Internship- Initial Independence

For your E- portfolio

By
Deana Seaman

Beginning My Internship
Feelings and Concerns
My job as my internship Being somewhat on my own
Responsibilities
Confidence - starting a new job with a lot of responsibility
Learning all of the duties and documentation
Managing staff
Interacting with outside resources
Excited to be in a position to make a difference for those served
Challenged by Time Management

Agency Context
Initial Independence Inc.
Located at 427 E. Main St. Jackson Ohio
Serves individuals from surrounding counties, our clients are
people with developmental disabilities and mental illness.
Initial Independence is monitored by a county board, and the
Department of Developmental Disabilities at the state level
In Ohio, by 2019 all individuals must be moved from Institutional
living to community style living, this will affect Initial Independence
since we provide community living arrangements.

Ethical Issues in the workplace

Work Ethics among staff, was
a concern when I arrived. The
staff had frequent call outs,
were coming in late, and not
reporting incidents
appropriately .
Ethical concerns being
ignored by managers

My Response:
Conduct staff meetings to
address attendance and
reporting
Met with Managers to make
them aware that it is their
responsibility to monitor
ethical issues among their
staff, and to document
approipriately

The IPM model

Gathering objective Data from
concrete experience
Reflecting
Identifying relevant theory
and knowledge
Examining Dissonance
Articulate Learning
Developing a plan

As I worked with staff, I gathered data as to

why some of the issues existed
I took time out to reflect on my own personal
experiences in direct care
I examined some current theories on caring
for people with disabilities and how we
could implement them here
Offered opportunities for staff to voice
disagreement and why
Made a point to use information that I have
learned through education in the field
I then developed a plan to make positive
changes

Supervisor
What I need in a supervisor:
Approachable
Informed
Professional
Involved and concerned for
the people served

What I want to be as a
supervisor
Approachable
Informed
Professional
Involved and concerned for
the people served and staff
Well organized

Working with individuals, families, groups,

and communities
In my job as Director, I have the opportunity to
work with each of these.
I work with individuals as I visit the homes to
ensure that all is going good.
Each individual has a team or group that looks
out for their interests, I communicate regularly
to keep their teams informed and up to date on
what is going on with the individuals.
Our clients, work and participate in the
community, I coordinate these activities.
Although many of our clients do not have family
members that are very involved, the ones that
do are part of their team and I communicate
with them on a regular basis.

Sad to say, that I have the least

involvement with family members. I am
putting forth a real effort to encourage
family members to be more involved.
By:
Inviting them to holidays and events
Assisting with transportation needs
Encouraging regular phone calls from
clients to family members
Welcoming them to become regular
visitors to their family members home.

Cultural Differences
This section of the class and
internship was challenging:
The white, southern U.S.
culture is very dominant in
this area.
There is very little cultural
diversity here.

Challenges:
It was very difficult for me to view rebel flags
flying high, when I view them as derogatory
to the African American culture.
I had to learn not to judge, and choose my
words wisely before speaking on the subject
Religious beliefs are very strict concerning
dress, traditions, values.
Again I had to choose my conversations
wisely, since many of these go against my
own views on those subjects.
These traditions are a part of this cultureI
realized that I can disagree without judging.

Professional writing and Reporting

Most of the writing that I do for Letter requesting a Human
my job is done on forms
Rights restriction.
already in existence.
Initial Independence is requesting to restrict access to sharp
instruments in the home of
, at
, Gallipolis, Ohio.
UIRs unusual Incident reports,
frequently threatens to cut or injure herself, she will make superficial cuts on
her arms and hands and staff must intervene to keep her from continuing. We
require an explanation of the never know when it may escalate as it did recently, to her grabbing a knife,
although this time it happened to be a butter knife, it could have easily been a
incident. Which must be
sharp knife. We would like to restrict sharp knives, forks and scissors, and
anything that might pose a real danger, but not restrict other kitchen eating
written in a facts only way. utensils. can also become aggressive towards staff, hitting them,
slapping items from their hands and cursing them. On 1/26/16
slapped
medication from the hands of staff when they attempted to administer meds.
Occasionally a narrative
On 1/4/16 the sheriffs were called because
grabbed a knife and was
letter must be written.

threatening to cut herself with it. On the following dates there were incidents
of attempts to cut herself 10/15/15, 10/17/15, 10/18/15, 10/20/15 We are
concerned for the safety of
as well as our staff. We feel it would be in her
best interest to have sharp objects locked away.

Taking Care of yourself

In the beginning of the internship, I
was failing in this area.
Working too many hours
Not getting enough rest, or sleep
Taking the stress of the job home
Feeling like I had to already know
what instead I needed to learn
I began to feel very overwhelmed !

I realized this was not going to

work
I began taking time to relax
Getting enough sleep
Leaving the days work, at work
Giving myself time to learn, ask
questions when needed.
I am feeling more in control !

Career Plans
Continue as Director for Initial
Independence Inc.
Be a part of the growth of this
organization
Possibly become Executive
Director if the growth allows

Steps to aid in achieving

career goals
Learn operations completely
Be involved in all aspects of
growth
Continue to do my job at a
high standard of excellence,
which will encourage trust in
my abilities as an
administrator.