How to Build a Rewarding Career in Health and Social Care?

Are you passionate about making a meaningful impact on people’s lives? Building a rewarding career in health and social care might be your calling. 

To build a rewarding career, you must start by asking yourself if you have passion and long term commitment for it. Then, you need essential education and necessary skills to impress an employer. With passage of time, through gaining experience and some specialized training, you will surely get a rewarding career.

However, there are some challenges. No worries, we will try to explore these unique sets of challenges and required skills that you need to build a successful career.

Ask Yourself Multiple Time If You Really Have Passion And Commitment 

Pursuing a career, a goal or a commitment, for anyone, the most basic question should be if the commitment for the particular task is real. Because in many cases, we get influenced by our surroundings and choose the path that we may not like in the long run.

Or, to what extent, you can push yourself to withstand a unique set of challenges that needs to be overcome. 

These are very important queries, you need to ask yourself several times before you jump. Now, Just like any other commitment, pursuing a career in health and social care is surely a commendable goal.

It requires you to have several qualities to reach the pinnacle of success.  Among them two most important things are capacity to learn and emotional resilience, since you have to deal with stressful events.

In addition, pursuing a career in health and social care requires you to have adequate amount of compassion, long term commitment, responsibility and adaptability.

So, before it is too late do rigorous investigation on yourself. Do not get too obsessed initially with job security, or personal achievement. Better ask yourself, are you up to taking the challenge and long term commitment. And, the best way to start is by talking with someone who has experience in this field to get real insight.

Essential Educational Qualities And Necessary Skills That You Must Focus On

Getting into a health and social care career requires you to carry out a few courses. If , however, you already have knowledge on medical terminology and social care management, only a few specialized training are sufficient. 

For instance, Health and Social Care—Level 3 offers a flexible, online course that provides the necessary skills and knowledge for career advancement. 

Anyway, for the time being we are assuming you want to start all from the beginning. There are many courses offered by organizations around the world. 

And, the core differences among these courses probably lies in their duration. You must choose the one depending on how much depth of knowledge you already have or want to acquire. The three most basic types include the following: 

Courses with up to 2 years Time Duration: 

Some courses are designed to give health and social care students the fundamental knowledge of several medical terms and social care management.

Diploma in Social and Health Care: 

In Diploma you might be introduced to basic human structure, how the internal organ works, symptoms of several illnesses, and patient management. Health care professional with a diploma might be able to carry out the initial assessment and follow the prescribed suggestions.

Social care Diploma level 3: 

This is a special type of course that is designed to provide students with more practical knowledge and experience to deal with the situation. You might be able to carry out one or multiple roles from one of the following options 

1. Deal with elderly or young people 
2. Patients with short time illness 
3. People with mental issues 
4. Patients with learning difficulties 

Traineeship: 

Some training programs offer opportunities to get into apprenticeship or even employment. Unlike diplomas, their duration is around 6 months to 1 year. 

Some training programmes are specialized types that you can pursue if you have already completed some basic training program and already have experience in this field.

Vocational Qualification: 

Depending on your level more than 50 vocational qualifications are offered in many organizations. You can easily choose the qualification that your role requires.

Courses with 2-4 years Time Duration: 

Some courses are designed to provide advanced knowledge and skills. One can increase the depth of knowledge and ensure sustainability in social care by carrying out the long duration courses.

Bachelor Program: 

It usually consists of a wide range of subject matter. From the fundamentals of medical terms to social care ethics all are taken care of. These courses prepare students to handle advanced courses and equip them to adapt to the changing nature of the health and social care profession.

Master Degree: 

Once you have already completed a bachelor degree, you can start a master degree for further advanced knowledge. Here, students are introduced with advanced topics so they become specialized in this area.

How To Progress And Reach The Pinnacle in Health And Social Care Career

Once you have a smooth starting and you have a decent amount of passion to go further, the pinnacle of a career in health and social care is not so far away. Here is what you need.

Unique Skill Suitable For Particular Role: 

Health and social care is evolving more than ever before, so new responsibilities have been created. These places require new people with unique skills. If you have such skill, you are already one step ahead than your competitor.

In addition, you can choose any special area like mental health and train yourself extensively in that area.  

Attend Training: 

Many of us overlook the opportunity in attending regular training, which is crucial for self development. By attending regular training at your organization or through the internet will surely add value to your existing qualification.

Choose Good Employer or Organization: 

Your progress partly, if not entirely, depends on your employer. Maintaining a good relationship with them or understanding their evaluation strategy might help you prepare yourself accordingly.

Take more responsibility: 

This is the most logical step to progress in a health and social care career. For example, the patient you’re going to deal with probably has multiple health issues. Since, by taking more responsibility, you know more than your special area, dealing with such patients is not a big deal for you.

Networking: 

Just like any other professions, networking plays a crucial role in moving one step further. Make sure to connect with reputed social care organizations. 

Challenges In Health And Social Care Career That You Must Overcome 

Health care professionals have to deal with complex situations everyday. Thus, you might face situations difficult to handle. However, the advantage is that by tackling more of such events you can enrich yourself with practical knowledge, which eventually takes you to the top of your career. Anyway, the challenges you might face include the following:

Work Stress: 

Demand for social care has skyrocketed in recent years, conversely, supply of health care professionals remains steady. Thus, you might have to bear a tremendous amount of workload. 

Mental Issue: 

Since health care professionals have to deal with traumatic events regularly, they may get emotionally vulnerable and stressed. It might hamper both the professional and personal life.

Challenging patients: 

Some patients can be so stubborn and uncooperative. Handling them with passion and providing them with the best care can be difficult sometimes. 

Discrimination: 

If you are a female health care professional, you might sometimes face gender discrimination and harassment at the workplace, resulting in anxiety and a faulty work environment.

Work life imbalance: 

Two things are responsible for this. First, there is too much workload and posting far away from home. In any case, you may experience work life imbalance.

Difficulty in managing funds: 

In a social care career, one has to carry out a lot of paid workshops and courses. Managing funds can be difficult sometimes.

Conclusion

So, that’s all you need to take into account. All in all, If you have the right amount of passion and emotional resilience, building a rewarding career in health and social care is no big deal.

Over time, challenges that you might face will be easy to handle, and you will be more capable and proficient. Finally, don’t give up in the middle, just keep going and enjoy yourself.