Care work

[Catmum52]

Hi there, I quit my job as a care assistant after 6 months. Absolutely hated it!!! Not being funny but I'm better than this, I have a law degree but after having my son, realised a career in Law wasn't for me.
I love education and I love working with children, I'd like to be an Early Years Educator but at 52 am I too old?? I feel like I don't know what to do with myself anymore. There we are I've vented.

Foody your post made me well up and is a perfect antidote to the twat OP.

Most people are above care work
Fucking hell. I rarely use bad language here.
A carers job is more than wiping an arse. I really respect carers for the work they do, it is a physical and emotional job.
Those who do palliative care are diamonds.

You're not too old.

And good on you for leaving. I also left care work 5 years ago. It was the worse thing I ever did (working in care!) Did me no favours. Caused me stress, grieve and made me feel sick.

I will never go back there ever again.

People please do not feel offended. Carers deserve recognition and respect for what they do, but I didn't get absolutely any of that during the 3 years I worked in care. I did my absolute best and went out of my way to help the residents but all I got was snide remarks about me, residents' family members moaning because I didn't bring their tea on time (while I was dealing with another resident who was bed-bound and in pain), teamleaders sitting on their arses all day while we run around like headless chickens trying to provide residents high standards of care that the company requires... all single handedly! I will not lie, most of the residents was quite frankly, nothing but horrible, impatient arseholes. No explanation/showing to them about how hard you are trying will allow them to give you another 10 mins to sort something or someone out. I will not say anymore but it is a fucking shit job and I wish anyone else going into a care job best of luck because you're going to need it.

I did care work from the age of 17 until a couple of years ago. Unable to do the work physically now.

I think care work can be what you make of it. It can be dull, repetitive and unstimulating if you don't give it your all. OR, it can be fascinating, an honour and the best job in the world. You can learn lots, both about looking after people, different health conditions and about the people you are looking after.

It depends very much on the attitude you go into it with.

It really sounds like you always thought you were above it, so went in with a negative mind set. Just as well you have left.

This neurosurgeon who debulked my younger sister's brain tumour gave her a few extra months to live. The carers who came to her home allowed her to spend some of these months in her own home with her children where she was happiest.

It really upsets me how little value people place on carers. Carers are treated like shit because we, as a society, don't fund care properly.

What it means is if they stop treating us like a piece of shit then maybe we wouldn't have to think that we're too good for it. It means we don't deserve to be spoken or treated like that when we can go elsewhere and get treated better, whether it be in another care home or in a different establishment.

I worked as a carer when contracts for my self-employed business were thin on the ground. Now I'm disabled, and receive care. I have two first degrees (an MA and a BSc, in different subjects), a teaching qualification, and had almost completed a PhD when my illness became too bad for me to cope with it.

I loved doing care, and wish I could still do it. Few things are more rewarding than managing to communicate with someone with severe dementia, or giving someone with a physical disability the independence and confidence to make their own decisions about their lives.

Carework is a very long way from being any sort of easy option. It's beneath noone, but as others have said, it sounds like the OP just doesn't have the emotional and people skills for it.

Ah thanks OP and morningstress. Always nice as a carer to be put back in my place

@governoress86 I work as a community carer and it’s bloody brilliant. Good luck, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do :)

@CaptainHammer thank you. I have not done community care before (only passed my test in September ) but I am looking forward to it. Everyone I know who does it says it is brilliant. Just waiting for a start date now 😊

@morningstress clients?? Do you mean patients? Clients sounds bloody horrible

I have done both the jobs you are talking about, spent years working in early years at a fairly senior level. Now work in care as a support worker in a very specific area. My job now is so much more rewarding, yes sometimes less fun, but I go home tired but knowing I have made a real difference.
If you are so above care work I hope you never need anyone to look after you, sorry but no one is above human compassion

I will not lie, most of the residents was quite frankly, nothing but horrible, impatient arseholes

I work across four residential sites with literally hundreds of service users and my experience is the opposite. The majority of service users are grateful for your time and very thankful and polite.

I've been late because I've been caught up dealing with another resident's medical emergency or mental health crisis but once I get to the next service user's door I am able to take a deep breath, smile and apologise and then swiftly change the subject by asking about their day/grandchild/child/favourite TV programme etc. They generally respond well. Of course there are some residents who won't respond well but you come to understand that this is because they have anxiety or mental health problems and you learn to juggle your schedule accordingly.

If you rush in fifteen minutes late with a face like a smacked arse and an air of 'I'm way too busy for your shit and you'd better want toast for breakfast because do I fuck have time to do you a fry up' then yeah, the residents are going to pick up on this and react against it. I might think the above but I never show it.

Hersheys Most people who use care services are not patients - they are not ill, just need a bit of support to lead a more fulfilling life.

I prefer clients to the term service users which I think is very impersonal.

We have careers in 4 times a day to Fil who is bedbound and doubly incontinent after a stroke. They do a fantastic job and I have massive respect for them: I certainly couldn’t do it.

They are a mix of people: some young girls doing it before nursing degrees, some very experienced and skilled older ladies, some rough and ready lads who joke with FiL about the football and make him feel a bit more human.

But the stories they tell us about how they are treated by their agency are shocking.

@Hersheys I think there is a school of thought that "patients" = defining someone by their illness, whereas "clients" is more respectful of them as an individual

No you are not better than that, what a horrible thing to say.
Let's hope if you ever require care then the carers you receive have a much more honest and caring nature than you!

I work in the care sector and have worked my way up to managing a service. In order to do this I have had to do several different SVQ courses and massive amounts training every couple of months. This is an ongoing all the time.
Now i must be registers with the SSSC to even be allowed to work in this sector and I have to pay for the privilege every year to stay on the register, I also must complete any training they ask of me which luckily my employer pays for but its hard work and finding the time in between all legal documentation requirements that need done & ensuing that all staff are trained and doing their job correctly.
And the most Important part - ensuring all individuals we provide support to are cared for in a person centered way and are being supported to live a meaningful life.

Support workers are not just there to provide just the basic in care, they require so many different skills.
You need to be caring, compassionate, thoughtful, respectful, supportive, patient, flexible, good listening skills, understanding - the list could go on and on. You need to be a good person and want to make a difference in an individuals life. You may be the only people they see and a link
To the outside world. You may see a number of different people in a day and most of the time you are physically and mentally exhausted but before entering the next room or home you plaster a smile on your face, sometimes after having a really bad day or after dragging yourself through the worst weather and make sure that individual is given the very best care you can deliver.

Never make the assumption that you are above this job!

NO ONE IS EVER TO GOOD TO DO THIS JOB; THERE IS ONLY PEOPLE WHO ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH!

Be careful up there on your high horse OP.
It's a long fall to the ground.

You're no better than anyone else regardless of what you think.

Simple answer to Op
Care workers are respected
Lawyers aren't.

Also can you OP actually stick at anything? You couldn't do law or your care job.

We have the most amazing group of carers who help us look after my dad. They’re in 4 times a day, are unfailingly cheerful and go above and beyond our expectations so much of the time. Their care is what’s allowing my dad to hopefully see out his days in his own home.
I don’t think I could do their job-they’re amazing.

OP it’s not that you’re “better” than being a carer, those needing care deserve better than you.

I will not lie, most of the residents was quite frankly, nothing but horrible, impatient arseholes

Do you ever stop and wonder for a minute what it must be like to have a body that won’t do what you want it to (and what you know it previously could do), a mind that plays tricks on you, can’t remember your own children’s faces, or makes you rip up a photo of your beloved grandchildren ‘cos you think the photo is laughing at you, or what it is to need help to wipe your own bottom or have not made it to the toilet on time?

Sincerely hope I drop dead before it happens to me but if it does happen, I hope I am blessed with people around me who understand where myt frustration might be coming from.

I know what you were meaning OP and yes there is more to life than care work if it doesn't float your boat/not giving you job satisfaction/enough money etc. You aren't too old, go for it! It might be quicker and more rewarding to do the 1 year training as a teacher (assuming that route is still there) than the L1, then 2 then 3 for EYP (assuming that is still the same as well.

Nothing wrong with some ambition, there are better things out there, go for it!

I also think most people are above care work tbh.

What a shitty attitude.

As for just wiping arses, my last shift consisted of:

Medication administration
Finances
Cleaning
Paperwork
Ringing 111 on a lady with disabilities
Supporting her through to urgent care
Liasing with families
Emotional support
Food shopping

I worked 14 hours without a break....