Working in Mental Health Is it the Job for you
60Working in Mental Health. Is it the job for you.
As a mental health worker, I help in the support and management of four men that suffer from schizophrenia. I am involved in the managerial role, giving input to meetings, helping to find relief cover. I am also monitor petty cash. This involves checking timesheets of staff, and making sure target sheets are correct and checking sickness reports. I also have to fill in forms regarding staff and payroll. They are then sent to higher management by email.
Our objectives are to support people to be included in the community and to help break down barriers and stigma that are common problems concerning mental illness, especially schizophrenia. We try to motivate people and discuss any issues they have, so they can manage their illness more effectively. Our aim is that they can be, or work towards becoming responsible and independent members of the community, and to use their time productively. We have a staff team of only four and it involves a lot of lone working, so the smooth running of shifts and problem solving is essential to the job as high stress and burn out lead to sickness and high turnover. Therefore we need to organise recourses so there is a planned structure so time is not wasted. All staff are to undertake regular training in all areas of the job.
To manage effectively we need trained staff who can understand, advise, support and also challenge service users if necessary. We need funding and support from multi agencies such as social services, mental health teams, crises centres, psychiatrists, GPs etc. We need computers to gain send and receive information. We need higher management to bid for funding and tenders and liaise with people and services ready to come to Imagine. As team members we also need to keep ourselves healthy and as free from stress, abuse, and create an environment where staff can be happy and develop to their maximum potential.
Being a good manager involves a number of different skills. My strengths are I can listen, interact and communicate well with others. I feel I can be tactful when discussing issues with service users. I feel I learn quickly but everything takes practice. People often value my input and will ask my advice. I am responsible and know what my job is about and what I have to do. Am I selling this area of work to you yet?
My weaknesses are that I sometimes lack patience when service users do not engage with anybody or appear to be going backwards, not involving themselves in activities and just wanting to sit and smoke, not doing anything for themselves. This part of the job can be very frustrating. But you do have to remember not to push too hard in case they are feeling unwell.
Information is very valuable to our service. It is presented to us via email ensuring speed in getting important knowledge about decisions, actions or advice etc. Information is also kept in folders i.e.: policies and procedures. Diaries, communication books, Phone books, tenants files, etc. There are forms kept in numerical order in a folder in the computer, so they are easy to find. But there is so much information. There are signatures and paperwork, required for everything now and the paperwork keeps increasing. All our information is organised well, and is important. Human error in forgetting to sign or sometimes forgetting read documents is probably the biggest problem we have with regard to information. We need to remind staff to read diaries and make comments and add new numbers to phone books etc.
Organising activities that service users will remain interested in and not get bored of in a couple of weeks. Sounds easy but is actually very difficult. Greater personal hygiene, Cleaning own rooms and generally tidying up after themselves are often an issue. To smoke less and avoid substance abuse altogether is a big problem in working in mental health. Work more closely and thoroughly on star plans (these are support plans that monitor the individual’s progress).
Staff morale: staff can often take a lot of abuse from service users. They sometimes can expect staff to clean, cook and basically do everything. They feel that this is part of the support workers role, which it is not. The role is to work together to show the individual that they can do things for themselves. Doing things for them leads to further dependence on services; this is what we are trying to move away from. Working towards independence is key to the role. But this sometimes angers the service user. This can also leads to stress and an unhappy working environment. So this needs to be gradually, but firmly challenged.
I feel that in work I am reliable and that staff and the Service users can rely on me to get things done. If I say I will do something I do it. I am frank but polite and feel that I communicate well with others. I do this in work on a daily basis. I have respect for other people and feel that others respect me. I am enthusiastic and committed to my job. I believe that people work better or are nicer and happier if you treat them fair and with respect. I am not bossy or controlling. This would not be good in my line of work. Dominating or bullying would not fit in with our policy and would be against all I stand for personally.
We usually work by discussing things at meetings then trying them out to see if they are effective. So a consultative or democratic style is most common. However if a person needed discipline in some way concerning their work, like staff not signing or dating when medication is given then an autocratic style could then be used. As this could lead to serious errors or overdose. Managers may also use the persuasive style when discussing how hours will be worked out, for example staff may want 12 hour shifts only to be persuaded into thinking that they could get burned out or find shifts too intense. We also hold tenants meetings to try to encourage activities and also give service users a voice to say how they want their support to go. This is usually done in a consultative style unless tenants are breaking the law i.e.: smoking in communal room then a autocratic style would be used. I think I am less competent in the autocratic style as this is not used very much in this area of work. Activities are usually decided in a democratic style nobody is dictated to over places to go or visit. Outsourcing is contracting with another company or person to do a function or service. Most organisations outsource in some ways such as payroll, data services, and training personnel. Our site sometimes uses services such as befriending, for outings etc, or mainstream for their knowledge of what courses are available, or community activities. Our training services are no often outsourced to another company. Of course larger companies outsource on a much higher level, but much of ours services are kept within the organisation as other services tend to be already given by NHS or Social Services etc. Maybe you too would like a job like this.
