Experience Bank
Genuine experiences you have lived, described once and reused wherever a criterion calls for personal application. Your experiences are private to your account.
Situation
During personal care support I noticed unexplained bruising on the forearm of a person I support who has limited verbal communication.
Action
I paused the task, asked open questions, recorded the marks on a body map, informed the registered manager the same shift and completed a safeguarding alert.
Reasoning
The service safeguarding policy requires same-day reporting of any unexplained injury, and I judged that delaying to gather more information would risk further harm.
Outcome
The local authority safeguarding team completed an enquiry. A moving and handling review identified a transfer technique that was causing the marks, and the support plan was updated.
Reflection
I learned that acting on uncertainty is appropriate; I had hesitated for around ten minutes deciding whether the bruising was significant, and I would now report immediately.
Legislation or policy
Care Act 2014; local multi-agency safeguarding adults procedures; service safeguarding policy
Coursework criteria
AC 2.1 Apply safeguarding procedures in practice
Notes
Good example for any adult safeguarding or duty of care criterion.
Situation
A person I support was becoming distressed during activity planning because staff were asking long, multi-part questions.
Action
I introduced a simple picture choice board, reduced questions to one idea at a time and allowed longer pauses before expecting a response.
Reasoning
Total communication approaches recognise that speech is only one channel, and the person's speech and language therapy plan recommended visual supports.
Outcome
Distress incidents during planning dropped noticeably and the person began initiating choices.
Reflection
I had assumed slower speech was enough. The change came from reducing cognitive load, not volume or pace.
Legislation or policy
Mental Capacity Act 2005, principle of supported decision making; Equality Act 2010
Coursework criteria
AC 1.3 Evaluate communication methods
Situation
Two colleagues called in sick and the shift began with three staff instead of five.
Action
I reprioritised the shift around essential health tasks, negotiated a later appointment time with the GP surgery and briefed the team on the revised plan.
Reasoning
Risk coursework identified medication administration and enteral feeding as non-deferrable, so those were protected first.
Outcome
No care tasks were missed and the manager adopted the prioritisation format for future short shifts.
Reflection
I under-communicated the reasoning at the start, which caused confusion for the first hour.
Legislation or policy
Health and Social Care Act 2008 (Regulated Activities) Regulations 2014, Regulation 18
Coursework criteria
AC 3.2 Demonstrate leadership within a team