The act of effective interaction between individuals can be obtained by spoken words or by other means. For communication to occur there has to be at least two people involved. The ability to communicate effectively and efficiently is one of the most important skills that can be gained by a healthcare professional.

What is Communication?

In a simple definition, communication is the process of sending or receiving messages between two or more individuals.

Effective communication is more than just talking, and is essential for the well-being of the individuals you care for.  It includes body language, gestures, facial expressions, positioning and appearance.  It is important to be aware of non-verbal communication when interacting with your individuals at work.

It is impossible to do without communication in health and social care, we have many reasons to communicate and it is essential communication is done effectively without misunderstanding others or being misunderstood. We communicate with:

• Patients, residents, clients,
• Health care professionals,
• Managers and supervisors,
• Family and friends. 

• Speech difficulties due to disabilities’ or illness e.g. Dementia, stroke
• Deafness
• Poor Sight
• Noisy Environment
• Poor Cognitive Skills e.g. learning disabilities
• Difference in Language spoken

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Perhaps your NVQ Assessor or tutor has asked you to obtain a witness testimony as part of your assessment plan to gather evidence of competence for your NVQ (National Vocational Qualification).

Are you wondering…

·         What is this all about?

·         Where do I get this from?

·         Who can I ask to write one for me?

·         Do I need to use some forms?

Well I would like to explain this in today’s article.

Firstly, who is a witness?

Literally, he or she is a person who testifies at a court hearing. As a witness, the person may have seen an accident, witnessed a crime, or be asked to describe the character of someone they know. As a witness they will be asked to answer some questions regarding their knowledge of a case in court.

Well in this case we are certainly not in a court of Law but in a work setting you need to locate someone who testifies in writing about you with regards to your work.

Secondly, what is a testimony?

This is evidence obtained from a witness who has made a statement or declaration of fact.

Using the 2 definitions above you can define

WITNESS TESTIMONY as an account of your work performance, which has been witnessed by another person.

This clearly suggests that you can’t write one for yourself. You need someone who can testify in writing to say what they know about you, what they have seen you do or describe an activity you have carried out which should relate to your job description and also to the performance criteria of the units within your NVQ.

You can get a witness testimony from:

·         Your manager or supervisor

·         Your colleague at work

·         The individuals you work with

·         Your tutors or trainers.

Depending on your training centre’s policy, generally you would be required to obtain the witness testimony on a form given to you and you have to request that they sign what is called a Witness Status List – normally found at the front bits in your portfolio. Anyone who writes out a witness testimony must sign the Witness Status List and then your assessor will judge the evidence provided.

See an example; this is a witness testimony about how you handled an accident at work. Yours might be how you handled a disclosure of abuse from a service user and the words in your form would be different.

Witness Testimony

Candidate’s Name:____________________________________________________________

Witness Name:________________________________________________________________

Date of Incident/Accident:_______________________________________________________

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Often learners have asked me “how do I write a reflective account?” and my answer is you need to know what a reflective account is before you can write good one. Many learners have submitted an account to their NVQ assessor and have been disappointed when told they need to write it again. Let me tell you what might have happened – You probably wrote your account without a guide and therefore as lengthy as your account might have been you were told you haven’t met many performance criteria which are what your assessor is looking for. So let me tell you what a reflective account is.

A reflective account is usually a write up of how you have carried out part of your job in the past. It could be yesterday or a week, month or years ago as long as you use past tense. It maybe how you dealt with a health emergency, an abusive situation or how you have used a particular piece of equipment in the past.

Your account will be a record of events that actually happened. It must be reflected in your style of writing as what you did not someone else. 

For example – I did this and then I did that

It is NOT acceptable to write I would do this as this does not demonstrate that you have done it or have been doing it.

If possible write about why you took the actions stated.

For example –When I arrived at Mrs A’s home I put on my gloves and apron to ensure I protect t he service user and myself from infection…..

Throughout your account you must maintain confidentiality by using Mrs A, R or any other alphabet rather than using their actual names or addresses.

Think about a typical day at work or over a period of days and write a story on how you carried out those activities using the performance criteria of the units within your NVQ as a guide. This might include:

·         Assisting clients with toileting requirements. (HSC 218a)

·         Assisting clients with their personal hygiene. (HSC 218bc)

·         Preparing food and drink for clients. (HSC 213abc)

·         Assisting clients to eat and drink. (HSC 214abc)

·         Undertaking clinical activities. ( HSC 230ab)

·         Supporting others to undertake clinical activities. (HSC 361ab)

·         Supporting clients with cleaning or other domestic needs. (HSC 29abc)

·         Supporting clients to be comfortable (HSC 216ab)

·         Providing pressure area care. (HSC 217ab)

·         Supporting clients to move from one position to another (HSC 223ab, HSC 360ab)

·         Supporting service users to access and use services and facilities (HSC 330abc)

·         How you contribute to care planning and review (HSC 328abc)

·         Supporting individuals with specific communication needs (HSC 369abc)

·         How you administer medication to individuals (HSC 375ab)

This list is in exhaustive it applies to any unit title you have chosen within your NVQ.

There are many other activities that you might have been involved in which you should include in your account.

The way in which you carried out the activities is very important; here you will find yourself covering a good part for your mandatory units. This might include:

·         How you communicated with clients and others such as colleagues, relatives and other professionals.

·         How you treated people as individuals and showed them respect and dignity.

·         How you maintained a professional relationship with the different individuals. Did you have to deal with any conflicts, distress or challenging behaviour?

·         How you worked as a team.

·         How you monitored and maintained health and safety during the different work activities.

·         What information you passed on, how it was passed on and what records you completed.

Note: Your reflective account is expected to meet the standards of the NVQ usually the performance criteria and sometimes it will cover some knowledge specification.

 I believe if you make use of all the points I have mentioned, you will be able to construct a good reflective account at NVQ Level 2, NVQ Level 3 or NVQ Level 4 on your own.

In all our packages – NVQ 2 & NVQ 3 Mandatory and Optional units, we have fully referenced examples of reflective accounts and a guide to how to write your reflective account. You also have FREE access to our online support centre once you purchase any of the packages, if you need more help on writing reflective account or any other aspect of your NVQ I will advise you to purchase any of our packages relevant to your needs.

If this post has helped you in anyway please leave a comment, this will encourage me to do more and others to read too. I also welcome other NVQ Assessors/trainers to contribute in order to enhance good practice in our profession, thank you.

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Looking for help with your NVQ 2, NVQ 3 in health and social care, A1 award or PTTLS 7303 assignments? Perhaps you are not very sure how to go about your NVQ Health and Social Care portfolio requirements. You have met with your assessor he/she has given you an assessment plan and some assignments to do and you feel somehow stuck.  At NVQ Made Simple, the Online Support Centre plus a number of resources available can erase all your worries instantly.

You might be very busy due to family and work commitments but you want to complete your NVQ Award despite this fact, congratulation you are in the right place for the support you require.

 There is no question too small or too big to ask; all you need to do is sign up with our Free Online Support when you have purchased a resource from this site which contains specimen questions and answers already in any package of your choice. If you don’t want to purchase any product in this instance, support only can be paid for. This is a one off charge of £10 (introductory price) for as long as you are on your NVQ, Click here to pay now

After payment register for online support using the link below

www.nvqmadesimple.com/onlinesupportcentre  you will need to choose a username and password you can remember easily as you will need this each time you want to log on to the Support Centre, please allow maximum 24hours after registering for your account to be approved by an administrator, you will get a confirmation email to inform you that your registration has been approved.

Next steps to start getting guidance and support

Once you log on to the support centre successfully, locate the relevant page tab to your award type/level, in addition locate the page tab for the units you want to ask question (if applicable) then finally use the comment section to submit your questions. Our promise (guaranteed) is that within 24hours an experienced assessor will respond and answer your request and this response will be available for you to view on the same page.

What makes us different from other similar service provider?

You might have come across a few others who offer similar services to what we do, but we are different, for these reason:

·         Your answers are supplied by experienced assessors within 24hrs or earlier.

·         You are not left alone to seek answers from your colleagues as would be the case on a forum.

·         You have access to the answers supplied to other learners who have asked questions ahead of you.

·         You have access to an online assessor and if extra support is required you can reach us on phone.

·         We provide 7days a week online support if you have difficulties logging into the centre; which means you are supported all the way through your NVQ.

Contact us by email on product@nvqmadesimple.com for support on logging in.

So don’t wait, why don’t you get started now and you will be right on target to hand in your work to your assessor without the normal worries of how to go about your work. Register today as this amount we request is very introductory and at a reduced price. You don’t want to revisit this site and register when it has become £50!

Best wishes

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More and more industries are developing increasing numbers of National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs). People need to know what the NVQ system is, and the effect it may have on them.

At one time, GCSEs, O Levels and GCSEs were jargon: now, like NVQs, they’re common household terms.  Over the past few years, many people who work in the health and Social Care industry have gained NVQ certificates and many more are well on their way.

Most jobs, whether in cleaning, security services, office administration, retail and health and social care require practical skills and knowledge? For some jobs, people have to pass exams; for a lot of others, there have been no formal qualifications for people to achieve.

Exam results generally do not tell an employer how competently someone can do a job: they simply measure their ability to remember things and write them down. People go on courses; they return to work, and there’s often little follow-up or assessment of how their training may have helped them to improve their performance, or enjoy their job more. Some supervisors/managers have been known to resent the time ‘wasted’ on a course, when they or their colleagues have had to cover for them.

NVQs are not about going on courses, studying, or passing exams. They are about assessment, to a nationally recognized standard, of how competently someone does the job that their employer pays them to do. At last we have the opportunity for people, who have been doing a good job for years, to be recognized for their competence and achieve a worthwhile qualification.

NVQs tell employers a great deal about you. An NVQ says that you can do a job properly and that you have the knowledge and skills required. Passing an exam or having a job title won’t necessarily prove this. Having an NVQ proves that someone can work to industry standards. Employers and the Trades Unions recognize them. Most people get great personal satisfaction from being recognized for doing something well: an NVQ is proof of achievement, and something to be proud of. It is also evidence to put forward if you change jobs or go for promotion. NVQs are updated regularly and new options added, to keep abreast of improvements in technology and working practices. This means that people can add to their qualifications and have a completely up-to-date record of how competent they are.

How do NVQs Work

All NVQs are part of a ‘framework’ which links the qualifications together. There are five Levels in the framework, starting with Level 1. NVQs in Health and Social Care are available at Levels 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5. Many Care workers work for NVQs at Level 2, as this is the level for which competence can be recognized for different routine activities. An NVQ at Level 3 would be supervisory (i.e. some individual responsibilities ); and so on up to Level 5, which represents a senior level of managing people or processes.

Someone who has a Health and Social Care NVQ Level 2 that includes supporting individuals with personal care needs, for example, would be qualified to a similar level of skill as a person with NVQ Level 2 in hairdressing, retail, or business administration.

The main difference between NVQs and academic qualifications is that people don’t have to attend formal training courses to achieve their qualifications. NVQs are based on standards, which someone can work towards at their own pace (indeed, many people within the care industry may already have achieved the required standards for certain NVQs). You don’t have to start at Level 1, either: you can start working towards whichever Level is right for your present skills and abilities.

Each NVQ consists of a number of units: in health and social care.

At Level 2, these are…

• To develop effective communication skills
• To maintain health and safety at work
• To develop and improve practice
• To develop skills which is used to recognize abuse and protect vulnerable adults

The units are split into elements, which describe a small aspect of the job and the conditions under which it must be done. All the elements must be achieved for the national standard to be met. When all the elements for a unit and all the units for the NVQ are achieved, a certificate is awarded , it’s quite simple and straight forward , expect a follow up post soon……

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