I'm a care assistant, ask me anything?

[iLoveSpaDays]

I work in a residential care home, have done for 4 years.

Do you enjoy it? I would never work in a care home for the elderly again. Wages are crap and the work is way too hard. Even with moving and handling regulations it's too physically difficult.

Not a great way to start a thread Fanta!

Op thanks for doing what you do x

@fantasmasgoria1

Yes I do enjoy myself, management is a bit crap but hey ho. I'm lucky we get more than minimum wage, we get time and a half on Saturdays and double time on Sundays and bank holidays. I do find it physically difficult good job we have good equipment to save our backs

@userblah thank you.

Yeah you are probably right! I worked supporting the homeless more recently which was amazing! I suppose I got fed up of personal care. The residents I worked with were great but I got to the point I wasn't enjoying my work anymore. It was years ago though! Learning disabilities work I enjoyed though and mental health. Hats off to those who work in care.

I used to work in a care home as a teenager and was constantly surprised by the level of responsibility I was given. I was 17 and they’d given me an hours manual handling training, done a disclosure thing and nothing else. I was regularly responsible for ensuring patients had taken their medication, washing, taking to the toilet, dressing and feeding them pretty much completely unsupervised. This was about 15 years ago in a nursing home. Does this still happen? Or are there compulsory qualifications that need to be done before your left alone with incredibly vulnerable people.

@fantasmasgoria1 that's great I'm glad your enjoying the work you do now.

@WhenIWasAYoungWarthog I was 18/19 when I started working where I work now I'm now 23. For the first half a year or so I wasn't actually trained in manual handling at all. Had dbs check but no training. I had my level 3 health and social care diploma. We now have a new manager who is putting a lot of training in place. I didn't do any shadowing when I first started so it was difficult to remember the routine of things.

Recently there's been a new member of staff starting and they shadowed for 2 month(?) and had to read all of the policy's and procedures. We do not have anything to do with medication as that is the senior carers role

What would you say are the main qualities/skills are required to be good at your job?

@Chuggachuggatoottoot

• a lot of patience
• honest, trustworthy
• no criminal records
• be willing to do training courses every year
• be caring, considerate, compassionate. Basically actually do the job because you care
• attentiveness, dependability
• flexible
• must know how to documentation correctly
• know a lot about legislations relating to care

Everyday is different

I worked in care homes and then home care for 10yrs and saw things that would anger me many times. I reported each home I worked in for serious breaches.

Do you have a set number of residents that must be in bed / out of bed by the time the following shift start work?
At interviews I'd ask the above question and be assured that this didn't happen, but in practice it did happen a lot.

Do you 'borrow' incontinence pads or other things from other residents because of shortages?
In all homes I worked in taking incontinence pads from others bedrooms was common especially at the end of the month. The residents were allocated 3 pads a day by the health authority and it was completely insufficient.

After a residents death how are their belongings dealt with?
Procedure in one care home was to put all the residents belongings into a black sack and to leave it on the bed for the family to collect. I thought this was awful and showed no respect for the resident or their family.

@Careofcell44 hi are you still working in care now?

Do you have a set number of residents that must be in bed / out of bed by the time the following shift start work?
At interviews I'd ask the above question and be assured that this didn't happen, but in practice it did happen a lot.

No we work together as a team, residents decide when they want to go to bed and when they get up. Quite a few residents lately are liking having lie ins. I just think, when I'm that age I'd be in bed all day!
*
Do you 'borrow' incontinence pads or other things from other residents because of shortages?
In all homes I worked in taking incontinence pads from others bedrooms was common especially at the end of the month. The residents were allocated 3 pads a day by the health authority and it was completely insufficient.*

Yes every now and they we have to borrow incontinence pads. Haven't had to for a while now though now I think about it.

After a residents death how are their belongings dealt with?
Procedure in one care home was to put all the residents belongings into a black sack and to leave it on the bed for the family to collect. I thought this was awful and showed no respect for the resident or their family.

After a residents death, everything in the bedroom is left where it is (belongings, clothes etc) the bedroom door is locked until the family members come in to collect belongings. I agree shoving belongings in a black back and dumping it on the bed sounds very disrespectful.

I'm not able to work at all now after an accident which has left me disabled.
I miss care work despite my complaints in my earlier post. There aren't enough homes where the residents come first, before schedules and before making huge profits.

@Careofcell44 aw I'm sorry to hear about that. But yes we work short staffed a lot so residents done get as much 1:1 time unfortunately

Anymore questions anyone?

All I can say is thank you. My DF is in end stage dementia and in a care home. We have some issues with the way the home is managed, but the majority of his carers are wonderful and some exceptional.
He can’t do anything for himself and is unable to support himself at all, though we did get him a specialised chair so he isn’t bed bound. I realise that these are his last months and though it is hard to leave him, we know so many there really care about him.
Thanks again.

All I can say is thank you. My DF is in end stage dementia and in a care home. We have some issues with the way the home is managed, but the majority of his carers are wonderful and some exceptional.
He can’t do anything for himself and is unable to support himself at all, though we did get him a specialised chair so he isn’t bed bound. I realise that these are his last months and though it is hard to leave him, we know so many there really care about him.
Thanks again.

@TheFaerieQueene my heart goes out to you! Dementia is a awful illness I've experienced it within my own family and also residents in the home where I work. I just do anything I can to make them happy even if it's just for a slight second for example painting their nails, singing, playing games, quizzes. I wish you and your family the best

Would you recommend it as a career to someone looking to get into it? I have been drawn to care of the elderly all my life and have done voluntary befriending of older people with dementia for many years but have never worked in the area - was nervous about the responsibilities of care right out of uni and since then always been settled in a job.. now thinking about taking the plunge returning to work after maternity and applying for either home care or care homes. Would love to know if you’d recommend. I’d love to be in care, just daunted by the idea of having to meet difficult timelines and rushing individuals in either homes or community.

You get better paid in care homes than home care. But if you've have a uni degree then I would act on that and get a higher up job where the money is better

What manual handling training have you had and do you feel confident in manual handling. Are drag lifts commonly used?

@Hairyfairy01

What manual handling training have you had and do you feel confident in manual handling. Are drag lifts commonly used?

The training I have is called moving and handling. It is refreshed every 3 years (practical training) and paperwork training every year. I feel very confident in doing manual handling we have hoists and stand aids available. We do not do drag lifts at all.

No question but I used to be a care assistant... never, ever again! Did it for 3 years. Constant staffing problems, rude management and made me feel sick to my stomach whenever I was due to go into work. Residents were fucking rude as well.

Hairy - I'm a home carer, I have moving and handling training (practical and theory), it's called move and assist safety. Never ever use a drag lift. We use hoists, slide sheets, stand aids and then people have frames etc

If say someone was down to use a frame only, I realised they had worsened and now couldn't stand with that, I would inform the office and they would arrange an urgent OT assessment and reassess the care needs

It’s good to hear you feel confident cosy nights and ollivander. I think carers do an amazing job which is unpaid and under appreciated by many. The general lack of training / induction does also concern me but it’s good to hear there are some good places about.