Laura Rodgers

At Belong I work as part of a team of Support Workers who assist the residents with their daily lives. My roles include, but are not limited to:

• Assisting residents with personal care, including bathing, dressing, and general hygiene
• Cooking and meal preparation, alongside knowledge of specialised and modified diets for the management of a range of health conditions, including diabetes, dysphagia, and allergies
• Training in dementia care, and knowledge of modified communication styles and behaviour management
• Documentation of day-to-day details on care plans
• Participated in professional development and training opportunities to enhance clinical skills.
• Collaborated with other professionals to plan and coordinate care for residents.

I have 2 years of experience working alongside paramedics and other emergency care staff as part of my degree. I am currently taking a break from pursuing my degree in Paramedic Science.

Skills:

• Highly adaptable and subsequently work well under pressure due to the nature of my work as a student paramedic.
• Skilled in multi-disciplinary teamwork and flexible working.
• Good communication with colleagues and patients in a variety of environments, including, but not limited to, major trauma, medical emergencies, and people who have barriers to communication (i.e., dementia and language barriers).
• Frequent contact with, and experience communicating with, patients who have chronic and mental health conditions.
• Knowledge and experience in performing physical assessments, including blood pressure (manual and automatic), oxygen saturation, heart rate, temperature, 4 and 12 lead ECGs, capillary blood glucose, and physical assessments (e.g. respiratory and GI assessments).
• Experience in comprehensive history-taking, documentation, and creation of care plans, including specialist community referrals.
• Training and experience in medication preparation and administration across a variety of routes, including oral, intramuscular, subcutaneous, intravenous, inhalation, and intraosseous.
• Experience in wound care and dressings, including minor injuries, major trauma, and pressure sores.
• Trained in cannulation and phlebotomy.
• Basic Life Support and Advanced Life Support trained.
• Training on infection prevention and control, moving and handling, ReSPECT forms, anti-terrorism strategies, domestic violence and FGM awareness, conflict resolution, safeguarding, patient-centered care, and evidence-based practice.
• Enhanced DBS checked.

I have also completed ward-based placements within the Royal Wolverhampton NHS Trust on the Cardiology ward and in the Emergency department. This allowed me to further develop my skills as a student clinician and take them into a hospital environment.

Skills:

• Patient care tasks, including: bathing, dressing, and feeding patients with ongoing health conditions, and communication and mobility impairments
• Documentation of observations and care plans
• Assisted the ward nurses with medication administration and documentation

My role as a Catering Services Assistant involved interacting with and serving customers, preparation and sale of food, restocking supplies and displays, and cleaning the kitchen and service areas.

Other skills:

• Promoted new products and price changes by creating and updating signage.
• Produced food and drink products adhering to company quality and quantity standards.
• Maintained clean and attractive product displays to entice customer purchases.
• Fulfilled customer orders while complying with pricing, packaging, and weighing procedures.
• Trained new cafe workers in sales, customer service, and safety.
• Wiped, sanitized and maintained floors, facility, and equipment to adhere with company standards and procedures.
• Displayed a calm and friendly demeanor when addressing and resolving customer issues and complaints.
• Maintained compliance with company policies and procedures for food safety, sanitation, and quality.

I am a trained lifesaving instructor under the Royal Life Saving Society's Rookie Lifeguard Instructor scheme, and I volunteer for a local lifesaving club as an instructor, teaching children aged 6 to 12 vital water safety and basic first aid skills.

Skills:

• Planned and implemented integrated lessons to meet national standards.
• Kept students on-task with proactive behavior modification and positive reinforcement strategies.
• Incorporated exciting and engaging activities to achieve student participation and hands-on learning.
• Communicated frequently with parents, students, and senior teachers to provide feedback and discuss student progress.
• Increased educational expertise and knowledge by participating in instructor-oriented workshops.