New job problems. Help.

I haven't quit yet.

But it's getting worse.

This morning I was called into the general managers office to explain my behaviour over two incidents from Monday.

One is serious the other almost laughable.

The existing staff are openly critical about pay, working conditions and changes to working conditions and bureaucracy.  But I was overheard commenting about being surprised about the loudness of the buzzers and how frequently various people keep coming in and out of the flat.  The general manager in charge of the complex demanded to know what I meant about the buzzers and people coming and going.  And that I was reported to have said it within hearing distance of one of the clients.

The second incident is more serious, I have been accused of sleeping on duty.  After an eight hour shift dealing with a disabled woman who has challenging behaviour, she likes to shout, sulk, head butting, sniffing people, licking my arms etc. At change over time we were sitting down watching TV.  The client was quiet engrossed in the TV show.   The qualified support worker and her replacement were deep in a gossiping session (of no interest to me).  My eyes closed for  a moment and straight away she shouted at me that sleeping on duty is a sackable offence.

Today I was formally warned that a report about my sleeping is being sent to HR and the offence is very serious.

There are also lots of clear rules and regulations in a written staff handbook which I followed but others ignored.

Main ones are clear warnings about not doing specific tasks unless one has received clear training and has been judged to be competent.

Yet they expected me to get hands on involved straight from the start without training.  Like using mechanical lifts and hoists to move clients from bed to wheelchair to baths and toilets etc.

Then there is the rule about being left alone with clients in a flat.  Two days ago while shadowing a senior support worker.  He made it clear that as an untrained beginner, it was illegal for me to be left alone with vulnerable clients in a flat and I had to leave a flat with him whenever he left.

Yet,. Before that, I had been left alone many times for 5 or 10 minutes at a time,  while staff went to other flats as required.

I feel quitting is the best option.

With that added info I would also agree that leaving is the best option. It’s not acceptable to use lifting equipment without training and being left alone with clients while shadowing. It sounds like they’re breaking all the rules and in situations like these, the ones following rules are usually the ones to get scapegoated. 

There is nothing wrong with experiencing the buzzers as loud and if you find the comings and goings of people too much then it’s not the best environment for you, which isn’t a reflection of your abilities but simply a reflection of your ability to be in certain situations. 

Why not call a review and bring up all the points that you have mentioned here. Do any of your work coaches offer you support in this area? For example, could one of them accompany and support you at a review that you have called to discuss your concerns? From what you have said, this doesn’t sound like a great company to work for. 

Sorry, Robert... this link may be more helpful...

Lone Working in the Care Sector

Robert124 said:

So far all training has been on the job, with no practice on dummys etc.

One reason they were unhappy with me from the start was that I'm not a 'hands on person'.

They made it clear that I should just get stuck in and on with it.

First time I was being left alone in a flat with a disabled patient who needed 24h care.  I was very apprehensive and asked what do I do in case of an emergency?

My supervisor was very surprised that no-one had explained to me the alarm system for calling for help. Where it was, what to press, how to call for help.  He just assumed I knew.

Then this is definitely not good.  No responsible care employer would expect an inexperienced member of staff to work alone with a service user.  I mentioned that situation in my last job, with the new woman who was expected to accompany a service user to London alone and administer meds.  Heads rolled over that.  You leave yourself wide open, in that situation, to problems.  Supposing, for instance, a bruise is later discovered on that person?  They could have knocked themselves.  Equally, though, you could be blamed.  I really think you should contact CQC first to find out if you have grounds for a complaint.

Here's another HSE publication you might want to look at:

Lone Working in Care

So far all training has been on the job, with no practice on dummys etc.

One reason they were unhappy with me from the start was that I'm not a 'hands on person'.

They made it clear that I should just get stuck in and on with it.

First time I was being left alone in a flat with a disabled patient who needed 24h care.  I was very apprehensive and asked what do I do in case of an emergency?

My supervisor was very surprised that no-one had explained to me the alarm system for calling for help. Where it was, what to press, how to call for help.  He just assumed I knew.

Hi Robert,

Check this out.  There's a difference between 'mandatory' training and 'statutory' training.  Mandatory training is usually provided by employers as part of an induction package.  It doesn't sound like you've had any formal mandatory induction training yet.

Statutory training is training that is required by law.  It includes moving and handling.  Mandatory training includes it, too, which makes for a grey area.  The important point, I think - as a training provider has told me - is that you should be shown how to use the equipment properly before you actually have to use it in a real-life situation.  Has anyone actually taken you to one side for an hour, say, to show you the equipment and how it's used? And to practice using it - on a volunteer or a dummy? Or are you just being expected to learn it 'hands on' - on the job?

I'd definitely check with the HSE.  You can do it anonymously without naming your employer. Any decent care employer should be ensuring people have induction in moving and handling, emergency first aid, medication awareness, etc as a basic necessity before starting work. 

Training

Robert124 said:

Printed rules and regulations state that two personal ( qualified & certified?) Must do it. And other rules state that if we have any doubts or reservations about the safety of what we are asked to do we must speak up.

Reality is that I, as a brand new trainee am being supervised by a 19 year with 6 months experience.  Are either of us qualified?

Personally I think what we are doing is safe.  But as a newcomer is my opinion important.  I'm just copying my colleague.  Red loop from sling goes on side hook ( both sides).  White loop goes on front hook ( both sides).  Dark blue long loop  ( and there are three colour coded loops ) goes on rear hook.  I'm just copying on one side what my colleague is doing on other side.  My 19 year boss checks my work and we go..

I operate the electronic controls ( no training) just told it's obvious, not rocket science. Four buttons, up, down, left, right.

My colleague moves the wheelchair into position, checks breaks, we apply all the straps around belly and feet and everything is fine.

But if something has gone wrong????

The company and management is safe because we are both aware of the printed regulations and the need to speak up if in doubt.

But in reality whenever I speak I end getting a tounge lashing from the manager in effect being told to 'keep your mouth shut and just do as you're told'.

What do I do???

Yes, it should always be two people.  In spite of her age and relative newness on the job, if your 'supervisor' is trained and certified to use the hoist, then that's perfectly fine and proper.  But you should still be properly trained and certified yourself, as far as I'm aware.  It's all part of any inductee's general moving and handling training.  You may want to check your employer's policies and procedures on this, but this has always been the case in any care situation I've worked in: I haven't been allowed to use equipment unless I've taken the certified training course. Even in agency work. 

Check this out.  You can contact HSE via the online form for more information, or to report any specific problems.

Moving and Handling

Your comments are very true.  And I will give you another moral dilemma from my personal experience.

Hoisting a disabled person in and out of a wheelchair.

Printed rules and regulations state that two personal ( qualified & certified?) Must do it. And other rules state that if we have any doubts or reservations about the safety of what we are asked to do we must speak up.

Reality is that I, as a brand new trainee am being supervised by a 19 year with 6 months experience.  Are either of us qualified?

Personally I think what we are doing is safe.  But as a newcomer is my opinion important.  I'm just copying my colleague.  Red loop from sling goes on side hook ( both sides).  White loop goes on front hook ( both sides).  Dark blue long loop  ( and there are three colour coded loops ) goes on rear hook.  I'm just copying on one side what my colleague is doing on other side.  My 19 year boss checks my work and we go..

I operate the electronic controls ( no training) just told it's obvious, not rocket science. Four buttons, up, down, left, right.

My colleague moves the wheelchair into position, checks breaks, we apply all the straps around belly and feet and everything is fine.

But if something has gone wrong????

The company and management is safe because we are both aware of the printed regulations and the need to speak up if in doubt.

But in reality whenever I speak I end getting a tounge lashing from the manager in effect being told to 'keep your mouth shut and just do as you're told'.

What do I do???

I thought only qualified nurses or practitioners qualified in prescribing could administer medication and others could prompt but by no means administer it. 

It's a crazy world we live in for sure, with love and compassion for our fellow beings low on the list of priorities in most people's lives. Health and happiness seem to be very low on the list of priorities for most people so I guess it's not surprising then that people don't treat their fellow beings with the same level of consideration. The journey to London for that young girl and the gentleman would have far reaching effects on her health and then for her to be ostracised by her colleagues shows what a crazy world we live in. 

In my last job - at a top care charity - the regulations were pretty tightly adhered to.  However, the place was huge and was divided into different sectors: nursing care, special needs, physical disabilities, acquired brain injuries, day services, etc.  The nursing care residential sector was the worst-run and most notorious.  The same time I started, another inductee was a woman in her early 20s who'd never done care work at all before.  She was bright, though, and was also in the job for the right reasons.  She worked in nursing care residential, who were mainly elderly people with physical disabilities or dementia.  In her second week, when she was still supposed to be doing shadow shifts, and was still very fresh on the job and learning the ropes, she was called in by her manager on her day off and told to take an elderly man in a wheelchair on a train trip to London, where he had an appointment at a specialist hospital.  She was also given his medication in a bag and told to administer them as directed on the packets.  She was horrified, naturally - and it was a situation that should never be allowed to happen.  Her manager, though, was a qualified nurse (would you believe) - and she was told 'The person who was supposed to take him has gone sick, and there's no one else.'  She said it was a nerve-racking experience... that man's life in the hands of an inexperienced new staff member who should never have been left alone with a client in any case.  I told her to report it to the Head of Care, which she did.  And heads rolled over it.  But after that, other staff on her unit wouldn't speak to her because she was a 'trouble-maker'.  Absolutely appalling.  But I don't think for one minute that it's an isolated incident in care.  In my very first care job, in 2005, I had no training in medication.  After six months, though, I was told (and I didn't know any different) 'You can give meds now, because you've been here long enough.'

Whoa ~ that’s huge, giving out meds! I didn’t know that was happening ~ I guess that’s my naivety  because afterall, all the other things are huge as well, they just seem less so as they’re so common but they’re all huge red flags.

Yes, whistleblowing was the first thing that came to my mind and yes, it would be great if you [Robert] was to report this behaviour, including how the member of staff reported you for ‘sleeping’ ~ that just smelled of bullying and scapegoating and the people who suffer the most in these situations are the vulnerable clients, and that just breaks my heart ~ and rarely will they make complaints, which is even more heartbreaking. 

Whoa ~ that’s huge, giving out meds! I didn’t know that was happening ~ I guess that’s my naivety  because afterall, all the other things are huge as well, they just seem less so as they’re so common but they’re all huge red flags.

Yes, whistleblowing was the first thing that came to my mind and yes, it would be great if you [Robert] was to report this behaviour, including how the member of staff reported you for ‘sleeping’ ~ that just smelled of bullying and scapegoating and the people who suffer the most in these situations are the vulnerable clients, and that just breaks my heart ~ and rarely will they make complaints, which is even more heartbreaking. 

Sorry, Robert... this link may be more helpful...

Lone Working in the Care Sector

Robert124 said:

So far all training has been on the job, with no practice on dummys etc.

One reason they were unhappy with me from the start was that I'm not a 'hands on person'.

They made it clear that I should just get stuck in and on with it.

First time I was being left alone in a flat with a disabled patient who needed 24h care.  I was very apprehensive and asked what do I do in case of an emergency?

My supervisor was very surprised that no-one had explained to me the alarm system for calling for help. Where it was, what to press, how to call for help.  He just assumed I knew.

Then this is definitely not good.  No responsible care employer would expect an inexperienced member of staff to work alone with a service user.  I mentioned that situation in my last job, with the new woman who was expected to accompany a service user to London alone and administer meds.  Heads rolled over that.  You leave yourself wide open, in that situation, to problems.  Supposing, for instance, a bruise is later discovered on that person?  They could have knocked themselves.  Equally, though, you could be blamed.  I really think you should contact CQC first to find out if you have grounds for a complaint.

Here's another HSE publication you might want to look at:

Lone Working in Care

So far all training has been on the job, with no practice on dummys etc.

One reason they were unhappy with me from the start was that I'm not a 'hands on person'.

They made it clear that I should just get stuck in and on with it.

First time I was being left alone in a flat with a disabled patient who needed 24h care.  I was very apprehensive and asked what do I do in case of an emergency?

My supervisor was very surprised that no-one had explained to me the alarm system for calling for help. Where it was, what to press, how to call for help.  He just assumed I knew.

Hi Robert,

Check this out.  There's a difference between 'mandatory' training and 'statutory' training.  Mandatory training is usually provided by employers as part of an induction package.  It doesn't sound like you've had any formal mandatory induction training yet.

Statutory training is training that is required by law.  It includes moving and handling.  Mandatory training includes it, too, which makes for a grey area.  The important point, I think - as a training provider has told me - is that you should be shown how to use the equipment properly before you actually have to use it in a real-life situation.  Has anyone actually taken you to one side for an hour, say, to show you the equipment and how it's used? And to practice using it - on a volunteer or a dummy? Or are you just being expected to learn it 'hands on' - on the job?

I'd definitely check with the HSE.  You can do it anonymously without naming your employer. Any decent care employer should be ensuring people have induction in moving and handling, emergency first aid, medication awareness, etc as a basic necessity before starting work. 

Training

Robert124 said:

Printed rules and regulations state that two personal ( qualified & certified?) Must do it. And other rules state that if we have any doubts or reservations about the safety of what we are asked to do we must speak up.

Reality is that I, as a brand new trainee am being supervised by a 19 year with 6 months experience.  Are either of us qualified?

Personally I think what we are doing is safe.  But as a newcomer is my opinion important.  I'm just copying my colleague.  Red loop from sling goes on side hook ( both sides).  White loop goes on front hook ( both sides).  Dark blue long loop  ( and there are three colour coded loops ) goes on rear hook.  I'm just copying on one side what my colleague is doing on other side.  My 19 year boss checks my work and we go..

I operate the electronic controls ( no training) just told it's obvious, not rocket science. Four buttons, up, down, left, right.

My colleague moves the wheelchair into position, checks breaks, we apply all the straps around belly and feet and everything is fine.

But if something has gone wrong????

The company and management is safe because we are both aware of the printed regulations and the need to speak up if in doubt.

But in reality whenever I speak I end getting a tounge lashing from the manager in effect being told to 'keep your mouth shut and just do as you're told'.

What do I do???

Yes, it should always be two people.  In spite of her age and relative newness on the job, if your 'supervisor' is trained and certified to use the hoist, then that's perfectly fine and proper.  But you should still be properly trained and certified yourself, as far as I'm aware.  It's all part of any inductee's general moving and handling training.  You may want to check your employer's policies and procedures on this, but this has always been the case in any care situation I've worked in: I haven't been allowed to use equipment unless I've taken the certified training course. Even in agency work. 

Check this out.  You can contact HSE via the online form for more information, or to report any specific problems.

Moving and Handling

Your comments are very true.  And I will give you another moral dilemma from my personal experience.

Hoisting a disabled person in and out of a wheelchair.

Printed rules and regulations state that two personal ( qualified & certified?) Must do it. And other rules state that if we have any doubts or reservations about the safety of what we are asked to do we must speak up.

Reality is that I, as a brand new trainee am being supervised by a 19 year with 6 months experience.  Are either of us qualified?

Personally I think what we are doing is safe.  But as a newcomer is my opinion important.  I'm just copying my colleague.  Red loop from sling goes on side hook ( both sides).  White loop goes on front hook ( both sides).  Dark blue long loop  ( and there are three colour coded loops ) goes on rear hook.  I'm just copying on one side what my colleague is doing on other side.  My 19 year boss checks my work and we go..

I operate the electronic controls ( no training) just told it's obvious, not rocket science. Four buttons, up, down, left, right.

My colleague moves the wheelchair into position, checks breaks, we apply all the straps around belly and feet and everything is fine.

But if something has gone wrong????

The company and management is safe because we are both aware of the printed regulations and the need to speak up if in doubt.

But in reality whenever I speak I end getting a tounge lashing from the manager in effect being told to 'keep your mouth shut and just do as you're told'.

What do I do???

I thought only qualified nurses or practitioners qualified in prescribing could administer medication and others could prompt but by no means administer it. 

It's a crazy world we live in for sure, with love and compassion for our fellow beings low on the list of priorities in most people's lives. Health and happiness seem to be very low on the list of priorities for most people so I guess it's not surprising then that people don't treat their fellow beings with the same level of consideration. The journey to London for that young girl and the gentleman would have far reaching effects on her health and then for her to be ostracised by her colleagues shows what a crazy world we live in. 

In my last job - at a top care charity - the regulations were pretty tightly adhered to.  However, the place was huge and was divided into different sectors: nursing care, special needs, physical disabilities, acquired brain injuries, day services, etc.  The nursing care residential sector was the worst-run and most notorious.  The same time I started, another inductee was a woman in her early 20s who'd never done care work at all before.  She was bright, though, and was also in the job for the right reasons.  She worked in nursing care residential, who were mainly elderly people with physical disabilities or dementia.  In her second week, when she was still supposed to be doing shadow shifts, and was still very fresh on the job and learning the ropes, she was called in by her manager on her day off and told to take an elderly man in a wheelchair on a train trip to London, where he had an appointment at a specialist hospital.  She was also given his medication in a bag and told to administer them as directed on the packets.  She was horrified, naturally - and it was a situation that should never be allowed to happen.  Her manager, though, was a qualified nurse (would you believe) - and she was told 'The person who was supposed to take him has gone sick, and there's no one else.'  She said it was a nerve-racking experience... that man's life in the hands of an inexperienced new staff member who should never have been left alone with a client in any case.  I told her to report it to the Head of Care, which she did.  And heads rolled over it.  But after that, other staff on her unit wouldn't speak to her because she was a 'trouble-maker'.  Absolutely appalling.  But I don't think for one minute that it's an isolated incident in care.  In my very first care job, in 2005, I had no training in medication.  After six months, though, I was told (and I didn't know any different) 'You can give meds now, because you've been here long enough.'