Module 6: Safety, reflection and self-care

Overview

Module 6 discusses the strategies healthcare professionals can employ to ensure their own safety and wellbeing when working with victims or perpetrators of family violence. It encourages students to engage in reflective practice by outlining what this process involves and how it could be applied to their work as a healthcare professional. At personal, professional and organisational levels, the ways to enact self-care is also discussed in this module.

Learning objectives

After completing this module, you should be able to:

• Recognise the risks posed to your safety and wellbeing when working with patients or clients who have had an experience with family violence (as victims and/or perpetrators of violence), and describe the strategies you can employ to increase your safety
• Describe vicarious trauma and reflect on the possible impacts of trauma on your personal and professional life
• Describe reflective practice and the ways you can reflect on your work as a healthcare professional
• Identify strategies for self-care at personal, professional and organisational levels.