DAY 2: I KNOW EVERYTHING! …. Or maybe not.

DAY 2: I KNOW EVERYTHING! …. Or maybe not.

Working as a Support Worker is very rewarding. What makes the job rewarding is how challenging it is to be an effective support worker. From my own personal experience, it hasn't been an easy job. I came into this work with the belief that I knew everything and this job has proven me wrong. It has helped me to identify the weaknesses that do exist within me that need to be strengthened. This is why it is so rewarding. Oh yeah, when I said it was rewarding, I don't mean the money, I meant the skills it requires, what you learn about yourself, the pressure you're under, the mistakes you make, the solution you have to come up with to assist/support you to be effective, the way it throws you into situations/events that you have never been in, the openness of the clients, the trickery of the clients, the games they will play, the words you have to live, the  moments of fun you get to experience learning about how someone else works, the experience you create for someone who may not have everything an abled body person may have and the reward at the end of the day is the knowledge about yourself and someone else to better perfect yourself to assist/support you to become the utmost in your job that you can possibly be. That is the rewarding part about being a Support Worker.

This job has helped me to realise that I do not know everything. That I still have a lot to learn, that I am no expert, that each day will teach me something different and new about myself and the client and at the end of the day… no one really knows everything. It is all down to the moments we have, what we learn and what we do with that knowledge/information at the end of the day. Let it go to waste… or write it out and use it to correct oneself into being/becoming an effective support worker.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to believe that I know everything 

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to waste all the knowledge/information that I've learned in one full day about myself and client

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to write out what I learn about myself and another client at the end of the day to assist/support myself to become effective.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to let information/knowledge go to waste

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see/realise/understand that writing out all the knowledge/information will help me become effective at my job because I'll be able to stabilize it, work with it and build upon it.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to not see/realise/understand that writing is a beneficial way to stabilize what I've learned about myself and the client.

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see/realise/understand that writing case notes, what I've learned about myself and client, will assist/support me to build who I can be with my clients and to help with the rapport to access parts of my client that would not likely be accessed without moments of building rapport

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see/realise/understand the potential can be lived out if I am using all the tools and trusting myself with in my job.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to be slack in my job as a support worker.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to use the excuse ''But I've got it harder than all the other support workers'' to what holds me back from being the best I can be.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to use the excuse ''But I don't have car'' to exist within and as me.

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see/realise/understand that effective planning is part of being an effective support workers/human being.

When and as I see myself believing that I know everything - I stop and I breathe - I realise that not all situations/events, people, clients, support workers, or circumstances are the same. Everything is different, nothing ever remains the same, every moment is different and in each moment I will being learning something new, all I can do is trust myself in each moment, and make sure that I am working with knowledge/information that I have learned in training, from others, from past moments, and use it in a best for all way to assist/support me as a support worker.

When and as I see myself making excuses to not do what I know will help me to be an effective support worker - I stop and I breathe - I realise that the way to make my job the best it can be for myself and the clients is to make sure that how I've created myself is to the best of my ability and so effective in my work performance.

I commit myself to write out knowledge/information that I learn about myself and my clients at the end of the day to assist/support in keeping up-to-date on what is happening for my clients and what needs changing about myself.

I commit myself to educate myself to become an effective support worker. 

DAY 1: Double-Check EVERYTHING...!

DAY 1: Double-Check EVERYTHING...!

Part of a Support Worker's job is to do the documentation. The documentation helps to manage the client's needs. It helps to record the medication, amount of medication given, personal spending money, grocery money, keep tabs on the health of the client, to help staff keep in contact with one another by writing case notes and to show proof in case of any legal matters.

One part of the Support Worker's job is to do a handover with the next worker that is coming on shift. Depending on the company, the worker coming onto the shift has to double check everything to make sure all the information written down by the last staff member was is correct. The double checking helps to make sure that the last worker has done the documentation correctly and to correct any mistakes so that they're not held responsible for them.

One thing that I have been doing as a three-week-old Support Worker is not double checking more thoroughly. I've been told several times to check for mistakes from other workers, count the money and that is even if you think the other support workers are trustworthy. On handover, it is very important to document and double check regardless of how trustworthy or good you think the other worker is. It is a best for all approach to make sure that double checking of documentation is being done by all support workers on handover.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed look at paperwork to be a boring job

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to not see/realise/understand that it is important to double check the notes, medication, information on the client and the money at handover to make sure no one has made mistakes that I could be responsible for if I do not double check.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to believe that documentation is unnecessary

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see/realise/understand the importance of double check when a new staff member is coming on or off shift.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to not see/realise/understand that it is beneficial for the company, staff and the client to double check that there has been no mistakes made my other staff.

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see/realise/understand that being a support worker isn't all about having fun

I forgive myself that i haven't accepted and allowed myself to see/realise/understand that handover, double-checking and ensuring that there is no mistakes made is all part of being an effective support worker.

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see/realise/understand that documentation is just as important as entertaining myself and the client.

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see/realise/understand that no matter how much I trust the other support workers, it is important to double check for any mistakes at handover and during my own documentation.

I forgive myself that I haven't accepted and allowed myself to see/realise/understand that documentation is a part of the process

I forgive myself that i haven't accepted and allowed myself to see/realise/understand that it is important for the client's health, staff and to avoid legal matters, that all mistakes be double check and corrected if needed on the job.

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to want/desire to rush double-checking the documentation so that I do not keep the other staff waiting

I forgive myself that I have accepted and allowed myself to say to the other staff that ''I trust you'' and not double check their work to see if there are any mistakes made.

When and as I see myself not wanting to double-check more thoroughly - I stop and I breathe - I realise that it is beneficial for the company, staff and the client if I check the documentation at handover more thoroughly incase of mistakes that, if not corrected, I could be responsible for.

I commit myself to double-check more thoroughly when I am doing handover

I commit myself to take my time when I am doing handover

I commit myself to arrive a little earlier so that I can take my time to double-check more thoroughly at handover.