Essential Skills for Health and Social Care Professionals

This report discusses the importance of soft skills in the healthcare industry. It emphasizes the need for health and social care (H&SC) professionals to possess skills such as team work, flexibility, and time management. The report also highlights other essential qualities like accountability, emotional stability, and handling criticism that are necessary for H&SC professionals to deliver quality services. It concludes by stating that these skills are vital for the H&SC profession and individuals should be encouraged to develop them.

Effective Team Work and
Communication

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Employability skills required within H&SC ...................................................................................1
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Employability skills are known as the set of transferable skills which makes an individual
employable. The people involved in health and social care services (H&SC) are required to be
highly professional and accurate because their practices directly influences the quality of life.
These professionals must have better understanding and in depth knowledge of their subject. To
enhance the productivity and efficiency of H&SC service providers employers defines a specific
guideline for the required skills which they expect from the employee to be recruited (Manners,
2017). The report will analyse employability skills required within H&SC. It will also evaluate
the significance of team work and various skills which must be improved within H&SC
professionals.
Employability skills required within H&SC
In order to increase my credibility for recruitment in H&SC sector I must possess some
skills which are mandatory for accurate and successful execution of health and care services. In
my opinion communication skills are the first skills set which creates a positive impression
among recruiters. As health care professionals it will be my routine task to interact with patients
and to understand their needs and problems. If I will not communicate with them properly then, I
may not provide them accurate services. However, I have experienced that along with
communication skills and technical efficiency in my profession I can explore huge job
opportunities by enhancing following skills.
Flexibility:
One of the most important skills required by the health service recruiters is flexibility
(Moss, 2017). As a health care professional I understand that I must be adjustable with working
hours as well as responsibilities. My key responsibility is to ensure the health well being of
people despite considering the time, duration or occasion. During my internship and learning I
have effectively developed this skill. I feel that currently I may not be much flexible with the
change in responsibilities. This skill is essential for my career because during my practice I may
require dealing with the critical situations and thus my responsibility and professional role may
change.
In such cases I cannot claim that I cannot do this because my ultimate priority is my
patients. The same has been expected by the job providers. I can enhance my flexibility towards
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job roles by experiencing various events which occur during my practice. Instead of keeping a
negative attitude, a positive enthusiasm will help me to become more flexible.
Emotional stability:
In order to provide accurate services I must have emotional balance. The empathy is
essential so that I can understand the pain of people and can fulfil my responsibilities with more
dedication. However, if I will become uncomfortable with the suffering of people then I will not
be able to accomplish my job role. Thus, during recruitments the job providers also consider this
as an essential employability skill (Redmond, 2017). For example if I will get panic with critical
situation then health organisations will never be able to give me responsibility. Thus, for
enhancing the emotional stability stress management, motivation and positive attitude can be
effective.
Team work skills:
Team work is defined as the collaborative action of group of individuals in order to
achieve shared goals effectively. For health professionals working in a team is routine aspect
because a single professional cannot provide complete care to the patient. For example the nurses
cannot give quality care without coordination and team efforts with multidisciplinary team. Thus,
ability of individual to work as a team is also one of the desired employability skill.
The lack of team work skills can make it hard for the professions to provide complete
care to the people. During my learning I have experienced the benefits of team work. However,
to make team outputs more efficient I must manage the conflicts between various team members.
The health organisations consider this skill as an important attribute because the lack of efficient
teams can affect long term benefit goals of the H&SC providers (Williamson, Forbes-Burford
and Minette, 2016). Hence, employers focus that the H&SC professional they are choosing is
capable to work within teams.
Ability to deal with criticism and work load:
As a health professional, I must also be capable to face criticism. There are possibilities
that people may not appreciate the treatment but it is my duty to make them understand that my
practices are for their welfare. However, sometimes I feel demotivated when despite of working
with so many hardships communities do not trust health service providers. Thus, in such
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instances in future I will try to understand that people are having pain and thus it can be difficult
for them to trust health professionals and their practices which may differs from their cultural or
personal beliefs. H&SC employers test this employability skills so that they can evaluate that if
candidate is suitable for their health organisation or not (Edgar and et.al., 2016). The lack of
these skills have inverse impact on the overall performance and efficiency of the health services.
Communication skills and building relations:
Communication ability is the first employability skills which are judged by the employers
in H&SC. If I will not be good at this skill then I cannot convince employer that I am suitable for
the job. For functional efficiency also I must be able to interact with communities and other team
professionals. The cultural diversity is an integral part of the H&SC thus employers require that
the hired professional must address this cultural barrier through communication skills. I can
improve my communication skills by working in teams and by connecting emotionally with the
communities so that I do not hesitate in understanding their needs. The recruiters also analyse my
perspective and ability to develop relations with other team members and people. It helps them to
evaluate my efficiency as a team member and professional service provider.
Time management:
Time is an essential attribute which affects the quality and accuracy of H&SC services.
The time management skills are analysed during recruitment. Especially health care services are
required to accomplish the treatment strategies on time because a minor time delay can be
harmful for the lives of people (Jackson, 2016). Thus job providers critically analyse the
timeliness of professionals. I can enhance my time management skills by properly managing my
work as per priority. In future I can also seek help from experienced professionals to learn from
them regarding task management.
Reflective learnings and ethical perspective:
I can get better job opportunities when I will convince selectors that I have always
learned from my failures and experiences. This quality will help me to excel in their healthcare
organisation as well. The health institutes require that the professionals they are hiring must have
strong ethics because the lack of ethical aspects is harmful from legal as well as health
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perspective of the people. I strongly believe in following ethical practices and to consider the
feedbacks of people so that I can make improvement in my practices.
`If I will take comments of people in negative way then, I will never be able to
understand the needs of community and thus my performance will not be satisfactory. The health
authorities strictly ensure that the individual they are hiring does not have any unethical charges
(Manners, 2017). For enhancing the learning and efficiency I can explore the reflective practices
such as interaction with people so that they can provide judgement and review regarding service
quality.
Quick decision making:
The employers also consider the quickness and decision making ability of the individual
as important employability skill. The administration of H&SC may need active participation of
the employees in various decisions related to performance and operations. If its recruited
employees will not be able to make quick decisions with accuracy then, health care organisations
may fail to achieve its long term targets (What Qualities do you Need to be a Carer?, 2015).
Thus, this employability criteria also holds significant role in the selection process.
I have witnessed many critical instances in which the delay in decision making caused
threat to the life of people by enhancing the complexity of health issue. For avoiding such
instances in my professional career I must make decisions effectively. In order to improve this
skill I can take advise from experience holders and other team members as well as my own
experience can also help me for the same. My achievements to take quick decisions for
promoting productive outputs can inspire employers to consider me for the job role in their social
care organisation.
Adaptability:
The rapidly changing techniques and methodologies are the well known characteristics of
H&SC services. Along with the technical aspects the legal regulations and needs of people also
demand that health service providers must be adaptable to the changing situations. Thus, the
same skill is mandatory for every job opportunity in H&SC (Wall and et.al., 2015). Though
initially I may find it difficult to adopt any change but I understand that this is the part of my
profession. This positive attitude can help me to adapt the changes easily and more effectively.
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However on many occasions the motivation from other team members and expertises can
also help me to enhance this skill. The employers can verify this skill by various situational tasks
and questions. In the absence of this skill individual health professionals may experience
difficulty to cope up with the organisational changes in H&SC (Top 10 soft skills needed in
health care, 2014). Thus, the employers pay special attention to the ability of the candidate to
adopt changes and to comfortably bring these changes into their practices.
Leadership:
Another skill set which is appreciated by the H&SC employers is the leadership skills.
The team working in health-care services also encourages professionals to have leadership
attributes so that they can achieve the desired objectives. I think that I have leadership qualities.
Being good at communication skills and building professional relations I can easily establish
coordination among team members. For exploring growth opportunities leadership skills are
must and need to be improved regularly.
I can improve my leadership skills by building good relations with the other professionals
in team. It will help me to identify their strengths and weakness so that I can motivate them to
achieve the organisational goals. When employers analyse the employability skills of the
candidate then, the leadership skills and experience help them to get a better understanding of the
professional capabilities (Barr and Dowding, 2015). As a leader I may face crucial situations and
it can be tough for me to take the suitable decision. In such situations it can be helpful for me to
seek support and guidance from the others. By using reflective learnings I can provide better
guidance and motivation to my team members.
Thus, in order to assure the long term success in H&SC it is essential for me to develop these
skills so that the recruiters in the profession can find me suitable for their health organisation. In
order to get selected for the H&SC job I must understand the perspective of recruiters. For
instance despite of having subject knowledge if I will not be able to work in teams or hectic work
conditions then definitely I will not get job because these are the necessary skills which I must
have as a part of H&SC profession. Another essential skills for H&SC services is that
professionals must be organised and reliable so that the patients can rely on their carers and
service provider (Kurtz, Draper and Silverman, 2016). With time I must also evaluate and
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explore new skills so that I can establish a path for continuous development in changing and
advanced H&SC environment.
CONCLUSION
From the report it can be concluded that the team work and flexibility are essential skills
for the H&SC professionals so that they can deliver their best services. While recruiting health
care professionals the recruiting organisations also expect several other skills such as
accountability, emotional stability, time management, handling criticism and work pressure.
Thus, it can be concluded from the above analysis that these skills are vital for the H&SC and
thus individuals must encouraged these skills so that quality of health services can be improved.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Barr, J. and Dowding, L., 2015. Leadership in health care. Sage.
Edgar, T., and et.al., 2016. Career paths of recipients of a master's degree in health
communication: understanding employment opportunities, responsibilities, and
choices.Journal of health communication. 21(3). pp.356-365.
Jackson, D., 2016. Re-conceptualising graduate employability: the importance of pre-
professional identity.Higher Education Research & Development. 35(5). pp.925-939.
Kurtz, S., Draper, J. and Silverman, J., 2016. Skills for communicating with patients. CRC Press.
Manners, R.A., 2017. Professional dominance: The social structure of medical care. Routledge.
Moss, B., 2017. Communication skills in health and social care. Sage.
Redmond, B., 2017. Reflection in action: Developing reflective practice in health and social
services. Routledge.
Wall, A.L., and et.al., 2015. White paper on pharmacy admissions: developing a diverse work
force to meet the health-care needs of an increasingly diverse society: recommendations
of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy special committee on
admissions. American journal of pharmaceutical education. 79(7). p.S7.
Williamson, S.N., Forbes-Burford, J. and Minette, R., 2016. Embedding employability into the
health and social care curriculum: perceptions of the stakeholders.
Online
Top 10 soft skills needed in health care, 2014 [Online] Accessed through
<https://carrington.edu/blog/student-tips/careers/top-10-soft-skills-needed-health-care/>
What Qualities do you Need to be a Carer?, 2015 [Online] Accessed through
<https://jobs.communitycare.co.uk/article/what-qualities-do-you-need-to-be-a-carer-/>
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