HLTWHS002

Follow safe work

practices for direct client

care
Case Studies
 Table of Contents

Table of Contents..........................................................................................................................1

Instructions...................................................................................................................................2

Case Study A................................................................................................................................3

Case Study B................................................................................................................................4

Case Study C...............................................................................................................................5

Case Study D...............................................................................................................................6

Case Study E................................................................................................................................7

Case Study F................................................................................................................................8

Case Study G...............................................................................................................................9

Case Study H.............................................................................................................................10

Case Study I...............................................................................................................................11

Case Study J..............................................................................................................................12

Gills Consulting Associates

E: admin@gillsca.com P: +61 2 8411 3151 W: www.gillsca.com
A: 15/14 Edgeworth David Avenue Hornsby NSW 2077 1
 1

Instructions

This document contains all of the case studies available in this unit.

It is to be used when referred to in the Learner Workbook, to help answer the relevant
questions.

Case Study A
Robert suffers from diabetes, and if his blood sugars drop too low, he suffers from symptoms
such as dizziness, weakness and blurred vision. If these symptoms are ignored or missed,
Robert is at risk of much more severe outcomes such as seizures or a stroke.

Robert is usually very good at controlling his diabetes, but recently he has been taking a lot of
medication for a different illness, and as a result, has lost his appetite. This means that he is not
moderating his blood sugar levels and is experiencing dizziness and weakness regularly.

At 08:15 on Saturday morning (14th October), Robert is still in bed as he feels unwell – dizzy and
nauseous. When he tries to get himself out of bed, he loses his balance and falls to the ground.

Robert isn’t injured from this fall, but it seems to be a result of his symptoms.

Organisational procedures for reporting incidents:

Ø Provide an initial verbal notification to your supervisor once the situation has been stabilised

Ø Complete an incident form (located in the staff room) including all of the relevant information

Ø Suggest measures to be put in place to avoid a reoccurrence of the incident in the future.

Incident form:
Gills Consulting Associates
E: admin@gillsca.com P: +61 2 8411 3151 W: www.gillsca.com
A: 15/14 Edgeworth David Avenue Hornsby NSW 2077 3
 Name of employee present: Jariyapon Matpon

Date & time of incident: 19 November at 09:15

Location: client’s bedroom

Was illness or injury involved? (if yes, describe below).

Yes, it may be a result of his recent illness and long-term diabetes.

Background: Robert has Diabetes, but he is very good at controlling, however lately he was
diagnosed with an additional illness which needs him to take a large choice of new
medications which caused a loss of appetite as a side effect. This has problem to Robert not
being able to enough his blood sugar levels. Robert has reported it caused him to feel dizzy
and weak frequently.

Important Note: When Robert's blood sugars decline too low, he experiences symptoms of
dizziness, weakness, and blurred vision, however if the blood sugars are not attended Robert
symptoms become severe and can result in strokes or seizures.

No injury was sustained due to the fall.

Description of incident (Please include names of individuals involved, nature of the incident,
and a narrative of what occurred):

Jariyapon Matpon (staff member) and Robert (client) were present.

Robert was involved in a falling incident on the 19 November at 09:15 in his bedroom. Robert
lost his balance and fell to the ground when trying to get out of bed. During this fall Robert
was not injured

Robert informed that earlier when he was trying to get out of bed, he was feeling dizzy and
nauseous. The falls appears to have happened due to these two causal factors.

Gills Consulting Associates

E: admin@gillsca.com P: +61 2 8411 3151 W: www.gillsca.com
A: 15/14 Edgeworth David Avenue Hornsby NSW 2077 4
Case Study B
Sam works in a care home for the elderly. He carries out all general duties with the clients,
including helping them to eat meals and carry out personal hygiene as well as general activities
throughout the day. During his working day, Sam sees that a flap of carpet has become loose in
one of his client’s room.

Organisational procedures to follow in the event of a hazard:

Ø Control the hazard

Ø Inform the relevant personnel

Ø Complete a ‘hazard form’ kept in the staff room.

Gills Consulting Associates

E: admin@gillsca.com P: +61 2 8411 3151 W: www.gillsca.com
A: 15/14 Edgeworth David Avenue Hornsby NSW 2077 5
Case Study C
Andrew is a 31-year-old client who lives in a residential care home full time. He suffers from a
number of behavioural issues, and this often means that his behaviour can become challenging
and sometimes violent.

Andrew starts to become agitated because he is not ready to go to bed. He refuses to leave the
common area and is verbally abusive to both staff members and other residents in the area.
When a staff member approaches Andrew, he tries to hit them.

In response to any behaviours of concern, the organisation requires that the incident is recorded
in the following table:

Your Name: Jariyapon Matpon

Client Name: Andrew

Date of the incident: 19 November 2023

Time of the incident: 16:00

Provide a description of the situation Andrew had negative behaviours as she

was not ready to go to bed. He started
refuses to leave the area, using verbally
abusive and try to hit the staff.

How did you respond to the situation? Andrew was not ready to go to bed, we
applied a range of his plans to redirect
Andrew and bring the situation into a
calmer way. We moved other residence
into their rooms while allowing Andrew to
calm down to confirm their safety. Andrew

Gills Consulting Associates

E: admin@gillsca.com P: +61 2 8411 3151 W: www.gillsca.com
A: 15/14 Edgeworth David Avenue Hornsby NSW 2077 6
 likes to have warm drinks we made him
some calming warm milk-based drink and
guided Andrew to sit down using a
combination of verbal, sign and picture-
based instructions. We stayed calm
through the whole situation which assisted
Andrew to feel safe. We also changed the
time of bed for today to 30 minutes later to
allow Andrew time to prepare for bed.

Any other comments To reduce this negative result from

happening again, the following
suggestions based on Andrew would be
successful

-Set up notifications at 1 hour and

30minutes to confirm that Andrew knows
that bedtime is coming

-Make Andrew a warm drink 1 hour before

bed so he knows that this is the start of
his wind time

-Offer Andrew a shower or story before

bed at the 30-minute warning

-Include Andrew in planning his new

bedtime routine so that he feels supported
and heard

Gills Consulting Associates

E: admin@gillsca.com P: +61 2 8411 3151 W: www.gillsca.com
A: 15/14 Edgeworth David Avenue Hornsby NSW 2077 7
Case Study D
Your organisation has provided the following procedures to follow in order to minimise the risk of
infection if bodily fluids are spilt:

Ø Isolate the area

Ø Wear gloves, a plastic apron and eye protection, such as goggles

Ø Soak up the fluid with disposable paper towels, or cover the spill with a granular
chlorine releasing agent for a minimum of 10 minutes. Scoop up granules and waste
using a piece of cardboard (or similar), place in a plastic bag and dispose of
appropriately

Ø Mix one part bleach to10 parts water and apply to the area for 10 minutes

Ø Wash with hot water and detergent

Ø Dry the area

Ø Dispose of paper towelling and gloves appropriately

Ø Wash your hands

Ø Rinse any contaminated clothing in cold running water, soak in bleach solution for half
an hour, then wash separately from other clothing or linen with hot water and detergent.

(Victoria State Government: Workplace safety – infection control -

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/workplace-safety-
infectioncontrol)

Gills Consulting Associates

E: admin@gillsca.com P: +61 2 8411 3151 W: www.gillsca.com
A: 15/14 Edgeworth David Avenue Hornsby NSW 2077 8
Case Study E
Manual handling procedures:

Ø Check or clear the area you will be carrying the object in

Ø Check the load to make sure it is safe to handle

Ø Size up the load to check weight and stability

Ø Place your feet in proper position, with front foot beside the object facing direction of travel
and back foot behind the object. Feet should be approximately hip width apart

Ø Bend your knees - this will ensure you are using your leg muscles and not your back muscles

Ø Obtain a proper hold of the item, with hands diagonally opposite and using your whole hands
and fingers

Ø Make sure your back is straight as possible and as close to vertical as possible

Ø Finally, always use your leg muscles. While lifting and carrying the load, you should not turn
or twist your body. Putting the load down is simply a reverse of the lifting procedure

Ø Always remember: never lift anything that is too big, heavy or awkward.

(Labour Solutions Australia: Lifting and Carrying Techniques -

http://www.laboursolutions.com.au/Lifting-Carrying-Techniques.html)

Gills Consulting Associates

E: admin@gillsca.com P: +61 2 8411 3151 W: www.gillsca.com
A: 15/14 Edgeworth David Avenue Hornsby NSW 2077 9
Case Study F
Deidre is 73 years old. She has moderate mobility issues and needs assistance standing, and
walking from one place to another. Deidre uses a mobility frame, so once she is standing, she is
able to walk mainly unaided, however, she needs help to get to the standing position and to sit
down again.

As well as her mobility issues, Deidre’s sight is also deteriorating, and she often fails to see
obstacles which are in her way when she is walking with her mobility frame.

The common living area is quite cluttered. There are many low-level pieces of furniture such as
footstools and book boxes which are kept on the floor.

Case Study G
The corridors in the care setting you work in have laminate flooring and are cleaned every
morning using hot water and detergent – as by protocol. However, during the first couple of

Gills Consulting Associates

E: admin@gillsca.com P: +61 2 8411 3151 W: www.gillsca.com
A: 15/14 Edgeworth David Avenue Hornsby NSW 2077 10
hours after cleaning, the floor is quite slippery. Although ‘wet floor’ signs are used during this
time, the surface still poses a hazard to anyone who may walk through.

Both employees and clients regularly use these corridors.

Risk assessment form:

Area of concern Hazard(s) Person(s) at risk Actions to be taken to minimise

identified the risk

Wet floor after The floor is very Staff, client, - Follow the hot water and
cleaning slippery from visitor detergent cleaning protocol,
detergent with a dry mop protocol to
reduce drying time and floor
slipperiness
- Provide no slips
stockings/socks-to all clients to
be worn to bed to reduce risk
of falls if the clients move
around the facility at night
- Change the cleaning time to
the night team when the client
have gone to bed.

Gills Consulting Associates

E: admin@gillsca.com P: +61 2 8411 3151 W: www.gillsca.com
A: 15/14 Edgeworth David Avenue Hornsby NSW 2077 11
Case Study H
Jack is a 41-year-old man who has HIV, he requires no extra care because of this, but the
nature of the disease means that there is a risk that Jack may pass this on to others.

In order to prevent the risk of infection, there are some additional control procedures which are
required when working with Jack.

According to workplace procedures, additional control procedures include:

Ø Being extra careful with sharps used on this person.

Ø Being extra careful with managing this person’s:

o blood o semen / pre-

seminal fluid o vaginal

fluids o anal fluids /

mucus.

Gills Consulting Associates

E: admin@gillsca.com P: +61 2 8411 3151 W: www.gillsca.com
A: 15/14 Edgeworth David Avenue Hornsby NSW 2077 12
Case Study I
Lunch has been prepared for the residents in a healthcare setting – chicken, vegetables and
rice. The chef forgot what time the chicken was expected to be ready, but serves the meal
anyway.

The following day, lots of the residents are sick from food poisoning. The main symptoms are
vomiting, diarrhoea, stomach cramps and a loss of appetite.

Organisational form for reporting the risk of infection:

Name of person reporting:

Date of report:

Reason for report:

Suggested measures to minimise risk of infection:

Gills Consulting Associates

E: admin@gillsca.com P: +61 2 8411 3151 W: www.gillsca.com
A: 15/14 Edgeworth David Avenue Hornsby NSW 2077 13
Case Study J
You are working as a support worker for a 65-year-old man alongside another colleague. Due to
the high level of medication, he is taking; he is at a high risk of picking up infections and has
recently been feeling sick, with a high-temperature.

When carrying out general tasks with the client, you notice that your colleague isn’t using the
necessary PPE to prevent the spread of infection.

When you identify a WHS issue, you are expected to consult immediately with the supervisor on
duty and outline the situation to them.

Gills Consulting Associates

E: admin@gillsca.com P: +61 2 8411 3151 W: www.gillsca.com
A: 15/14 Edgeworth David Avenue Hornsby NSW 2077 14