To think that if you chooose a caring profession you shooul actually um ^care^

[ledkr]

Still reeling from the recent panorama about the care home,today on the news is the story of the mentally ill/alcoholic who was left to die in a hospital corridor after being refused help and being dragged out of the way by staff.
I have worked in the caring sector all my life, RMN on busy accute ward and in residential childcare for 12 yrs and i completely understand the stress and frustrations of difficult and demanding clients but I never stopped seeing clients as people who are much less fortunate than me and trying to make a difference albeit a small one to their lives. I am not perfect or a do gooder and frequently leave work fuming and have agood rant, had my car damaged or been assaulted but i choose that job and im paid to do it. Its very worrying as we may all one day need care of some sort.

You sound a real gem 'ledkr' so I had to just say a few words here. You are so right that people in the caring profession should be of a caring disposition. It could be that there is not sufficient judgement made at the interview stage when employing staff. You or I would probably beable to pick out the 'goodies' but then come the following 2 problems:-

1. In the caring sector it is difficult to recruit staff and so there is a sense of desperation there to get a position filled.
2. Unqualified staff would be on a minimum wage. I won't repeat a well known saying here. At times this kind of job can be very stressful and not particularly nice. It certainly deserves more pay than is usually offered.

I've been saying for years now that it pisses me off how the only jobs available in the local papers are...

Window Sales
Telesales
Kleenezee
Carers

Realistically anyone could walk into a carers job tomorrow as long as they pass a CRB check. It's madness.

My DS did a job in a care home as a gap year role when he was doing re-sits of A-levels. Most of the care workers are on minimum wage, the shifts are long and many of the elderly residents he had to work with were challenging because of dementia/other mental health issues.

I am honest enough to know I do not have the personality to do that sort of a job.

He loved it. Really really loved it. I was surprised, I thought he would struggle with it, but he adored it. He was put in the bit of the home with the more immobile residents, and the old ladies just thought he was the best thing since sliced bread. He still goes back to see them when he's home, they bought him a lovely gift when he went off to uni and the home manager saw me in town the other day and said how much they still missed him.

But he said some of the other carers were doing other jobs, were tired, and very stressed. And were only doing the job because it was all they could get, they didn't really feel they wanted the job iyswim.

I'm rambling.

Agreed ledkr.

I've worked with a few people who get a uniform on their backs and then consider themselves some sort of powerful demigod.

But when these case come about I always wonder about the managements failings. Because lets face it, if you have the misfortune to work in these environments and are confronted with this culture then flag it up and the management does nothing, what do you don then. Keep plodding on condoning it by silence? Flag it up again and start fighting. Or do you take the easy route and get another job?

Sadly I suspect the decent staff left, and the management weren't interested. As for AED .. probably best not to start me.

Completely agree OP. I work in care and it really annoys me when people I work with or people in stories in the media have such a bad attitude. If you don't have the patience to work in care go and work elsewhere imo, caring is extremely rewarding if one has the right attitude. It annoys me as well when people say that poor care is caused by lack of training. You don't need to be trained to have a good heart and to treat someone in the way in which you would like to be treated.

I agree ledkr.

I have been treated by doctors and nurses who should not be allowed near a patient.

Once just before I went in for an operation I was seen by a doctor who was so unbelievably rude, arrogant and snotty I told her to leave my bedside.

The nurses on the ward seemed terrified of her.

The vast majority of staff do care and patients are their top priority but when doctors like that are employed to treat people I do worry.

I agree ledkr. People requiring care are vulnerable and should be treated with dignity.