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Studying to work in social care certainly isn’t easy, but it will give you the necessary skills and experience to support individuals lead fulfilling and independent lives. Once you’re qualified, there’s plenty of potential opportunities for your next steps.
It’s good to hear what we have to say about social care, but what about those who are currently experiencing the world of social care? Let’s see what they have to say, to give you a unique perspective into what the care area is really like!
“The difference you make to someone who hasn’t got anyone, or hasn’t got any family - it’s those key things that makes you do what you do each day”
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“I go home feeling that I’ve helped to make a difference, and to enable people to live a better life than they would be doing without our support”
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When you’re working in social care, you’re equipped with amazing skills that will help you in your daily role. Through your career, you’ll receive further training and gain experience, meaning you’ll become even better at understanding how to help others.
In a career full of continual improvement, there will always be opportunities to keep getting better. But, it’s important to consider all aspects of the role if you want to truly excel. Social care professionals are highly skilled at either caring for others or supporting the delivery of care, and they know how they can help them in their lives, and only part of this comes from qualifications.
In fact, there’s a significant range of different skills that can be used to provide high-quality care, education, and support, that are more focused on ‘soft skills’. These aren’t necessarily taught in an academic setting - instead, they form part of the interpersonal skills that make social care professionals so good at what they do.
Midwives can experience some emotional moments, and it’s important that even in these difficult situations, to be able to remain composed and resilient, in order to be helpful. It’s important to be resilient when things don’t go to plan. By remaining composed, you’re more able to help others who are struggling and may have experienced incredible pain.
Midwives interact with a range of people, not just expectant families. They’ll interact with the entire healthcare team that may be working together, and of course they’ll interact with patients and families. Communication skills are crucial, as is the ability to effectively share information, and changing how this information is communicated to different people who might have a different understanding of a situation.
This skill - being able to regulate and control your actions, feelings, and thoughts to remain professional - is an important part of demonstrating your reliability and effectiveness as a midwife. You’re able to put your own thoughts and opinions to one side when necessary, and do what’s right for the patient.
Midwives don’t work alone, and there will be a team that will often deliver care. It’s important to be able to rely on each other, and ensure that teamwork allows high-quality care to be delivered. By improving your ability to work in a team, you’ll be positively impacting patients.
Although this is a crucial part of communication, it’s important enough to warrant it’s own mention! Listening is integral to being a good healthcare professional- it’s important to let patients know that you’re here for them, and want to know what they have to say. Sometimes, patients may have an insight into their ability to do particular activities more than you can tell, and it’s important to work with them to not surpass what they’re able to do.
Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the present rather than thinking about the past or future. It’s easy to get caught up our own thoughts, but it’s worth keeping an eye on what’s happening in front of us, especially when you’re a occupational therapist.