I enjoyed the field trip to RSL village at Narrabeen on 23/08/2011. This trip has provided a great opportunity to develop a better understanding of the clinical role and safety practise in workplace. During the trip I observed how the nursing staff perform their roles and communicate with other staff and the resident in that aged care centre.
Before observing, the picture in my head about an aged care centre would be like a hospital with doctors and nurses and medical treatment equipment. The patients are old and fragile constant care by nurses. The environment in an aged care centre might be sad and depressing..
However, what I observed is far exceeding my previous expectation. What presented in front of my eyes at arrival was a plateau with green trees and flowers. When walking along, I saw there is a rich array of amenities and services such as coffee shop, hairdresser, stores and bars. Some old people are playing bowling, some are chatting, and others are listening to music. I also saw care workers are cleaning and helping old people to walk. What I saw is really amazing and by then I understand RSL Village is far more than the role of an aged care centre. It is also a community which is “the home” of many old people.
“Effective communication is essential to quality practices.”(Boschma,et..,2010) Communication could be more challenging when working with old people who had age related decline in physical abilities. According to I have observed a care worker helped a patient walking. He smiled to the patient and was gently holding the patients’ hand. Even when the old patient couldn’t walk stably, he was still very patient and gave her verbal encouragement. I think this has demonstrated good interpersonal skills including respect for the patient, patience and attentiveness. He also used good body language. Reflecting on my own interpersonal and communication skills, I am a friendly person who always respects others. However, I think my English and body language skills really need to be improved to meet the quality care standards. Secondly, I need to master the professional practical skills by taking opportunity of practice at HSLC110 class to get used to the job.
I think the safety practice is another important issue we need to be aware of. Firstly I noticed that the patients are able to take their personal belongings such as teddy bear and family photos. “I understood that “Rather than ‘home-like’, here the residential aged-care facility is the resident’s home.( Tuckett,et,al..,2009)
Then when I entered into the wards I noticed there are always two front doors. You won’t be able to open the second door until the first door is closed. According to our teacher, this safety code makes sure the resident cannot follow you out without attention. I also observed every ward in RSL village has handrail along the wall in the hallway as well as in the toilet, and floor is never slippery, the nurse buzzes were put in every single room. All of these safety practices can prevent any injuries to patients.
During this trip, I did gain a better understanding of clinical roles and developed a good passion working in healthcare system in the future.

Reference list
Boschma, G., Einboden, R., Groening, M., Jackson, C., MacPhee, M., Marshall, H., & ... Roberts, E. (2010). Strengthening communication education in an undergraduate nursing curriculum. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 7(1), doi:10.2202/1548-923X.2043

Tuckett, A., Hughes, K., Gilmour, J., Hegney, D., Huntington, A., & Turner, C. (2009). Caring in residential aged-care. Qualitative findings from an e-cohort sub-study. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 18(18), 2604-2612. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2702.2008.02735.x