Sue Billings, a registered practical nurse (RPN) at Rosebridge Manor, says a recent in-service led by FCS International CEO Jayne Harvey has provided front-line staff members at the Jasper long-term care home with a clearer understanding about work-related sensitivity issues. The one major benefit Billings says she walked away with from the presentation was a heightened awareness that everyone in the workplace needs to be allotted the same respect. Of note, Harvey underscored the importance that this respect plays when working with people of a different culture or ideology, says Billings. "She (Harvey) opens your eyes to different perspectives . . . and how that fits into our ethics code," Billings, who has worked in long-term care for 25 years, tells the OMNIway. Another point of the presentation Billings says she found interesting was a discussion about the need to remember that when there's a language barrier between two people, words can sometimes be misconstrued. With this in mind, Harvey recommended people think carefully when speaking to someone whose first language is different from theirs. "In other words, we might say something to (someone else) and whatever we're thinking, they might be perceiving it in a different way," says Billings, adding that conversations between two people should always be on a "positive note." Harvey also noted that people who speak a language not understood by most people should, if possible, refrain from using that language while on the job when working with others who may not understand what they're saying. Harvey's presentations to OMNI Health Care's 17 homes fall in line with the organization's Respect Always core program, which focuses on "a code of conduct, a guiding value and a measure of who we are and how we conduct ourselves," according to OMNI's website. This series of presentations, which has been running since January and will continue into April, is the first time Harvey has presented to OMNI front-line staff members. If you have a story you would like to share with the OMNIway, please contact the newsroom at 800-294-0051, ext. 23, or e-mail deron(at)axiomnews.ca.
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