We are hearing a lot these days about the needs of newly qualified social workers during their first year in their first job. But what I want to know is what little gems of information you received when you first started out. Please share those pieces of advice you were given on your first job with me - whether they were helpful, made you laugh or made you cry!
trust your own judgement, small but true
What if your judgment is flawed?
that's the point willis, your judgement will always be flawed, that is the best way any social care worker can view any situation - with honesty and awarenes of their limitations. this is far more realistic and preferable to people who have all the answers who end up falling flat on their face...
Here are a few of our favourites that have been sent in:
They usually get promoted...
Re. no.9.
How did she know it was a pubic hair, or am I missing something?
Maybe it was her own ?
A bit like number 9 - I recall one colleague talking about 'dry' and 'wet' houses - ones where you can drink the tea or use the loo versus the ones where you would rather do neither.
I always recommend befriending / showing an interest in the pets of the household - if people have pets they tend to judge you by how their pets (especially dogs of course) respond to you.
I once visited a house which had never been hoovered and the dust was so thick on the floor I left footprints as I walked around
Sounds like my place Tony. I recall visiting a house as a student and being warned not to have the tea.The lady we were visiting was about 50 and had quite extreme scgizophrenia and her old mother ( about 90yrs old) insisted I have a cuppa. I couldnt refuse because she walked with a stick (which she used to hit her daughter and visiting staff with) and shed gone to the touble of making it. The cup was covered in runs of tea down the outside and made me feel a bit queasy but I felt i had to at lest drink some.Meanwhile as i was struggling with this dilemma my senior colleage and the old mum were chatting about stuff and I just happened to glance over at the daughter who at that moment in time was hallucinating quiet openly and burst into laughter at something. As she did her false teeth came flying out of her mouth and into her mug of tea.She quite calmy fished them out and licked them and popped them back into her mouth.No one else noticed this and my face was a picture. I couldnt wait to get out of there. After that I listened to the advice of senior colleagues LOL
I was told as a student that if management say don't go to a house on your own take a colleague then do as you are told. A previous student at the same palcement ignored it and ended up being assaulted.
Agreed - it's never worth trying to be a hero
CareSpace support
Sad but true. We in the social care field do not get the support or sympathy from the public or press as say nurses do.We rarely get acknowledgement when we do a good job, which is most of the time, and we always get slated when things go wrong. There are no medals to be won. You can end up injured, dead or disciplined so please do'nt be a hero.
Keep an old coat on the boot of your car, it can be handy for visits to service users who do not like to hoover very often.
Everyone has diferent standards and I would rather not impose mine by being preoccupied by worrying where i am sitting. It really helps me be more relaxed in one or two service user homes.
Whenever i am ever offered a drink whilst on a visit i also thank the client but explain that i have a long drive immediately after therefore i have to decline their kind offer. Its an easy get out clause leaving noone feeling uncomfortable.
Some social workers in an older people's team I met used to put those plastic sheets you can get for when children wet the bed across the back of their car seats. Just in case an accident occured when they were transporting round older people.
Another person I know used to wear a baseball cap when working in a children's home to prevent the children pulling their hair/ears.
'It is an impossible Job'
one i have developed:
'You wil be late, you will be critisised'
I once went to a house where the mice were running over my feet and the house was full of dead mouse bodies. The person I was seeing had a cat. I like cats. I went to stroke the cat, and scabby is an understatement.
I relayed this story to a colleague on returning to the office who laughed and said 'don't stroke the pets' (of course, I judge this accordingly and find it really hard to resist a friendly cat!).
More seriously, in my first placement, my practice teacher told me never to rejudge the outcome of an assessment while you are still in the house or give someone an indication of what service provision is available on the spot. Go back to the office and make sure you can provide it before promising it.
Be as honest as you can, even with, and perhaps especially with bad news.
Don't raise hopes. Paint a worse-case scenario if necessary rather than raising expectations falsely. Being pleasantly surprised is much better than being sorely disappointed.
(depends on the circumstances slightly) if someone is angry with you, the conversation is much better had, face to face rather than on the telephone.
If you forget telephone calls, are late with visits or just plain, make mistake - apologise honestly.
On my first day at a new job in 2001 (I can't say where, but a big local authority) having been qualified for about a year, I was taken round the office to see the 'new filing system'. Great, I thought, they have introduced some sort of computer system since my interview (having previously worked in an authority that was very computer literate). The new system?? - putting files alphabetically!!! What on earth did they do before????????!!!
I also ahve a colleague who was drugged by a service user when she accepted a cup of tea; and another whose car was blown up by the extended famiy while she was doing ehr visit in the house!!
Best advice?
Think about risks to yourself/colleagues - if there are any risks, how vulnerable does that make the children?? At least you can go home......
Don't be scared to ask for support from your colleagues and manager - recognising risk is a strength not a weakness
Be honest - if you don't know, say so (to service users and managers!) - but take the responsibility of finding out and letting them know. If you have concerns - say so, and be clear what needs to happen to alleviate your concerns.
Eat chocolate, talk to your colleagues, make sure you have a lunch break, take your leave and toil regularly, understand your and other's responsibilities!
On my shadowing day I was advised not to believe everything that Panaroma says just before the social worker took me to the care home that was on panaorma the month before.
I wasn't that appalled when I saw the place - and many of them did have senile dementia - so I guess when you ask them 'have you had dinner' they might say no as they forgotten having it - I think the panaroma team used this to their advantage.
We are slagged off, critisized, devalued, lied about, misrepresented, mistreated and killed, basically it appears that it is perpetual open season on those of us who work in the caring profession. When Philip Ellison was killed, I called upon the media to support our cause. I guess that fell on deaf ears. May be we should appeal directly to someone like Jeremy Vine.
"If you do the same things, you get the same results"
"Never run to break up a fight - walk and let 'em know you're coming and that you're not the threat"
"The doctor isn't always right"
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