In providing care in the community, care providers have to function differently compared with equivalent professionals working in hospitals. For a start the community worker is normally alone and works autonomously. The relationship with the 'patient' is different too: it is much more of a 'client-provider' partnership, with consent being explicitly required by the community worker before doing anything – even before sitting down! Neither can you 'tell' someone what to do in their own home: the power relationship flips 180 degrees. You can be thrown out if the client doesn't like what you, the community worker is saying or doing. On the other hand you could be considered a close family friend by some clients, a situation which may have its own challenges. Therefore for home care to be successful, soft-skills such as attitude, building trust, diplomacy and communication are as vital as being able to adapt the principles of care to the home context. To address this challenging need, CIME in partnership with Home Health Services, AKU delivered five days of skills-based simulation workshops for trainee nursing technicians.
These workshops aimed to help participants to overcome their concerns and enhance their ability to independently and competently perform basic nursing skills within the home setting, while ensuring quality care and patient safety. For this workshop, the simulated community apartment was an ideal context. The workshop not only developed psychomotor skills, but also enhanced critical thinking, team building, communication, problem-solving and decision-making skills, to ensure that these trainees worked competently within the parameters of their role.
In providing care in the community, care providers have to function differently compared with equivalent professionals working in hospitals. For a start the community worker is normally alone and works autonomously. The relationship with the 'patient' is different too: it is much more of a 'client-provider' partnership, with consent being explicitly required by the community worker before doing anything – even before sitting down! Neither can you 'tell' someone what to do in their own home: the power relationship flips 180 degrees. You can be thrown out if the client doesn't like what you, the community worker is saying or doing. On the other hand you could be considered a close family friend by some clients, a situation which may have its own challenges. Therefore for home care to be successful, soft-skills such as attitude, building trust, diplomacy and communication are as vital as being able to adapt the principles of care to the home context. To address this challenging need, CIME in partnership with Home Health Services, AKU delivered five days of skills-based simulation workshops for trainee nursing technicians.
These workshops aimed to help participants to overcome their concerns and enhance their ability to independently and competently perform basic nursing skills within the home setting, while ensuring quality care and patient safety. For this workshop, the simulated community apartment was an ideal context. The workshop not only developed psychomotor skills, but also enhanced critical thinking, team building, communication, problem-solving and decision-making skills, to ensure that these trainees worked competently within the parameters of their role.