Personal care and support

Provide support to meet personal care needs CHCICS301B

 

This unit is about helping clients with their personal care needs based on individualized care plans. Workers have a designated role and set of responsibilities. It is appropriate in residential care, home care, or community care with clients whose specific support needs have been assessed and documented in an individualized care support plan.

 

 

How you will be assessed

The practical assessment will be done in the workplace over a period of time and cover the normal range of workplace situations and settings. You will have your organization’s policy and procedures, WHS industry guides, health care checklists, health management plans, personal healthcare diaries, and the equipment you normally use in the workplace. The assessment will be based on the following:

  • Give your assessor a walkaround tour of your workplace, and describe your organization, its goals, and what you do. You assessor may ask any relevant questions in order to understand what you do.
  • Supervisor observation of your contribution in team meetings
  • Review of your workplan and your workplace documents
  • Your supervisor’s reference
  • Interview based on the requirements below.
  • It may also include interviews with a selection of your clients and colleagues.

 

The practical assessment

The practical assessment will be done in the workplace over a period of time and cover the normal range of workplace situations and settings. You will have your organization’s policy and procedures, OHS industry guides, health care checklists, health management plans, personal healthcare diaries, and the equipment you normally use in the workplace. The assessment will be based on:

  • Your contribution to staff meetings
  • Your client notes
  • Your supervisor’s reference

It may also include interviews with a selection of your clients and colleagues.

 

Specific manual skills

Demonstrate the following to an assessor in line with OHS guidelines:

  1. handwashing technique
  2. personal care tasks
  3. provide oral hygiene
  4. lifting client from chair
  5. lifting client in bed
  6. lifting client from fall
  7. use of moving methods
  8. use of aids and equipment
  9. workplace technology

 

Basic mathematics

Your assessor will give you a set of basic mathematical functions relating to doing your job safely:

  1. addition and subtraction up to three digit numbers
  2. multiplication and division of single and double-digit numbers

 

Practical demonstrations

  1. Demonstrate grooming, and explain what you are doing as you go.
  2. Demonstrate each kind of technical care skill offered in your organization. As you go, explain what you are doing and the principles of the procedure.
  3. You will be given two care plans. interpret a, including terminology, goals, objectives, actions

 

Interview/Assignment

  1. Explain your work role and responsibilities.
  2. What can carers do? What shouldn’t they do?
  3. Explain what you do to support people with personal care needs.
  4. What are the most common risks to your personal safety and security when giving personal care? How can you minimize them?
  5. Explain how to improve clients’:
    1. body hygiene
    2. oral hygiene
  6. What kinds of equipment and aids are most useful in giving personal care?
  7. Confidentiality and privacy:
    1. What is the difference between confidentiality and privacy?
    2. What kinds of information must you keep confidential?
    3. What should you do if someone wants to see their care plan and your notes about them?
    4. What should you do if someone wants to take away their care plan and your notes about them?
    5. Other than the client, who else can see their care plan and your notes about them?
  8. How is personal care different between residential care and clients' private homes?
  9. Explain your organization’s OHS procedures.
  10. How can you do manual handling safely?
  11. How can you control infection in each of the following cases:
    1. breakages
    2. contaminated waste
    3. visitors with colds, flu and other infectious diseases
    4. sharps (eg. needles, scalpel blades)
    5. spillage
    6. used dressings, bandages and equipment
    7. unsterilised and poorly sterilised equipment and work surfaces
    8. unwashed hands.

 

 

Detailed requirements

Clients might need help with:

  • Personal hygiene
  • Eating and drinking (using appropriate feeding techniques)
  • Oral hygiene and health care
  • Toileting and using continence aids
  • Bed bathing
  • Dressing, undressing, and grooming (including pressure stocking)
  • Shaving
  • Showering
  • Hydration and nutrition (including dysphagia)
  • Maintaining skin integrity and pressure area prevention
  • Mobility and transfer, including in and out of vehicles
  • Recovery from falls
  • Monitoring medication (as appropriate to work role)
  • Nail care
  • Pain, rest and sleep

 

You can also be asked to do technical care, for example:

  1. Measure blood pressure
  2. Measure blood glucose level
  3. Measure temperature, pulse and respiration (TPR)
  4. Give simple wound care
  5. Tracheal suctioning
  6. Gastrostomy feeds
  7. Catheter care (doesn’t include inserting or removing tubes)
  8. Apply protheses
  9. Apply auto-thrombotic stockings
  10. Help with breathing tubes (under direct supervision of a health professional)
  11. Give simple eye care

 

At all times, you must:

  • Follow your organization’s policies and procedures.
  • Work within your work role and responsibility.
  • Work to the standard required by your organization.

 

1. Apply understanding of client's personal support requirements

  1. Review the personal care support plan with the client to confirm the kinds of support they need. You need to be able to interpret it to get relevant information.
  2. Check that those kinds of support are within your knowledge, skills and/or job role. Ask for help or advice for anything that isn’t.
  3. Consider the potential impact that personal care might have on the client and confirm it with your supervisor. (For example, will it cause embarrassment, fear, disempowerment, humiliation, or discomfort?)
  4. Consider the client’s specific cultural needs
  5. Consider risks associated with giving support and confirm it with supervisor
  6. Identify equipment, processes and aids for helping the client and giving them more independence
  7. Ask for help for anything outside your knowledge, skills and/or job role.

 

2. Give physical and psychosocial support, but get the client to participate as much as possible

  1. Treat the client as an individual.
  2. Check that the client understands what you will do, how you will do it, and get their agreement.
  3. Consider how much the client can participate and get them to agree on a suitable level of participation.
  4. Confirm the client's preferences.
  5. Give the client information to help them meet their own personal care needs.

 

3. Address personal support needs

  1. Prepare and use necessary processes, equipment, aids and appliances appropriately and safely.
  2. Give support or help according to the personal care plan.
  3. Consider identified risks, for example:
    1. Evidence of self-neglect
    2. Behaviors of concern
    3. Impaired judgement and problem solving abilities
    4. Impaired cognitive functioning
    5. Sudden or unexpected change in health status include sensory loss
    6. Home environmental hazards
    7. Slippery or uneven floor surfaces
    8. Physical obstructions (e.g. furniture and equipment)
    9. Poor home maintenance
    10. Poor or inappropriate lighting
    11. Inadequate heating and cooling
    12. Inadequate security
    13. Social rights infringements
  4. Help the client according to their needs.
  5. Give support or help with technical care activities according to the personal care plan.
  6. If anything is difficult, check it the client and a supervisor and address it.
  7. Maintain the confidentiality, privacy and dignity of the client

 

4. Recognize and report changes in client health and/or personal support requirements

  1. Identify any changes and concerns in the client’s support requirements and changes in their health and report them to your supervisor
  2. Work with the client to identify any necessary changes to processes and aids

 

5. Complete reports and documentation

  1. Follow your organization’s reporting system, including reporting observations to supervisor
  2. Fill in documentation and file it according to procedure.
  3. Maintain documentation in a way that is consistent with your reporting requirements.

 

6. Other essential skills

  1. Work effectively with clients, colleagues and supervisors
  2. Liaise and report appropriately to supervisor and/or health professionals
  3. Make informed observations and report appropriately
  4. Respond to a client's personal preferences wherever appropriate
  5. Support the client’s direction and participation in giving personal care
  6. Solve basic problems within your organization’s procedures, even if things go wrong or not to plan.

 

7. Communicate orally and non-verbally as needed in your job

  1. Follow instructions and directions
  2. Ask for clarification and comments from supervisors, clients and colleagues
  3. Ask questions
  4. Recognize and interpret non-verbal cues
  5. Adapt communication styles to meet specific needs
  6. Provide information
  7. Express encouragement and support and
  8. Listen actively and empathetically

 

8. Read and write as needed in your job

  1. Follow instructions and directions
  2. Ask for to seek clarification and comments from supervisors, clients and colleagues
  3. Interpret international safety signs
  4. Read client service delivery plans
  5. Make notes in client records and
  6. Fill in workplace forms