Iryna Tyshyk: new skills to support patients at Superhumans
Iryna Tyshyk, 41, lives in Lviv region and took part in the Skills for Inclusivity project. She trained as an assistant physiotherapist and occupational therapist at Lviv Regional Professional Medical College.
Every day, Superhumans specialists support military personnel and civilians with serious injuries through rehabilitation, helping them adapt to change and gradually regain their independence and return to an active life.
From the early stages of recovery, people need skilled, safe support when changing positions, transferring, beginning to move and gradually returning to everyday activities. Staff who work alongside patients every day need practical skills to provide this support.
Iryna Tyshyk, a senior nurse at Superhumans, was one of the staff members who participated in training through the Skills for Inclusivity project under Skills4Recovery.
“When I learned that a centre like this would open in Lviv Oblast after the full-scale invasion, I immediately realised that there could be no better place to fulfil myself during the war and help military personnel,” says Iryna.
In her day-to-day work, Iryna needs to know when and how to support someone after an injury and how to do so safely:
“Military personnel arrive at our centre straight from the battlefield, which means their injuries are recent and their recovery requires particular care. I need to know exactly how and when I can help a patient without causing harm.”
For Iryna, training as an assistant physiotherapist and occupational therapist at Lviv Regional Professional Medical College provided an opportunity to develop these skills. During the course, she learned safe techniques for moving and supporting people with different injuries. In particular, she learned how to help someone change position, sit, stand and gradually return to everyday activities.
Iryna already applies what she has learned in her daily work and shares her knowledge with colleagues. This helps new approaches spread throughout the team and support more people.
For Superhumans, this is an opportunity to equip staff with the skills needed to respond to real workplace situations. For the project, it shows how training tailored to an employer’s needs can have a wider impact: one person gains new knowledge, and its benefits gradually reach the whole team and the people they support every day.
The ultimate outcome of this work is not the training itself or the new professional skills, but the changes in the lives of people undergoing rehabilitation.
“When you see a patient whose rehabilitation journey you have shared, and you see them walking independently on their prosthetic legs and smiling… that smile lifts your spirits,” says Iryna.
Background
The project “Skills for inclusion: vocational and workplace-based training for activating Ukraine's workforce” is implemented by the NGO “Ukrainian Professional Development” with financial support from the European Union, Germany, Poland, Estonia and Denmark within the Multi Donor Initiative Skills4Recovery, implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH and the Solidarity Fund PL (SFPL).