Any Care Assistants here?

[DoloresMontenegro]

Hi,

Just wondering if anyone here has experience of working as a Care Assistant and would be willing to share how you find/ found it?

I’m really not interested in being a HCA. The course is in social care which is what I was interested in.

I’m in ROI. We don’t have the NHS.
They won’t just take someone without a basic qualification or previous experience as a HCA. Not according to any of the job descriptions I’ve seen. But anyway, I’m just not interested in it.

Apparently, I need a separate qualification to the course I’m doing but at the same level. The qualification from my course wouldn’t do, because there’s not enough cross over with the modules and the work experience might not be relevant. My course includes modules on Addictions Studies and other subjects that HCAs don’t need. It doesn’t include most of the core health care based modules. We only three modules on care provision and five which aren’t. The HCA course is literally the other way around.

I’m a support worker for adults with learning disabilities and some physical disabilities. Would that be an option? It’s challenging but fun

Retired at 50 with a bad back. I enjoyed the time with (most of) the clients. Couldn't stand the bitchiness.

I work with one client with complex care needs who lives in her own home and needs 24/7 care, we work predominantly on a 1:1 basis with 2:1 for manual handling like bathing etc.
It's through CHC and direct payments and is streets apart from the care homes I've worked in, the package is managed by family and is how care should be imo, every penny/hour goes towards care, because there's no company involved taking profit.
There was a fair amount of specific training in complex care and I have had to do some of that in my own time, which is 'normal' for care, but, we get paid for any overtime we do if we're needed for longer than our shift is rota'd for which was rare in a care home. If possible I'll not go back to care homes/wards, not only am I treated better, but the client is too, and we're able to actually care properly most of the time without the constraints of being short staffed or lack of resources.
Not sure if you'd have something similar in the ROI though.
Very rewarding job, but it can be emotionally heavy, not just the human side but the 'moral injury' of knowing the level of care you should be able to give, that you want to give, but being in a position of being unable to because of lack of resources, and then getting the blame for the consequences. I have always found that quite hard to deal with.
Only today I've seen a post on FB from a local rag saying that someone was 'forced' to wait so long for the toilet they had an accident, and while there are certainly people in care who shouldn't be, without adequate staff and facilities that's always going to be a problem, but it's far easier to assume carers are on their phone or ignoring people. My experience is that you're running from person to person constantly, working through breaks and after your shift and this stuff still happens because there's just not enough pairs of hands to do what needs to be done in the time it needs to be done.

Thanks so much for sharing that. All of this is really helpful in getting a general picture. It sounds like incredibly hard work. Fair play to everyone who does it. You’re all amazing.

This is the kind of thing I’m worried about, messing up my back or something. I’m not young or particularly strong. Also, I’m short. I wasn’t sure how much of an issue this would be.
Quite a few people have said this about the culture too.

Hoapjtala discourage lifting, everyone gets trained in . Manual handling and all the beds are electric now. Your height is irrelevant, I've worked with some teeny nurses. What would interest you? You can work in addictions, mental health, learning disability, community, drug and alcohol services.

This is one of the groups that we’re being trained to work with. How do you find it?
I did some volunteer work years ago with kids with disabilities and I really enjoyed it. That’s part of the reason I wanted to do this course actually.

That’s what the course tutors say as well. It’s just that then on the other hand, you get a lot of people saying they end up with back problems etc.
To be honest, it was looking at job advertisements that has really made me question whether this is for me. It all just sounds very overwhelming.

Search for learning disability support worker jobs on IrishJobs

That’s true. I think I’m just a bit daunted. I’m trying to get a mental picture so I can judge whether I’ll be in way over my head, but there’s no real way to know until I try.

Thanks, will do.

Where is the work placement, you won't be doing any manual handling or any tasks without training and supervision. You'll be assigned to work with another carer and always under the supervision of a registered nurse. If you are interested in LD you can work in hospitals, care homes, residential homes, supported living, residents own homes but there is always a chance they won't have the right equipment and you find yourself lone working. As you're a mature student you do need to think about what benefits you get like pension, sick pay, holiday entitlement, travel costs, flexible working.

The Positive Futures jobs look good, be proud you've started a new career, it's never easy to start from scratch , we've all been there.

It’s good fun tbh. I have fantastic colleagues who all do their best for the clients. I can offload if I’ve had a difficult day and we swop out as necessary to help each other.

it’s hard but very rewarding.

This is another thing - for some reason the course is not connected up with any organisations. Students have to find their own work experience placement. Other courses in my college are linked up with local hospitals/ maternity hospitals etc for placements. The same course I’m doing but in other colleges are all linked up with various services. I don’t know why my course isn’t. They only told us after we started.
I asked the tutor how to apply for work exp placements, like do we send out emails, make calls? He said No, they probably won’t reply. Knock on doors, go in person. That is not going to work for care facilities or anything like that. It may work for hostels, but that really narrows it down. He mentioned previous students that got really good placements, but they all got those through knowing someone who worked there.

Thanks so much ☺️

I’d say that makes all the difference to have such good co workers.

It varies. My friend works for a specialist agency working with young disabled adults and loves it, it’s quite different to elder care.

Could you volunteer? That might be a way into a placement for you, and when you have a little experience try an agency, where you pick up shifts around your existing commitments, that'll give you a lot of different experiences and access to places that may be able to offer placements, or speak to an agency now, the one I joined gave me training, I do have a lot of experience so I'm not sure if you could get shifts with limited experience but it can't hurt to talk to them and see how they work.

ETA - I'm in my late 40's and returned to care a couple of years ago after 10 years out, it's very different but you do need a bit of a backbone to stick to your guns and not do things that put you or the client at risk, you need to look after you, use the equipment, refuse to do anything that is dangerous like bodily lifting. It is a physical job, but at least in England there's been more focus on equipment that protects you and the clients. Don't accept that 'this is the way we've always done it' if it's wrong, change only happens when the good ones advocate for themselves and the clients.

Are you dbs, or equivalent, cleared, without it I doubt you'll find work experience easy, how bizarre the course doesn't link up. Can tutors from other courses at your college help you find something. Maybe contact charities or outreach teams.

I'm not a paid carer (unofficial one) but we have carers 2x daily for my bedbound husband. One of them is a bit older lady, probably 50s and she is tiny, like 4 foot 11 tiny. She is fabulous and manages everything, often much better than people who tower over her.

A lot of the whole thing is about experience and confidence IMO and you will only get that by doing it. Good luck.

What counts as work experience? If there isn't much around can you volunteer in a church, meal club, a community group, reading group, all aimed at clients who need assistance.