Placement Reflection Essay

Pembroke Residential Home, Saltburn 10/02/14 Today was my first day on placement at Pembroke Residential home in Saltburn. When I first arrived I was a little nervous as I didn’t know anybody and I wasn’t sure on what to do because I didn’t know their routine. The pressure eased off a bit after the first hour because another student came in as she was doing her block placement and I was told to just follow what she did as she had been before and knew what she was doing. Firstly, I observed the other student as she fed a resident, this made me feel a lot more at ease as I knew I would be doing this another tine and I was given the opportunity to observe first so I knew exactly what to do and how to act when I was asked to fees in the future this was a positive experience for me. I also had a one to one conversation with a resident about a programme that was on the television in the lounge. We talked for about 30 minutes and he seemed pleased that I had taken the time to sit a listen to him and have a convers ation with him. This was a positive experience for me and made me feel great as I felt I had made him feel happier. It also gave me a chance to get to know the resident and use my communication skills using one to one interactions. Pembroke Residential Home, Saltburn 03/03/14 Today I was quite excited as I had been asked to feed a resident and this was an opportunity for me to get some experience of my own for the future. The resident is unable to get out of bed as she only has use of her upper half of her body so I took her breakfast upstairs (golden syrup porridge and a cup of tea which had to be drank through a straw) and fed her as well as having a one to one interaction with her. This was a positive experience for me and once I had finished I had to record everything that I had given her as every meal has to be recorded in her book. I felt good because the resident had a smile on her face and seemed happy, also it was the first time on placement that I had interacted with a resident like this. I hope to be able to feed this resident in the future as I really enjoyed it. Pembroke Residential Home, Saltburn 10/03/14 I was a bit disappointed today as I felt like I didn’t learn anything new and found it wasn’t very beneficial for me. All I have done today is take the tea/coffee trolley round all of the residents numerous times, washed the pots numerous times and picked up some sample pots for the residents at Huntcliffe Surgery, Saltburn. I felt like I was just being used as a run about and being given the jobs that none of the staff particularly wanted to do. Although this was a negative experience for me, I didn’t complain and I just got on with it, I feel like I haven’t achieved any experience today. Pembroke Residential Home, Saltburn 17/03/14 It was quite busy today on placement so I was on my feet a lot and helped out as much as I could. I fed the same resident that I have previously fed another time. I fed her both her breakfast (apple and cherry ready break and a glass of milk) and her lunch (chicken stew, mash, carrots and a cup of tea). I also had several one to one conversations with various residents throughout the day. Communicating with the residents made me feel as though they enjoyed it and I got to know a little bit about each of their personalities which will help me to interact with them more in the future. I am going to continue communicating with the residents as much as I can so that I can get to know them better. I observed the staff ordering new medication for the residents and filling in care plans, progress sheets etc. This was a positive experience for me as I got to see the non-practical side of working in a residential home and had an insight on the types of paperwork involved. Today made me feel t hat my placement was becoming a little more beneficial for me as I am slowly learning new things again rather than doing nothing health and social care related. Pembroke Residential Home, Saltburn 31/03/14 The home was very busy today I was on my feet a lot but I enjoyed it because I always had something to do. I fed the usual resident I feed regularly this morning (original ready break and a cup of tea) and her lunch and then recorded how much she had ate and drank on her sheets so that the other staff new how well she was eating. I also did the same for her lunch (beef casserole, mash and veg, a yoghurt and a glass of juice). This was a positive experience for me and I found it easier to interact with the resident today because we had more to talk about. I also feel that the resident enjoyed my company because on both occasions we has one to one communication. As this residential home is small and only has 10 residents they don’t usually get a choice of meals unless they don’t like what is on the menu then they will be given an alternative. Today, the cook made two different meals for lunch and I went round the residents to ask which they would prefer. This was also a p ositive experience for both me and the residents as they felt a lot happier about the fact that they were given a choice of meals rather than just what was on the menu. I felt that I had cheered the residents up by doing this. Every week since I have been on placement at this residential home I have taken the tea/coffee trolley round the residents and visitors and washed lots of pots. I was told to do the same today which was a negative experience for me as I don’t feel that this helps me to achieve anything and get an idea of what it is like to work in health and social care with the elderly. I felt annoyed that I had been asked again to do these things as I get asked do to these every week. Activities are offered to the residents every day so that they feel they have something to do rather than just sit about and watch the TV, read the newspaper etc. I was asked to offer the residents a choice of activities today but unfortunately none of them felt up to participating in anything that I offered. Although no activities were carried out, this was a positive experience for me as I then had to record that what I had done in the activities booklet to show that even though the residents had chosen not participate in various activities they were still given the choice. I felt that the staff had trust in me to be able to start filling in this sheet as even though it is only a small step it gave me more experience on what type of paperwork is involved in working in a residential home. As I have  previously been shown how to work the stair lift one of the staff member asked me to take a resident upstairs to their room. I was trusted to do this myself, using the stair lift. This was a positive experience for me as although I had observed the stair lift being used I had never actually used it myself to get residents up to their rooms. The resident seemed rather happy with how I placed her on the stair lift and how I used it. This made me feel great as I knew I had achieved another skill for working with the elderly/disabled in health and social care. Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed attending placement this week as I was never left with nothing to do and felt I learnt a lot of new skills even if they are just small steps to working in helath and social care in the future.