Observation In Social Work

b. When I first arrived I signed in on the volunteer handbook. I introduced myself to everyone and most of them seemed very nice. During my time at the agency I noticed patients walking around on their own and talking amongst the other patients. I spent most of my time decorating boards on the wall with one of the patients. There were displays of calendars on the wall. The calendars consisted of daily schedules of the variety activities Martin Healthcare provides for the patients. I helped decorate the wall for the month of February which included pictures for Black History month, Valentine’s Day, Presidents Day, and Mardi Gras. I also watched the nurses check on their patients. I noticed how happy some of the patients were which was heartwarming. I saw a few elderly women getting their nails polished. They seemed to really be enjoying themselves.
c.

From my observation, as a social worker, I have been learning that not everyone you meet will be friendly with you like you may be with them. You have to learn how to adjust and make a person feel comfortable with talking with you. Everyone isn't going to trust you at first so you have to establish a good working relationship in the beginning. I learned in Social Work 350 the importance of developing a professional relationship and respecting confidentiality. When working with others there are lessons that you can learn about yourself that you may have never known.
d. The activities that I was able to observe from the Social Work observation list would be communication patterns and conflict. In class we have discussed communication skills such as simple encouragement, reflective responding, clarification, and sensitivity to cultural differences. We also discussed barriers of communication in class.

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e. One thing that we are always talking about in class is confidentiality and at the nursing home I learned how much they stress the importance of maintaining confidentiality. I know whatever takes place in the nursing home is information that I should only keep within just that building. I also learned the importance of respecting privacy but that ties in with maintaining confidentiality. With everything that I observed and experienced today are some of the things that we have been talking about in class. Caring for the patient, being considerate of how they may feel about something and learning how to talk with them to the point where they feel comfortable but not getting to personal with clients to the point where they know all of your business. From my experiences this week I didn’t have any concerns for how anything should be done differently.
f. The only community resources that were used this week were locality development model. This was my first week at the agency so there weren’t a variety of resources used to my knowledge.
g. Diversity : Elderly with disabilities
Social and Economic Justice:
Populations at Risk: The elderly who suffer with Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
Values and Ethics:
Rural Issues:
h. On a scale of 0-10, I feel my level of engagement and participation this week at the agency was a 7. I feel comfortable working being at the nursing home because I know I can learn a lot from the experience and I know it will help me grow as a social worker. I can't say that it’s peaceful in the nursing home but it is heartwarming. I enjoyed being in that kind of environment or maybe it's because I had a soft spot for elderly people. I love being around them. I can see myself looking forward to seeing them every week.