Becoming a vaccinator

How depressing.

It's not as if you're going to be engaging in deep conversations with those you vaccinate!

A thoroughly depressing and frustrating situation FoghornLeghorn

I was thinking of volunteering as I have lots of experience of vaccinating but not sure I can be a...d with this training.

I made an application to become part of my local the test and trace team. I Passed all the interviews with flying colours. I’ve worked in social work related work for at least 20 years but the child and adult protection training that I was expected to undertake and be tested on was soul destroying. It bore little resemblance to what I was being recruited to do. Why I was expected to recognise potential FGM victims from a doorstep interview with an adult regarding contact tracking and tracing and know how to make make suitable referrals escapes me.
I lost the will to live, didn’t complete the training and my local team lost a recruit with excellent local knowledge.

It's madness. Does the minister in charge of vaccine roll out (sorry, have forgotten his name) know about this, do you think. Could you ladies bring it to the attention of your MP, perhaps?

Can I ask, will they give you the vaccine before you step forward as a vaccinator?

I feel for you Foghorn. I looked into becoming one of the government's "catch up" tutors. I was a teacher for over 30 years and have been doing one-to-one tuition (including online) for six years. I decided not to go ahead with my application for much the same reason.

I really do understand why it's important not to drag somebody off the street with no experience for these important roles, especially as they involve public money. However, the recruitment and training processes aren't fit for purpose.

I was chatting to my daughter about it (aka having a big moan). She's an HR manager and understands recruitment and training as her job. Unfortunately, she's increasingly frustrated with the hoops she's made to jump through. She reckons that the root of the problem is that recruiters rarely have any experience of the actual jobs involved. They're HR professionals and design job specifications according to set guidelines, which essentially become a tick list. Actual capability to do the job becomes just one of the criteria.

(Hope that makes sense.)

I was to supply my CV to be considered. I retired in 2004, my CV was dispensed with because strangely I did not think I would need it again.

The pay was almost £25 an hour- I would have done it for nothing to get people vaccinated.

Locally I think they were wanting to train any Joe Public and ignore folk like myself- good luck to them.

Ellianne

Can I ask, will they give you the vaccine before you step forward as a vaccinator?

I have no idea Ellianne. I would think vaccinators must surely be classed as front-line workers however, I haven’t seen vaccination for them mentioned anywhere.

I work with 3/4 year olds and had to do radicalisation training? Also forced marriages module. Ridiculous!

Charleygirl5

I was to supply my CV to be considered. I retired in 2004, my CV was dispensed with because strangely I did not think I would need it again.

The pay was almost £25 an hour- I would have done it for nothing to get people vaccinated.

Locally I think they were wanting to train any Joe Public and ignore folk like myself- good luck to them.

I think your last paragraph could be accurate. Why though God only knows. I saw something about St John’s Ambulance were going to be trained in large numbers but surely, retired doctors and nurses would be the first port of call. You know - people who are actually experienced injectors in the first place. ?‍♀️

That's not ridiculous Hetty, I work with the same age group. Forced marriages are an issue for some of the families we work with.

Hetty? Do you mean Harris?

I think this is due to the suing culture where the deeply offended seem to be able to get thousands of pounds in compensation for their hurt feelings if you say something that can be taken as offensive.

Partly why I have not renewed my registration!

Welcome to a teachers world. All that tedious training, annually. I have only ever found ONE safeguarding training session interesting and useful. That was back in the days of having wholeschool training days with a speaker.

The online reading/answering questions is mind numbing.

There IS a hack though, if anyone is interested. Open the PDF page to read, then also open the questions. In the PDF reading, open an F4 search box, and search the key word or phrase of each question. Fill the answers in as you go.

Reduces the time by about two 3rds.

I have found my safeguarding training much improved lately, they were live, pre covid, and it was a very experienced member of the local safeguarding board, her accounts were sobering and useful.

Yes, my one positive experience was with an experienced, older woman. Plenty of anecdotes and real life examples. She made it real. Which, frankly, those pdfs with linked videos never do.

I do hope there is a doctor nearby when Joe Public gives the vaccine and the patient experiences an anaphylactic shock. A tiny percentage will.

I will stay well clear and when my turn comes I may offer to inject myself. If I think fit I may ask the person if they are an ex-nurse, paramedic or doctor.

Charleygirl5

I do hope there is a doctor nearby when Joe Public gives the vaccine and the patient experiences an anaphylactic shock. A tiny percentage will.

I will stay well clear and when my turn comes I may offer to inject myself. If I think fit I may ask the person if they are an ex-nurse, paramedic or doctor.

I would sincerely hope that nobody is given the vaccine in any setting where there is not a doctor/nurse present who is experienced in recognising and treating anaphylaxis. One of the training modules is on anaphylaxis. Basic for injectors and advanced for HCPs in a supervisory capacity which is the role I’ve applied for.

Harris27 Galaxy as a registered childminder I do the same training, and am happy to do so as it could affect the families we work with.

What I did object to earlier this year though was the Ofsted inspector who said, in front of a big-ears four year old girl snipping away at a piece of paper with a pair of scissors, "Tell me all you know about FGM" ?

There must be some way of streamlining this training to take account that all you will be doing is standing in a surgery or wherever and sticking a needle in someone's arm; and only teaching what is relevant: this is an arm would probably be enough.

I am not averse to the safeguarding training that takes place - I am a school governor and have been through a fair bit if this. But having to go through anti radicalisation training to stick a needle in someone's arm is beyond the pale.

FoghornLeghorn
I indeed understand your frustration trying to get through these on-line courses. I have worked over two days to complete four modules, I have offered to help at a vaccination centre as a volunteer. I am also a registered nurse but have been retired eleven years now. I am supposed to be deployed this coming week but am not banking on it, there seems to be alot of bureaucracy going on.
Good luck with the courses, it took me a while to get on with them on-line, but the last one I passed with 100%!