I think I was a little optimistic with the last entry — I’ve been struggling with the training a bit. It went well when it was me showing her what to do but now she is doing things and I am supervising I am not really sure what to do. Still, the Call Taking Controller has been very understanding and if I can’t get the hang of it in another couple of days they will find her a new trainer. I feel rather guilty about this, like I am letting her down, but I have been trying my hardest and she is really good anyway, so I don’t think her progress is going to be affected.
I know I am good at my job but unfortunately I am not so sure I am good at teaching other people to do it :-/
It’s not all been bad, though — there have been some interesting calls. We had a BBA (baby delivered over the phone) the other day, which is always exciting. We also stayed on the line with the relatives of an unconscious diabetic and the relatives actually asked the ambulance crew to thank my trainee for being so helpful — this rarely happens, so they must have been really impressed with her. I bet they’d be surprised if they knew how long she’d been there!
November 20th, 2006 at 12:52 pm
Oh dear…I shouldn’t worry about it though…!
It sounds like a case of the age-old adage…those who can, do…those who can’t, teach…or summat like that…!
I can’t think of a single member of our Training School staff that I would want to come out to me if I had a serious RTA, etc…even though there’s a few trainees that I’d be more than happy to see…if it wouldn’t be mind-numbingly embarassing…!
Stick with it…!
November 20th, 2006 at 12:56 pm
I’m sure you’re doing much better better than you think Mark; perhaps you are being overly self-conscious since this is your first trainee? In any case, you can’t expect to click your fingers and be an excellent teacher. You have to learn how to teach in the same way that she is learning how to take calls.
Head up,
Tom.
November 20th, 2006 at 1:24 pm
I find those who are really good at their job generally have a hard time training others because it is second nature to do the job. To train others, it forces you to analyse your job and try and remember what it was like when you first joined. Not an easy task for anyone.
Whenever I start a new job, I’m very meticolous on making notes on what I learnt - not a notebook but as a step-by-step guide. It also covers my arse if I buggered up because of the way I was trained
November 20th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
Yay for your trainee!
I agree with the others, you are probably doing a lot better than you think - and explaining how to do what you do automatically is hard.
November 20th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
I’ve talked to my trainee about it and she agrees with me - she’s also been able to point out where I am going wrong which has helped. Of course, this is meant to be *her* training, not mine so depending on how things pan out this week it might be best to let someone else take over. I’ll see how it goes. I’m also going to point out to management that some people (ie. me) are not natural trainers and really should be sent on the Work Based Trainer course before being asked to train someone.
November 20th, 2006 at 2:40 pm
Think of it as a learning curve for the both of you. Whilst you are the trainer and she the trainee in my experience (as a student nurse) both can learn from one another, and to be honest the worst kind of mentor is the one who thinks they are above learning (clearly not the case here). You cannot expect to become an expert teacher over night (or a week!), recognise that it is a learning process for the both of you. As you suggested doing the Work Based Learning course may be helpful, but the learning still continues after that.
I’ve been reading your Blog for a little while now and you’re clearly good at what you do, whilst I agree it’s harder to teach what comes naturally or is second nature, I’d far rather have someone who knew what they were doing training me than someone who knows how to teach but lacks the skill base and knowledge.
Good luck!
November 20th, 2006 at 4:15 pm
What does BBA actually stand for? (I always seem to be asking this question - anyone would think I was compiling my own book of acronyms… hmm, now there’s an idea…)
November 20th, 2006 at 4:41 pm
Mr Mans Wife, I’m glad you asked I was *literally* just thinking the same. I was sitting here trying to guess with BBA would stand for. Baby Born Already? Brith Before Ambulance/Arrival?
TTAs in hospital refer to the medication a patient will take home. I’ve always pondered what it actually stands for, To Take Away is what always pops into my head. But I have also heard them called TTOs. Is that a Londoner’s acronym for To Take ‘ome?
November 20th, 2006 at 6:01 pm
BBA = Born Before Arrival
(Something I’ve learned purely through reading this blog!)
November 20th, 2006 at 7:42 pm
TTO’s means To Take Out i.e. drugs dispensed in hospital for consumption at home. You will usually be issued with 48 hours supply and then be expected to pop to your GP and/or pharmicist, should you require more.
November 20th, 2006 at 8:51 pm
I am also training. Today I have two trainees working with me. You just give them the best instruction you can and then they have to just answer their questions.
That’s great that someone said thank you. In 15 years I have only had two people actually thank me.
November 20th, 2006 at 8:53 pm
I typoed - You have to answer their questions.
November 20th, 2006 at 9:47 pm
Training isn’t that big a secret. First time round you show them a little bit of what they have to do. Second time round, you get the trainee to do i with your help. Third time round you let them do it on their own under supervision.
In the words of a college lecturer I used to know, the secret is; “Tell ‘em; tell ‘em what you told ‘em - then tell ‘em again. If that don’t work - tell ‘em again.”
Go for it.
Regards
Bill
November 20th, 2006 at 11:29 pm
If TTO is To Take Out then you must be right Angela, TTA must mean To Take Away! How about just TG - To Go!
Now here’s one I want the answer to: PRN, I know what it means (as and when needed), but I don’t know what it actually stands for. Anyone know this?
November 21st, 2006 at 9:27 am
PRN, from the Latin “pro re nata”, for an occasion that has arisen, as circumstances require, as needed.
I love google.
November 21st, 2006 at 11:45 am
Lol at Angela - I think you should change it to “Baby Born Already” !
November 21st, 2006 at 12:00 pm
Thanks Holly :o) Google… now why didn’t I think of that?
I agree Tom, “Baby Born Already” sounds great (and it’s probably the one I’ll remember!)
November 21st, 2006 at 2:35 pm
Mark,
I think you are being to hard on yourself with respect to the training, you know your job probably inside out and that is always difficult to pass on to someone else. There is more than one element to training, not just the information but what to do with it. Do you get some reflective time with your trainee? if so you might want to say “I/you did it this way, but you could also have done x, y or z” or “do you think I/you could have done it differently?”. It isn’t easy, but don’t give up on the idea of being able to pass your skills on to others..
Good luck
Sage
November 21st, 2006 at 5:22 pm
When we’ve got trainees on the road, we take a few mins after every job to do a debrief - what went well, what didn’t go quite so well, was there anything that was missed, could they have done things differently, what other options were there to treatment/the way the patient was taken to the ambulance etc.
Are you able to take time out to do that after each call or after every two or three calls if necessary?
November 21st, 2006 at 6:22 pm
I bet you’re doing fine. The evidence lies in the fact that she’s doing well and getting plaudits. That wouldn’t be happening if you weren’t doing all the right things. As for supervising her now she’s doing the job, well that’s always going to be difficult if she’s doing well. What can you do but twiddle your thumbs and make polite noises every now and then? Don’t run yourself down. Steve Gibbs’ suggestions above are very useful as practical things you can do.
November 21st, 2006 at 7:42 pm
Hi Mark.
Don’t be disheartened, get the training and have another go! many yeas ago, I was in a similar position (in a different field - electronic engineering) and made a real hash of it. That put me off for about 10 years but then I got encouraged to try again and bingo - a success! So much so that last year I won a company award for outstanding contribution to personal development.
One thing that I also found was that the good ones are often the most difficult to teach!