Understand Principles Of Professional Development

The purpose of this unit is to assess the learner's knowledge, understanding and skills required to promote the professional duty to maintain the currency of knowledge and skills and the need to continually reflect on and improve practice. Understand principles of professional development. Explain the importance of continually improving knowledge and practice An important principle of CAP is that it includes much more than going on courses.

All organizations need to develop a learning culture with work based learning at the heart of this. Continual professional development is a process of life-long learning that meets the needs of clients and enables care workers to expand and fulfill their potential. It is important to continually improve your knowledge and practice in order to remain aware and keep updated regards current guidelines, legislations and standards relative to your practice. As manager it is your role and responsibility to ensure staff are kept up to date with and legislation, standards and guideline changes.

The SIC Code of Practice states that 'social care employers must provide training and development opportunities to enable social care workers to strengthen ND develop their skills and knowledge. ' The White Paper - 'Modernizing Social Services Promoting Independence, Improving Protection, Raising Standards' (written in 1998) identified that 80% of all care staff had no formal training and that there were no national standards of practice. It stated that 'A competent and confident workforce is an essential component of the modernization of the social services.

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More recently there has been a consultation paper called 'Independence, Wellbeing and Choice: Our vision for the future of Social Care for Adults in England (2005) which set out further proposals about the future of social care. Part of the paper was focused again on the skills and status of the workforce in social care and how improvements to the training and development of the staff can lead to improvements in the social care sector as a whole. Personal development benefits the individual, the organization they work for and the people using the services. Better knowledge leads to better practice.

Analyses potential barriers to professional development

There are many potential barriers to professional development, which could include:

Personal barriers intellectual barriers - over confidence in own abilities (feel training unnecessary) social barriers - ace of encouragement from managers emotional barriers - low self esteem
Time pressures family and other commitments
Lack of childcare facilities

Financial Barriers

• Lack of budget
• Training venue inaccessible/too far away
• Organizational barriers and work pressures

Lack at Training Opportunities

In organization star generates Lack AT cover during absence. These barriers should be discussed during supervision and appraisal. This is also the time to give guidance, support and encouragement leading to a more productive workforce which feels valued. During supervision and appraisal o should discuss your professional development. Training and development needs should then be identified and followed through.

Compare the use of different sources and systems of support for professional development

There are numerous sources and systems of support for professional development. These can be accessed through your workplace organization or you may access them independently.

Books Information leaflets Journals - Nursing Times Attending conferences - Care show Internet - Government websites/ACS/Academic establishments Mentoring Appraisal Supervision Staff meetings E-learning Training DVD's Practical ministrations In house training courses Support by work colleagues College courses Relevant care organizations - Age concern/Earn etc Recognized bodies - ICQ, NICE, ICE, HOSE It is important to recognize the most relevant sources of information regards your professional development. You should establish what opportunities are available to you and where your strengths and weaknesses lie, in order to access appropriate training and development opportunities. By entering into discussion with your manager and asking for their advice, you will gain knowledge and feedback on your current practice. By goal sharing with your manager you can establish where you both see your future roles and responsibilities.

When working in partnership with other organizations, sharing training opportunities, not only develops and bonds the partnership but also allows you to access extra, relevant training, which might not be available through your own organization. 1. 4 Explain factors to consider when selecting opportunities and activities for keeping knowledge and practice up to date It is necessary to ensure that any opportunities and activities are relevant for keeping your knowledge and practice up to date. You will need to insider and assess how relevant sources of support are and also the systems of support available, in relation to your personal, professional and organizational goals. There are subtle differences between personal and professional development.

Personal development is about developing personal qualities and skills needed to live and work with others e. G. Understanding, empathy, patience, self-respect, self- esteem, self-confidence and communication. Professional development concerns career progression and developing skills which are needed for your profession such as communication, team work, leading, time management, project management, session making, problem solving etc. The principles of professional development are based on motivation and reaching goals and on maintaining high standards and effective care for the service users. Best practice can be promoted through training, personal and professional development, reflective practice, supervision and support.

An example of developing your professional practice: Your role Ana responsibility Is to Keep ten Health Ana estate polices. Ana procedures in your workplace, up to date. You would be able to do this by visiting the HOSE website and researching and also by reading their publications. Any sources of knowledge should be appropriate and reputable and from recognized sources, to ensure correct information is learned Be able to priorities goals and targets for own professional development.Evaluate own knowledge and performance against standards and benchmarks. The expected standards and benchmarks include: the Essential Standards for quality and safety which states you can expect to be cared for by qualified staff: 0 0 Your health and welfare needs are met by staff who are properly qualified.

You will be looked after by staff who are well managed and have the chance to develop and improve their skills. National Occupational Standards (NO'S) describe best practice by bringing together skills, knowledge and values. National Occupational Standards are valuable tools to be used as benchmarks for qualifications as well as for defining roles at work, staff recruitment, supervision and appraisal. Code of Practice for Social Care Workers Social care workers must: be accountable for the quality of their work and take responsibility for maintaining and improving their knowledge and skills. Care Standards Act 2000 (CSS) created a new regulatory framework for all regulated social are and independent health care services.

The Act has two fundamental aims, to: 0 0 protect vulnerable people from abuse and neglect; and promote the highest standards of quality in the care that people receive The standards and benchmarks you are evaluating your knowledge and performance against are Codes of practice, National Occupational standards and minimum/ essential standards etc (See above) By following your workplace standards you will be ensuring best practice, which is used to maintain quality and can be used as a benchmark. When working in social care, to be effective and to provide the best Seibel service for those you support, you need to be able to think about and evaluate what you do and the way you work, and to identify your strengths and weaknesses.

It is important that you learn to think about your own practice in a constructive way. Reflection and evaluation should not undermine your confidence in your own work; rather, you should use them in a constructive way to identify areas for improvement. Research suggests that the most effective people are those who understand themselves, both their strengths and weaknesses, so they can develop strategies to meet the demands of their practice. An individual's talents and personal skills are a fundamental and integral part of who they are. It is important to evaluate your knowledge and practice and assess your own performance against your workplace standards and this can be done by undertaking a personal skills inventory.

A personal skills inventory is a systematic approach to evaluating strengths and areas for improvement. By producing a written evaluation detailing training attended and any calculations galena, your roles Ana responsibilities, personal experience etc. Below is one example of a personal skills analysis.

Written Communication

• Able to express yourself clearly in writing
• Thinking through in advance what you want to say
• Developing your argument in a logical way.
• Being able to condense information/ produce concise summary notes.
• Adapting your writing style for different audiences.
• Avoiding Jargon.

Verbal Communication

• Expressing your ideas clearly and confidently in speech
• Listening carefully to what others are saying.
• Able to clarify and summaries what others are communicating.
• Helping others to define their problems.
• Not interrupting.
• Being sensitive to body language as well as verbal information.
• Making the right impression by making effective use of dress, conduct and speech.
• Keeping business telephone calls to the point.
• Thinking up an interesting way to put across your message to groups.
• Successfully building a rapport with your audience when speaking to groups.

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