What does it take to be exceptional as a support worker? How do you stack up – assess yourself!

By Ursy Murray – Guest Blogger

What does it take to be exceptional as a support worker? How do you stack up – assess yourself!

Don’t be fooled, it is a profession, not just a job. We change lives and make a real difference.

Let’s explore our diverse range of personal traits and transferrable skills to be highly successful as a professional Support Worker.

In my experience the most inspiring support workers build trust, deploy patience and are fundamentally compassionate and sensitive towards both customers and team members alike.

There is great purpose in this role!

Loyalty is important to protect our customers and we should demonstrate genuine empathy therefore we must be “real” as well as realistic.

In all honesty, some days are challenging therefore it is important we have a degree of resilience and self-awareness to counter the challenges and learn from mistakes – do you possess the grit, dedication and awareness required?

Can you display initiative, dedication, motivation and courage to making a difference to others?

Not everyone is suited to this role, we all have diverse gifts and talents.

If you can deal with ambiguity/change and continuously learn and develop, you will thrive in this growth industry.

Overall, it is all about the people skills! – interpersonal, influencing and educating others whilst always being a team player. As this is a human services role, being inclusive and creating partnerships of respect, dignity and privacy are crucial.

What can set you apart from the rest? sharing your wisdom and talents to empower another is key and enabling customers to stretch and embrace new skills in a safe environment is incredibly fulfilling and rewarding. As you strive to share life skills with your customers e.g., making a meal, ordering a coffee, helping them achieve a level of independence tailored to them as a person and their goals and preferences, this will inevitably bring some joy to both customers and yourself thereby providing reassurance this is definitely the profession for you!

Don’t be humble, the skills of a Support Worker are tremendous and so transferrable to that of leadership as you will direct, train, coach and support others to facilitate their independence, gain a sense of achievement and happiness that is tailored to them. Don’t we all wish for this and deserve it?

If you are observant and thorough, keep your cool in challenging situations and you can remain decisive and adaptable you will prosper!

If you are new to the disability industry you will need to invest in your technical knowledge to derive success, there are a range of training topics to develop your expertise which are either available either via an employer, self-directed education or via on-the-job experience/mentoring.

Key areas of technical knowledge include: (we encourage you to keep connecting with us as we will cover some of these topics to assist your development as a professional as part of this blog}:

Understand and minimize risk

• Medication best practice
• People handling best practice
• Infection control
• Mealtime management and other specialist training to aid health and wellbeing
• Personal Care
• Lead in a crisis
• Incident management
• Person Centre Practice
• Restrictive Practice Parameters – Maybo
• Reporting
• Conflict management strategies and negotiation
• How to navigate and negotiate with guardian and family situations

If you possess both the personal attributes and skills outlined above and invest and learn the technical knowledge of the Support Worker role your journey will be incredibly rewarding and leverage your career progression.

Now’s the time to commit to Support Worker profession as it is really gaining momentum and recognition and it will facilitate and unleash both your potential and talents.

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