Purpose and Expectation of Practicum

Purpose and Expectation of Practicum

Interacting with patients of different needs and attention requires one to be prepared both physically and psychologically to overcome most of the potential challenges to be encountered. And in order to achieve this goal, one of the essential steps is having a positive attitude towards practicum because the achievement of any objective often begins with the state of mind.  Providing supportive assessments and counselling will be one of my primary responsibilities at the internship and to execute this task thoroughly, I have to read or watch the patient’s records to provide comprehensive and relevant counselling. Therefore, I have to be non-judgemental towards clients as well as celebrating the diversity among the clients and communities because this will cloud my assessment, hence providing low-quality services.

Aligning my personal beliefs, values and perspective with both the agency’s and  NASW codes of ethics is one of the areas that I will require more guidance through shadowing because one of my responsibilities is to advocate for clients rights and needs as different patients require different forms of treatments and they should accord with the codes of ethics of the place. Elderly adults require intensive care that should be conducted with empathy, care and a lot of concern because most of them are vulnerable to injuries or other forms of distressing situations, and this might be a concern, in which I will need further assistance through demonstration. Seeing how other colleagues perform these tasks will enhance my skills and also grant me an opportunity to learn different ways of avoiding risks and further complication of the client’s situation.

Even though some individuals can work and make decisions effectively under intense pressure, this stands out as a worrying factor to me because, under absolute pressure, I might not deliver effectively considering that I am supposed to address any sought of concerns. And due to this, I will need more guidance because apart from meeting deadlines, it is essential that the clients receive competent services, and I might not be in a position to attain this under pressure. Client’s satisfaction and comfort are the core objectives of most institutions, and this is promoted by having staff that is not only able to process information quickly, understand new concepts and learn new skills each day but also because the firm serves different clients with different needs. Although I am willing to take on new responsibilities and commit to achieving social justice, I will need some help in understanding the patient’s records because this is the crucial step in delivering and formulating a plan that will solve a need when it arises.

The current era has advanced to a whole new level of technology, and that has made operations in different sectors easier and safer. However, the use of the wrong tool for the improper purpose or the incorrect use of the tools often results in tremendous impacts on both the patient and the caregiver such as injuries and complicating the current situation even more. Being shown how some of the machines operate as well as their limits are one crucial guideline that will help me reduce the levels of anxiety when dealing with these tools and the clients as well.

Effective communication with my field instructor is not only one of the ways to ensure i complete my internship successfully, but also a way of addressing some of the challenges and needs i might encounter on the field. Some of the ways I will utilize to address my obligations to the instructor is having scheduled informational interviews because the primary objective of an internship is to expose the interns to the working globe of social workers. Also, setting my expectations early will help me address specific points of improvement to receive enough guidance from the instructor, agency and co-workers. Understanding the National Association of Social Workers codes of ethics of the agency also influences the mode of communication with the instructor because agencies limit the use of social media when discussing patient stuff because of patient’s privacy. Therefore, presenting weekly reports to the instructor will be one of the vital means of communicating my needs as I will be updating them every week. This will ensure that my instructor is more engaged in my internship period and hence can deduce more challenges I experience.

Interns at social work are usually unique as they are continually helping individuals during their vulnerable moments and emotional discomfort while in practice is often rampant and this might be one of the inhibiting factors that might contribute not achieve the opportunity, motivation and capacity to learn while in practicum. Time is also a limiting factor because of other engagements outside the agency, hence providing minimal time to explore new things such as the knowledge of assessment tools, techniques and methods used by the agency.  The relationship between co-workers plays a critical part in motivating one because they often act as the primary source of information, updates, corrections and even provide support in times of need. Therefore, poor relation and coordination between my co-workers and i will inhibit my capacity to learn more because first, i will be prone to very many challenges and shortcoming as the location of most resources will be a problem and secondly, adaptation will be an issue because i will not have more points of practical references other than my mistakes.