What we share

 

I had a conversation with a colleague the other day about how our experiences can impact our practice. We were talking specifically about safeguarding cases and if you are someone who has ever experienced an abusive situation how you would manage this.

We talked about other scenarios and I gave the example that when I first started on my final placement in a hospital team it was around the time of the anniversary of losing my grandma so I remember talking to my practice educator in the first couple of weeks of placement about how I thought I would struggle with taking cases where someone had the same medical experience as she did because it would potentially be triggering for me at that time. It felt good to not only be able to have those conversations with someone who was so supportive but reflecting back on it the fact that I was able to recognise that for myself was so important to my development.

Obviously we can't always avoid something we would struggle with but it is important to know how something is going to affect us so whether we may have to approach it differently or utilise different methods to help calm ourselves down. It is also about giving ourselves time and understanding because yes at work we are the professional but that does not change the fact we are also human. We have emotions and experiences that do impact our practice and the way that we experience certain situations.

I like to think about how this links to the 3 P's. The 3 P's are professional, personal and private. When working with someone we are trying to build rapport and a relationship with but we don't want to share too much of ourselves. Sharing too much information can put you in danger or a difficult position but it is also about being mindful of being there to support the person not put your own things onto them.

I came out of a visit with a student shadowing recently where I had talked about my daughter, I turned to the student and said I shared that information because I felt comfortable. In this particular situation the person has dementia and struggles with her short term memory so I knew that no matter what I shared she would not remember it if asked later so I utilised this to help build a relationship with her.

It is looking at the information about your life and deciding which P it falls into. Professional means you share the information fully, this is usually about the process or next steps. This for me would include sentences such as after this visit I am going to type up the assessment then apply for funding. Personal is information about you that is more so in the public space or is maybe more obvious from looking at you, for me things like my gender are obvious but also I wear a wedding ring so it is easy for people to know that I am married. Private is the information that would not be appropriate to share on a visit. It is up to the individual on what they put in the personal category and what is in the private. For me personally I would mention having a child, maybe their age but would not answer further questions that would specifically identify them because I want to keep them safe. If asked where I live I name the closest town but not which area I live in. It is being mindful that if someone was not happy with the work you had done they would not be able to engage in anything in your personal life based on what you had told them.

What you put into different categories may also change based on the person you are engaging with. I have worked with people I would feel comfortable sharing a bit more with but others I would keep my guard up because I was not sure how they were going to be throughout the interaction so I wanted to protect myself further. I find that I can usually build a pretty good rapport with most people because I utilise humour where appropriate to make people feel at ease but am also open and honest when working with someone and their families. I know that I can sometimes overload with information to families but I do not want it to get to a situation where something negative is happening such as a move for a person because the correct information was not given at the right time. It is just being mindful that the people you are supporting are not your friends so you need to maintain professional boundaries and only share what is appropriate or what you are comfortable with.