Unit 17 - working in a social care sector - neo-natal nurses and criminologists.

by lissa012 (student)

Lissa Williams

Unit 17 – Working in a health and social care sector

Task one; P1,M1,D1

P1 –Explain the requirements for two different careers in the social care sector.

Neonatal nurses work either within specialist neonatal units (within maternity or children's hospitals) or in the community.
Neonatal nurses care for new-born babies who are premature or born sick. There are a vast number of conditions that can affect a new-born baby and require treatment from specialists within the multidisciplinary healthcare team.

(Nhs Careers,2014)

There are requirements needed to become a Neonatal nurse, such as;

Knowledge/skills - A neonatal nurse will not only have nursing practitioners knowledge and skills, but will have knowledge in areas of working with infants, they are required to have knowledge in; Dietary needs, the respiratory system, being aware of correct medicines to treat certain conditions. Their skills will include; good communication and observation skills – this allows them to understand and communicate effectively with the patients, being able to use technology’s such as incubators, ventilators and feeding tubes, ability to answer questions and offer advice – Nurses are there to talk to and be asked questions, and being able to with emotional charged situations – whichever the situation may be, nurses need to know how to deal with it and be empathetic.
Competence – A neonatal needs to be competent with the ability to work under pressure, and working long unpredictable hours, this is important. For example being competent in keeping a record of all baby patients, which provides useful info for doctors.
Initiative – Neonatal nurses will need to use their initiative when it comes to acting on a baby’s change of status.
Ability to work with others – They will be working with a team, who works with the infants sector, so It’s important they are successful in doing so, as this will ensure the patients needs are fulfilled. This also includes working in a professional manner, even if they do not get along with another staff member.
Interpersonal skills - Interpersonal skills are the life skills we use every day to communicate and interact with other people, both individually and in groups, this is required for neonatal nurses as they are working with people such as families, which will require them to communicate with them, and showing compassion alongside detailed explanations to inform the families the importance of the condition of the baby.
Reliability - A neonatal nurse will have to be reliable, this includes being reliable to work unpredictable hours, and being to carry out appointed tasks when asked and also, being able to say when they cannot perform a task or need assistance.
Anti-discrimination approach – It’s an important requirement for Neonatal nurses, as they will come across people who are different; such as mothers who have been consuming alcohol during their pregnancy, and due to this their baby has had complications, the nurse will have to show the mother support regardless, and treat the baby equally.
Show Empathy – Neonatal nurses need to be empathetic with the mother of the newborns, especially at times when the need arises for surgeries. Being able to do this, shows effective understanding and a positive relationship between the nurse and service user.

To be able to become a Neonatal Nurse, there is several amount of qualifications that are required being taken on this job role, these include qualifications such as;

GCSE’S – Not normally required, but to be able to progress onto higher studies, GCSE’s are required to do a btec or alevel course, this will then lead to working towards to a degree in university. Usually five GCSE’S at grade C and above, with English and maths being compulsory, and a science subject being preferred.
A levels/BTEC’s – A levels and appropriate BTEC’S are then required to be ...

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To be able to become a Neonatal Nurse, there is several amount of qualifications that are required being taken on this job role, these include qualifications such as;

GCSE’S – Not normally required, but to be able to progress onto higher studies, GCSE’s are required to do a btec or alevel course, this will then lead to working towards to a degree in university. Usually five GCSE’S at grade C and above, with English and maths being compulsory, and a science subject being preferred.
A levels/BTEC’s – A levels and appropriate BTEC’S are then required to be able to progress onto studying degrees at university in Neonatal practices. This will include doing A levels in subjects such as, science, chemistry, biology, and health and social care related a levels.
Degrees – To become a nurse, you must hold a degree in pre-registration nursing; this will then lead to registration with the Nursing and Midwifery Council (NMC). This is usually three years, which then you will receive a bachelor’s degree in nursing practitioner.

Qualification of health care workers contributes to the patients having full and positive support, as this shows they are able to perform tasks effectively. This ensures the patients that they are being dealt with by a professional.

Criminologists

Criminologists examine the systems by which people accused of crimes are brought to justice, attempt to explain the reasons for criminal behavior and suggest ways crime might be reduced.

Criminology and social care are concerned with different problems, but they share a common focus on policy and multi-disciplinary outlook. Criminology and social care share a common focus of concern and strategy of inquiry. Both disciplines concern themselves with ‘action’ rather than ‘thought’.

To be a criminologist you will need to be qualified, by going to university and getting a masters in criminal justice, with minors in psychology or sociology

4 minimum GCSEs or equivalent at grade C or above, including English

A level subjects taken such as; English, government and politics, history, humanities, law, philosophy, psychology, religious studies and sociology.
Btec is accepted at the highest grade, in health and social care or related.

Alongside qualification, skills and requirements are also required to become a criminologist;

Technical skills; Criminologists need to have extensive technological skills, computer literacy and the ability to adapt to new programs quickly.
Writing aptitude; criminologists are required to take notes throughout the course of a case, therefore this requires solid written communication skills, and the ability to take notes and process thoughts into words rapidly.
Observation skills; you need to be very observant, analytical and excellent researchers. Criminologists study the nature of behavior of criminal, and as such they need to be able to observe possible areas before determining and appropriate course of action with law enforcement agencies.

M1: (Assess) in what ways do the careers contribute to providing a positive experience for users

Care workers can contribute to providing a positive experience for users of social care services by being competent and well trained. Being competent allows the care worker to work to their best of their ability, doing every successfully and efficiently.

Competence will give the service users a positive experience, as they will feel more comfortable if they can see that their care worker confidently knows what they are doing. For example a neonatal nurse being competent with monitoring and observing babies status, will ensure the parents that their baby is in best hands and being looked after to the best of the care workers ability. This leads to the service user building trust in the care worker.

Having staff training and good work practices will ensure the staffs members know what they’re doing, and the policies, procedures as well as legislation are implemented and followed. Without staff training this will cause workers to not follow requirements based in a health and social care setting e.g.a hospital, with this not being followed it puts clients life in danger. Also it’s essential that health and social care workers keep their training skills updated so they can keep up with new ideas and new technology procedures, this will ensure for sure that the workers can be trusted.

Staff training will ensure criminologists know exactly what they are doing and talking about, this avoids inaccuracy conclusions that they may have about the criminals, and this allows them to effectively suggest why a certain crime has been produced.

Confidentiality is important in health and social care as it’s part of human rights and every information a patient confides in a care worker should be kept within them, failure to protect and secure confidential business can lead to loss of business/clients also this will make an individual feel as if they’ve lost their dignity and trust within the care worker, which initially will effect a individuals self-confidence. People reveal sensitive personal information about themselves so this will destroy their outlook on themselves completely if their records are for everyone else to see. Neonatal nurses may be told by a mother that they were drinking during their pregnancy, that’s why there are complications due to the baby’s health; the nurse is expected to keep this to herself, as the service user confided in her, and doesn’t want others to know, this will provide a positive experience for the service user.

As a Criminologist, your job role is to regardless find an explanation as to why the crime was done, your client might tell you something confidential, even though it’s wrong to enclose such criminal information, your loyalty will have to lie with the person you’re supporting.

D1- Evaluate the requirements of social care workers in relation to the provision of a competent workforce in social care services.

Providing competency throughout a job role in health and social care is essential; however there could be disadvantages, as well as advantages that may occur. Requirements are expected; enable to put competency into place. A key part of High Quality of Care is ensuring that patients are treated with compassion and respect, in a safe and well managed area. Staff need to be competent, to have skills, and knowledge they need to succeed in this job, as well as sticking to the values of the NHS and patient centred care.

As a neonatal nurse, the ability to work with others ensures that patient’s needs are fulfilled, as working with a team helps get tasks done quickly and faster. There are advantages and disadvantages with working as a team also. Team work consists of working with for example multi agency , or people that you might not personally like, but you will still need to remain professional, and set a good example in front of the patient, and have a positive and open attitude, yet still observing what other staff are doing, making sure their information is relevant and accurate, but not belittling them, and making them feel as if they are superior to others and others work is less important. There might be times when there is disagreement with team member, or opinions voiced strongly, and this could be difficult and will need to be carefully coordinated to ensure that the patient is not overwhelmed by the different amount of people they are seeing, and it also will ensure that all the team are aware of each other’s job roles, so it prevents one doing another’s role.

Reliability is very important when working with other service users in a hospital, absence or turning up late has an effect on the view of the service and also affects other workers, as they might have to go over their shift time due to someone not being in. Reliability also consists of doing tasks on time and on point, so patients don’t have to wait for long due to too much time being spent with a previous patient, or do not feel as if the process is being rushed so the health care worker can get back on schedule and deal with other tasks. Rushing patient results to them not feeling appreciated and properly looked after; this also could cause them to forget to mention something relevant like their medicine information etc, and making them wait will irritate them.

Interpersonal skills are essential for a nurse, communicating with a wide range of people, verbally and non verbally is needed. Nurses should be able to get their patients to feel comfortable and confident and raise any concerns they are having. They need to feel they are being listened to, if not this not done, they will have worries that they can’t speak up about or might be concerned about the side effects of the medicine for example.

Anti discriminatory approach is to ensure that the patient gets treated equally and fairly. Some women may have a preference of being dealt with a women rather than a man, this shouldn’t be questioned but followed and respected. It’s important to not judge anyone who they are dealing with, as this isn’t part of the policy and procedure and it will prevent service users from wanting to get dealt with. Other workers might have different skills or unusual skills, but it’s still required to approach them in the same manner as you would with anyone else. There might be racist service users that might discriminate when being dealt with also, but a health care worker will still need to stay professional and not retaliating, rather than making them wait longer than anyone else or shifting them to someone else to handle.

‘They fear nurses will become “too posh to wash” and will not learn the basics of compassion and patient care that is so critical to patient recovery.

The Government believes the role of nurses has changed so much in recent years that they now need a degree, Nursing has got to be a profession where every registered nurse cares holistically and completely for their patient (BBC,2013)