality of care/service by advising patients and their relatives on issues related to good and appropriate care. 

Sources:

Finlex: Laki potilaan asemasta ja oikeuksista 17.8.1992/785. Available at: https://finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/1992/19920785#L5P14. Quoted 19.12.2023

Finlex: Terveydenhuoltolaki 30.12.2010/1326. Available at: https://www.finlex.fi/fi/laki/ajantasa/2010/20101326#a1326-2010. Quoted 19.12.2023

Helsinki University Hospital: Good care and treatment. 
Available at: https://www.hus.fi/en/patient/patient-guide/during-treatment#good-care-and-treatment- Quoted 19.12.2023. 

City of Helsinki. Health and Social Services.Social and Patient Ombudsman: Available at: https://www.hel.fi/en/health-and-social-services/data-and-the-rights-of-the-client/social-services-and-patient-ombudsperson. Quoted 19.12.2023



Picture: www.pexels.com/ RDNE Stock project

 


 

maanantai 4. joulukuuta 2023



 Ethics in nursing and social service

Everybody do have their own ethics and morals. In social work you might face some ethical dilemas and as a bachelor of social service it is important to think what are my morals and my ethics.  


Ethics and moral are really close to each other but still different things. Ethics means the study of right and wrong and moral means that you do have the understanding about what is good and what is wrong or bad. So the differences of moral and etchis are that the ethics are more exploratory and you can suit that more. Moral is more like you already know what is wrong and what is right. Example every one knows that stealing from a store is wrong, but helping some one who needs help is right. 


As an professional social service worker it´s important to know and think what guides my decisions because you might face some ethical dilemas. Sometimes at work there can be a conflict and you have to do as the law says not what you think is right.  There can be an situation where you have a family which is a client of child care protection and you get to know that the other parent uses drugs. The parents or the parent who uses drugs might be really nice and show lots of love and care for the child. You might have a hard time to believe it and you think that you don`t want them to get apart but it´s your duty as a professional to make a child protection notice. It´s important that you know what the human perspection is all about to respect each other. 


During the years you work you might face some ethical changes and challenges at social and healt care sectror. The world is changing all the time and it can cause some changes in ethics as well. For example the abortion rights around the world arouses strong emotional opinions and this can cause ethical dilemas. Also euthanasia is something that can change in the future. Climate change demands us to revaluate our behavior to more sustainable consuming of nature resources and this is something that probably will effect to all services. Mental healt problems are most probably going to increase also and it can be challenging when you have multiple patients and you try to make everyone feel good but the time and resource can be an issue. 

Sources: 

Centria university of applied sciences. 2023. Ethics, morality, worldview and human perception (PowerPoint slides).  Quoted 5.12.2023.  

Centria university of applied sciences. 2023. Ethics, morality, worldview and human perception (PowerPoint slides).  Quoted 5.12.2023. 

Ethical decision making. 2020. Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iiByedXbbso. Quoted 5.12.2023.

Picture: iStock


Deeper thoughts after the course This course deepended my thinking of social services. There were some familiar things on this course, but a...