Jo Towse Assessor for Health and Social Care for Diploma level 2 and 3
As an Assessor you have a varied set of duties and tasks to undertake as part of your role in supporting your learners. One of the duties involves visiting the working environment of your learner to observe them in a practical setting to assess their competence within their role whilst delivering care to individuals. My learners are employed in various settings; supporting service users /clients and patients whether they reside in the community, nursing/residential homes or a hospital environment.
I recently travelled to Birmingham to undertake an observation with one of my learners who presently is working towards gaining her Level 3 award in health and social care and is employed and working in a nursing home caring for individuals with dementia. I found this to be a lovely home with a calming setting and stunning views of hills and countryside at the rear area of the ground. The staff were very pleasant and accommodating and the resident’s rooms were spacious and had a warm homely atmosphere.
My learner was going to be observed carrying out her routine duties delivering care. At first she was a little nervous about the observation but I reassured her to carry out her duties as if I wasn’t there and if she saw me taking notes it was only for my reference as I would be collecting evidence as part of the occupational assessments which was required to be demonstrated in the working environment and the observations are undertaken holistically.
During the observation my learner demonstrated that she had the knowledge and understanding of legislation and policies which she implemented within her working role, covering the agreed ways of working of her employer and delivering a good standard of practice. Health and Safety, Infection control and Safeguarding was demonstrated as was a Person centred approach.
On completion we sat together in a quiet place to discuss the observation and I gave her my feedback. She was pleasantly surprised to realise that she had covered so much by naturally carrying out her duty of care. She didn’t quite understand how she had demonstrated it all until the feedback was given to her and she told me she felt more confident and was going to undertake more training to enable her to expand her knowledge in supporting health care.
I have always had the view that as a Health Carer/support worker when you undertake the Health and Social care Award, at either level 2 or level 3, you are able to realise just how much your role is valued.
You also gain an understanding of how a certain task is undertaken and why it is delivered in a particular way.
It is rewarding as an assessor to see your learner achieve their qualification and demonstrate a high standard of care.
More soon.....