STAY IN YOUR SCOPE
TELL STORIES
STAY OBJECTIVE
KNOW WHERE TO FIND RESOURCES
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TEACHING TIPS
The role of an educator is to prepare parents to meet and care for their newborn, providing information and tools to give them the best chance for a positive, lowstress experience. As a primary and trusted source, it is helpful to approach teaching with these tips in mind.
STAY IN YOUR SCOPE
You provide parents with a wide range of information. Sometimes, the line between teaching( giving information) and providing care( giving medical advice) may become blurred. Even if you also work as a medical professional in a different setting, while you are teaching, it is outside your scope of practice to give medical advice. Always be sure to teach and not advise.
TELL STORIES
YOUR ROLE
Illustrations and examples often ring true with people’ s own life experiences and
Preview
may make a more significant and memorable impact than simply presenting factual information. Briefly give examples of situations you have heard about or experienced. Always respect and protect people’ s privacy, leave out client names or other identifying information and be sure to get permission before sharing details about anyone’ s experience.
STAY OBJECTIVE
It is easy to become caught up in the lives and journeys of your clients. At times, you may be concerned about the choices clients make, especially if a choice does not seem best to you, or seems to be in conflict with information that you presented. Bear in mind that parents hold responsibility in the end. You cannot, nor should you, choose for them, nor is it healthy to take any of their decisions personally.
KNOW WHERE TO FIND RESOURCES
You do not need to have all of the answers at your fingertips in order to be an excellent educator. It is inevitable that new situations and circumstances will arise that you may not have experienced in the past. When you encounter new scenarios, it is okay to simply tell parents that you don’ t know, but be prepared to offer direction with local or online resources. Direct parents to information that is unbiased, up to date, reputable and reliable. Consider making a list to have ready, or create a page on your website with links. This may evolve over time as you encounter different situations and as new research is conducted and practices change. Appendix D includes information about special circumstances that can help you get started, and you can find many current references and resources at www. plumtreebaby. com / pages / references.
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