How hard is night shift in a care home?

[Caramelblonde]

My niece has applied to be a care assistant on a night shift.She's never done this type of work and is under the impression it will be a doddle.Thinks the residents will have all gone to bed when she starts at 8 pm,and very little to do overnight.I have some experience of a relative in a care home and have tried to paint a more realistic picture,but she's hearing none of it.Anyone here actually do night shift and can enlighten the reality?

The care homes i ve worked in the night shift did some laundry, cleaning of lounge areas as these are hard to do for the cleaners during the day with the residents up and about.

They also used to peel the next days potatoes and put them in water. 80% of residents will already be in bed at the start of the shift but at least 50% will be up and dressed before the end of the night shift.

Many residents wander about at night or constantly press the buzzers for the commode etc.

There is a hell of alot of bed changes during the night as the residents pads leak.

Really hard, the one I worked in was. Support all residents to bed then doing hourly toilet checks and lots of cleaning then moved to a mental health setting where you done hourly observations, supported medication and then cleaning . Mental health home easier but both quite tough

Depends on the level of need of the residents. Some units will be easier, and have less checks than,others.

It can be either way depending on what happens. Some nights are relatively quiet and peaceful with everyone in bed and asleep, others are manic if 2 or 3 or more residents need instant assistance.

Definitely not as busy as the day shift but still busy with toileting, patients who wander, cleaning duties, setting up for the morning and often we got a few patients up and washed early doors to help the day shift. Not all patients will be in bed at 8 either.

It will be busy, some places more than others, but it's busier than it used to be years ago. The people who end up in care homes are now likely to have major disabilities and healthcare needs.

The last one I worked in, the carers finished helping people to bed, doing checks, tidying up and generally making sure everyone was okay by around 1am. Then there was laundry, cleaning and call bells to answer. Two hourly turns, checks and bed changes had to be fitted in and then some places start getting people up at 6am - they're not supposed to, but it still happens. Some nights we barely got a sit down, other nights weren't as busy, but it's definitely not a doddle and the days of sitting around all night watching Prisoner Cell Block H are long gone.

I think it may be worth her asking to shadow someone to get a feel for it! Otherwise she's likely to be wasting both her time and the organisations.

Residents in the residential homes I support require regular position changes and pressure area care to prevent pressure sores, washing /dressing before bed and getting up, support for late sleepers and early risers.

Some homes start breakfasts early ( depending on residents preferences). Most staff get little chance to rest during the night ( particularly as they all seem to be short of staff atm).

Hard.

12 hour shifts are more like 12 and a half/13 as well, with hand overs and replacement staff coming in late.

So much to do over night.

Most people weren’t in bed. There’s not enough day staff to do it all - otherwise you’d have to start putting people to bed at 5pm.

There are pad changes to do overnight
people need turning, there are hourly checks to be done and paperwork to fill in.

One large home I worked at we had to start getting people up and washed and dressed at 5:30am - really crap but they didn’t have the staff to start it any later. some poor people where finally put to bed at midnight and then up again at 6am. It’s not right but many care homes are awful and it’s just a conveyor belt of pad changes/washing/feeding and repeat (I’ve worked in 12).

Another one was too tight to pay for cleaners so nightstaff had to do all the cleaning as well as everything else.

Night work is not the easy option.

Oh and add in random spot checks from managers to make sure you aren’t resting.

Very hard!! I’ve worked nights as a nurse for a years and it took a huge toll on my health…and I spent most nights caring for patients with dementia, who were wandering and very unsafe. I couldn’t do it again. No way

Think it must depend on the home and staff.
When my mum was dying I stayed in the care home at night with her for 2 weeks. During the night I sometimes went out for a cigarette, every time I walked down the corridor to the exit the 2 members of staff( to bed and care for 20 residents) were asleep on the sofas with blankets over them.
Eventually they gave me the number for the keypad so I wouldn't have to disturb them🤔. The residents were left to wander into each others room during the night.
The night shift would blame day shift and vice versa for any questions or concerns you had.
One night the home manager came in at 3am at caught them sleeping.

This is really interesting, much like I thought. I will show her these replies as she's sure it will compare to her old on call role in a different setting. Personally I think that all care work is relentless and grossly underpaid. Hats off to all you lovely people that do it!

The one I worked in expected the night staff to do breakfast in bed for the majority of residents, so porridge followed by eggs on toast, etc. And we had to clean the day room and dining room too.

Night shifts feel like hard grind because you are tired and that makes everything much harder!

I think you need a certain personality to be a career especially in a care home. How old is your niece?

I suppose there's no harm in her trying. Nights were easier than day shifts where I used to work.

The problem is there's not enough staff so the work load becomes busy and heavy.

I have done night in care homes years ago and in a nursing home it can be very difficult. Residential home providing the owners stick to it actually being a residential home is not as difficult.

I constantly wonder what will happen when places literally can't get staff to work in them? Where I live there is constant advertising for jobs in this sector and despite it being extremely hard work its paid so badly...

As above. You get everyone to bed, then the two hour cycles start of turning, checks and pad/bed changes, where as you get to the end of the two hours you go back to the beginning and start again, and in amongst that you do the laundry, take care of the residents who are wandering or awake and needing drinks, and then you start on getting everyone up, washed, dressed and ready for breakfast when the morning shift arrive.

There was time for the occasional quick drink but most nights were steadily busy.

Depends on the care home and the needs of the residents.

If it's a home that has elderly people with Alzheimer's or dementia then they're likely to be up a lot through the night, sometimes not even sleeping at all.

Care is a job you should go in to as you want to work in that field, not just because you want a job. If you're wanting to do night shift in care, then you definitely have to want to be in care. Less staff, different routine to the day, and you every often have to think on your feet if there is no higher management.

@Abitlost2

I constantly wonder what will happen when places literally can't get staff to work in them? Where I live there is constant advertising for jobs in this sector and despite it being extremely hard work its paid so badly...

I've watched managers frantically ringing around for hours trying to staff the next shift and having to beg the staff to stay on beyond the end of their shift because if they left there was no one else coming. Wasn't it the Isle of Wight had a crisis like that last weekend where they were something like 25 people short?

It really depends, my first job from school was doing night shifts in a care home for people with dementia, and it definitely wasn't a doddle
but I did find it very rewarding. Day shift was often short staffed, so there was often a lot of stuff to catch up on that they hadn't managed to do, and it was by no means a certainty that all of the residents were in bed (or that they would stay peacefully asleep all night!). So quite often it would be clearing away dinner stuff, doing bedtime routines, and then answering call bells, regular checks etc. We did always get some sort of break, but not always at the times we should, and it was rare to sit and do nought.

Some will be different though, if the residents are more self sufficient it could be easier, but then staff levels will probably reflect this; they don't tend to pay for more people than absolutely needed.

@Augtwo She's 24.Had no clue about pad changing or washing people.She assumed everyone had a daily bath or shower,I know this doesn't happen.Staff turnover must be high if the job is not spelt out to applicants.I only know through my visiting experience,that was dementia unit.The place she has applied to has dementia and elderly stroke etc.

Start 7pm. Handover. Hot drinks for residents. Take residents to the toilet, clean face and teeth, help them put nightwear on and go to the loo if they want to. Hourly room checks for everyone, 2 hourly pad check or toilet offer, minimum 4 hourly change of position, offer sips of drink during the night. Help nurses with medication if they need a witness, paperwork on everything you do, break, prepare breakfast trolley, help early risers get out if bed, washed and dressed, sit with distressed or wandering residents. She wont be sitting down all night. Go on mandatory training on her days off. Maybe do a shadow shift first.