Personal Affiliations and Networking Essay

I arrive at my place of work at 7. 00am. As soon as I arrive I have a shift change over meeting with the night staff. At this meeting I would be told if there were any problems in the night with any of the service users. Next I collect the keys to my house where I will be working. I work in house 2 where I support two service users. Once I enter the house I wake up the service users by knocking on their doors and calling their name. Once they are up I support them with personal care, this involves showering them, washing their hair and if a male service user, I assist in giving them a shave. I also prompt them to clean their teeth. I always wear gloves with any personal care for infection control and always change them for each service user. I then prepare breakfast, I give the servicers a choice, but usually this would be cereal with coffee. On an afternoon shift dinner is from then menu which the service users both plan with my support. When doing this I always wear protective gloves for hygiene reasons. My next job would then be to administer medication. I also have to wear gloves for this as well for hygiene reasons. I also have to use a medicine pot to put the meds in to pass to the service user. Once I have witnessed the medicines being taken I then sign to say they have been given. Service users normally go to their day centres between 8. 30 and 9. 00am. Once they have gone I do their washing and housework. I also use this time to make appointments if needed. These would include doctors, dentist or even hair appointments. Another role in job is to do finances for the services users. Every shift I will count their money which is locked in a cupboard I collect keys for this from the shift leader. Count the monies to see that there are no discrepancies. I would also take money for food which is done on a weekly basis. This is called cash and balance. I sign on the relevant finance sheet to record that I have done this. At the end of each shift I fill in a record called a daily sheet I record on this what I have done with the service user. These records as well as the finance sheets are confidential as must be always treated as such. This means not discussing with any irrevent people my service users finance situation and any private issues they may have. This is very important. When working with any new service users I would always firstly read their care plans. This allows me to understand the service user’s needs and the way personal care and feeding should be undertaken. It is very important I read this as every service user is different and have different needs. These plans also tell me if the service user has any communication issues i. e. ; unable to speak use sign language etc. When taking a service user out I would always read the risk assessment. This will indicate to me any problems or things needed to do before taking someone out. This could include things like service user not being able to climb stairs use escalators or having a fear of lifts. It also tells me if a service user could get violent or distressed in crowds also if any special equipment is needed this could include wheelchairs or walking aids. If a risk assessment is not available for what I want, for example taking someone to the pictures I would create a new one and get it signed off by a team leader or manager. This is a true account of my duties in my job role as a residential support worker.