Reading Skills for Healthcare Workers

Kelly, a nursing assistant at Wilmont Care Center, prides herself on how well she treats her residents with respect and protects their dignity. Dignity is one of the five principles of care that nursing assistants follow closely when doing their jobs. The principle of dignity includes showing respect to residents, speaking directly to them, and calling them by name.  Kelly knows that her residents’ sense of dignity plays a large part in their self-esteem.

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During one of her recent shifts, Kelly was walking down the hall when a resident, Mr. Walker, called to her from his open door. When Kelly went in to see how she could help him, he said that he had had an accident because he couldn’t make it to the bathroom. Kelly saw that his pants and bedding were wet.

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Kelly told Mr. Walker not to worry about what happened and that she would take good care of him. She asked him what he would like to change into and helped him put on a dry pair of underwear and pants. Next, she helped him move to a chair, removed the wet bedding, and remade his bed with clean bedding. While she was working, Kelly kept up a conversation with Mr. Walker about the weather, his grandchildren, and other everyday subjects. When Kelly was done, she asked Mr. Walker if he needed anything else. As she left, she asked him if he wanted his door open or closed and left it open at his request.

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Kelly helped Mr. Walker with a potentially embarrassing incident. She treated him respectfully and did not talk down to him. Kelly behaved in a matter-of-fact way about Mr. Walker’s accident.  By treating Mr. Walker and the situation the way she did, Kelly treated him the way she would want to be treated in the same situation. Most importantly, she helped Mr. Walker maintain his sense of dignity and, therefore, his self-esteem.