Working in a care home vs home carer

[Livelovelife35]

After 13/14 years of the same job (cleaning) rubbish pay atmosphere etc i knew it was time for a change but didnt know what as cleaning was all i knew and the thought of doing something else was scary. Had in my mind of doing something out my comfort zone and had been thinking about care but wasn't sure if I could.
I have looked after my grans and my dad but not to the same level as you do in care

I eventually took a leap and went into home care (just to see if I could actually do it ) and it's the best move I've done. I thought I couldnt cope with the washing of clients emptying comodes changing pads etc but it doesnt phase me at all I have a few clients with dementia etc

The only down side to the home caring I'm now just noticing is I don't know my shifts for the next week till I get my rota and I'm not always guaranteed the hours so my wages are never going to be the same each month plus was out yesterday evening meant to have had 6 clients ended up with 2. Two cancelled their vist as family were takeing them out and 1 was in hospital

I'm thinking down the line I might end up in a care home question is is it the same as home caring but more hands on and is it better than home care

I once did home care and hated it. Same reasons pretty much

I wouldn’t recommend a care home either unless you manage to find one rated outstanding in every aspects. Even then you’ll be hard pushed to find one which isn’t incredibly underpaid.

Would you consider a hospital job? MUCH more support than home care and care homes with more variety too. Its a lot more full on but it’s so much more rewarding and plenty more staff to support you. Far better money aswell.

Carers are massively underpaid and overworked in care homes and home care. It’s not worth the stress.

I do HR in a care home and our group is one if the largest in the country. We prefer to sign people up on set hour contracts as it’s hard to find commuter staff and we therefore can plan rota many weeks in advance.

@Loveablers how do I look into the hospital side?
I'm in Scotland so no idea if it different up here.
Theres 2 care homes I'm looking at and they both get excellent right ups not just from staff but on how they treat the residents
I love looking after people just it's the trying to get to one client then the next who's further away.
When I got the job my boss did say 90 % of his workers are car drivers and only a small % are walkers like me
Seen my self standing in bus stops while I wait to go to next client etc definitely need a car for this work

@Originalusernameunavailable

I'm drawn to the carehome side now cause the only travell I'll do is too the home and back not having to Google map new clients addresses and end up getting lost
I'm getting married in July and cant book my makeup trial say next week as I dont know my shifts till say fri if I go into office and get my rota

Just go onto your local hospitals website and look at vacancies

If you want to be paid anything half decent then stay away from home care and care homes. Everyone knows care homes pay the most basic wage they can get away with.

Thanks

Care homes up here are £9 a hour my payer works nightshift in one and gets good money

Were as I thought I would with this side of care and told the mortgage lender that but in truth I cant guarantee what I'm going to get every month is the same
Was told we paid in the 25th of every month and I've none so I cant tell if this is going to work out in the long run

I calculated I would walk out this month with 500 odd that's what I was getting a month doing 16 hrs cleaning

Love carering just maybe not home care

It sounds as though you are a fabulous carer.
There is a big difference between being a worker in a care home and a hospital HCA . In a hospital you will get more support and the is a career structure so it is more "professional". However the downside is that there is obviously a very high turnover of patients, so you don't get to build relationships or even get to know the person.

Good luck with whatever you choose to do

@EmmaGrundyForPM

I had doubts as if I could do this sort of job the only experience I had was some help and care of my grans and dad but didnt think I could do it with strangers
But I love it and have took to it just I'm thinking home care maybe more suitable if I drove so then I could pick up extra shifts easily and get to clients on time I've worked out for today I've a half hr morning call then it takes 15 mins to get to next one so that half hr call will be shorted to 15 mins so I can get to next client same on thurs there a client 20 mins walk from the other one its nuts