If you work as a care assistant please can you tell me about it

[acatcalledcatto]

I'm now a single parent to two children - a teen and a pre teen.

After years of not working, I am very lacking in confidence in myself. I need to be working soon though or we will be in dire straits financially, and full time or almost full time.

Pre DC I worked in retail but I think I'd like to work in care.

I'm pretty sure I could cope with the personal care and the emotional side of supporting people.

I am not sure about -

Is there much heavy lifting?? I have badly separated abdominal muscles and a shit core so don't want to risk prolapse by repeated heavy lifting. I don't mind 'normal' lifting. I know there are supposed to be procedures in place but are these always followed??

Is it really pressured ie time constraints, workplace bullying, really stressful ?? I can work under pressure and happy to take on criticism I know that, but I have like a fear of being bullied. I've had it in one previous job and used to dread work to the point it made me ill and it scares me tbh.

Is it worth doing a college course (NC Care), would that equip me more or is it better just to dive in?? Do employers value these courses??

Do you need to be outgoing?? I'd like to think I'm a kind person, and I'm polite and friendly and interested in people's lives, want to give the best possible care and respect, but I'm quite shy and reserved. My ex MIL was a care assistant and if someone didn't want a bath for example, she was good at trying to joke with the service users and jolly them along persuade them etc, whereas I'd find that a little difficult.

Is there anything else you think I should know??

I guess I just doubt myself and think can I really do this, will I fail..

Thanks for reading if you made it this far through my rambling!!

I worked in nursing homes for the elderly all the way through my A levels and degree. I would do night shifts and they entailed:
Getting residents washed and changed into nightclothes. Doing the hot drinks round and helping Sister with the meds. Then, get them all into their beds and lights out. Hourly checks on each resident - bed changes if needed (which would also require washing resident and a clean nightie), assisting with toileting if they woke, calming anyone who woke with 'terrors' or who decided to have a night-time wander. Sluicing sheets/nighties as needed. Carry on like this til around 7 then up and washed for breakfast in their rooms. Day staff would then dress them.

So yes, there can be a lot of lifting in this particular area but any good home will make sure you do a lifting course. Certain manoeuvres should always be a two-person job, inc. lifting overweight residents.

I won't lie, there was definitely an undercurrent from a couple of colleagues. Probably due to nothing more than me being a young woman who wasn't going to be doing the job forever. Nipped in the bud by reminding them that we clean up shit for a living, none of us are better than anyone else.

Other care settings will be different so don't let what I've said put you off. It can be possible to complete a FT working week over the course of three days in this line of work and that can be really handy.

Is it a care home or community care you are interested in?

I have and do work in care.
If you are injuring yourself while working you havent had the proper training, good training will ensure you arent lifting a heavy load that could cause injury.
Changing beds you just have to be careful you are not doing your back in, but depending where your working it may be mostly hospital beds which is alot easier for changing beds.
You do have to have a positive attitude with people you care for, if you are quite silent with someone you are giving personal care to they are going to feel perhaps uneasy. Talk through what you are going to/are doing, get to know them.

You need to be physically fit, and fast on your feet. There are the absolute minimum numbers of staff they can get away with and you have to go like the clappers to get things done.
You don't have time to actually interact as such, you get maybe 7 minutes to get someone out of bed, bathed, hair washed, dressed, and ready for the day then on to the next one.
If you can run, and move you're probably ok, there is no lifting now, it's two person assistance with stands, hoists, mobile chairs etc now. You just have to be fast. And can you get childcare for anything from 12 to 24 hour shifts? There are very few shifts shorter than 12 hours unless you go domiciliary, but that pays even worse than care homes and you have to get from house to house unpaid.

Thanks @ViciousJackdaw that was very informative.

The tasks sound like what I thought the job would entail and what family who've worked in care have told me. For years I've been drawn to this kind of work. Hopefully I'd find somewhere where there's no bad lifting practices.

Re the difficult colleagues, yeah it's stuff like you describe which makes me nervous. Well done you for telling them how it was. It's hard to explain, I am a strong person in general, but I'm rubbish at being assertive and standing up for myself. Certain people 'smell' that.

@TwilightSkies

Either care home or community. I'd assumed that community wouldn't be possible for me since I can't drive??

@Tattoocrazymum

I have and do work in care. If you are injuring yourself while working you havent had the proper training, good training will ensure you arent lifting a heavy load that could cause injury. Changing beds you just have to be careful you are not doing your back in, but depending where your working it may be mostly hospital beds which is alot easier for changing beds. You do have to have a positive attitude with people you care for, if you are quite silent with someone you are giving personal care to they are going to feel perhaps uneasy. Talk through what you are going to/are doing, get to know them.

Thanks @Tattoocrazymum that's very useful. Hopefully with the right training I wouldn't cause myself damage. I could definitely be positive and I love getting to know people, and I'd definitely explain things and reassure the people I'm assisting. I just meant I'm not really outgoing, joking and laughing kind of person. Hard to describe what I mean haha.

@PomBearWithoutHerOFRS

You need to be physically fit, and fast on your feet. There are the absolute minimum numbers of staff they can get away with and you have to go like the clappers to get things done. You don't have time to actually interact as such, you get maybe 7 minutes to get someone out of bed, bathed, hair washed, dressed, and ready for the day then on to the next one. If you can run, and move you're probably ok, there is no lifting now, it's two person assistance with stands, hoists, mobile chairs etc now. You just have to be fast. And can you get childcare for anything from 12 to 24 hour shifts? There are very few shifts shorter than 12 hours unless you go domiciliary, but that pays even worse than care homes and you have to get from house to house unpaid.

@PomBearWithoutHerOFRS Thanks appreciate this. That's great that no heavy lifting is involved nowadays. I'm pretty fit I can run and I hike and stuff, got an allotment. I guess I just imagined having to move people who could be heavier than me. With my crappy core muscles that wouldn't be possible.

I can get childcare for my youngest, I've family members able to help who live nearby, my eldest doesn't need childcare not even overnight childcare cause she's old enough.

I was thinking about starting with bank work to ease me in before I need to be full time.
I could be available 24hrs a day Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays, and 8am-2pm Mondays to Thursdays, on school holidays could do more. Could do relatively short notice. Does anyone know if homes needing bank staff would this generally be enough of a range of availability??

I recently went back to care after a long break. I worked in a few places before I had the break and my advice to you would be to try a smaller and privately owned home rather than one from a big company.
Both had upsides and downsides but the smaller homes tend to have less in the way of fantastic decor or things like mini buses, but they, in my experience at least, care more about the residents and staff because the owners are usually personally involved, quite often registered managers and are 'on the floor' alongside staff whereas you don't tend to get that in big company run places, they're run very much like a business with the residents being the product.
That said they can be tricky to get into as the good ones tend to retain their staff like anywhere, so experience is often a way in, so don't discount larger places at first, they can be a good way to gain experience and an nvq.
Nights are often sought after too because they're hard to cover, they're not for everyone but are essential and you need care skills every bit as much as through the day.
A typical day would be getting residents up and ready for the day, washing, dressing, applying creams etc, assisting anyone who needs it with eating meals/drinking and toileting. Bathing or showering residents and some sort of activities like sing alongs, quizzes, discussions, exercises etc. Dealing with doctor and nurse visits, administration of medication (once you've done the relevant courses), getting residents ready for bed and helping them into bed.
You sometimes have to have a strong stomach, you can deal with all sorts of bodily fluids and other things that aren't pleasant! But it comes with the territory.
Most places should have a 'no lifting' policy. It is an active job and you do have to sometimes take weight etc but there are techniques that you should be taught as standard and there should also be equipment such as stand aids and hoists for people that can weight bear very little or not at all. You should never be expected to bodily lift people, that puts everyone at risk.
NVQs tend to be the industry standard, I have a level 3, that is largely considered senior level, though I'm not currently. There's a lot of legislation and best practice to consider when caring for people and it can differ from what type of people you are caring for.
It can also be an emotional job, caring for people who are at the end of their lives, or who exhibit challenging behaviour, I have cried after some shifts because they have been emotionally taxing, but it's also very, very rewarding.
I wouldn't say you need to be particularly outgoing, you form relationships with the people you care for, so it kind of develops naturally if you see what I mean? I'm not particularly outgoing at all, but I have gotten to know the residents I work with and have made an effort with them and they have responded, especially at the moment the staff are the only social interaction the residents are getting, so it's important.
As with any work place, there can be tricky people, and cliques, I've worked in a few places that had them, and not just specific to care.
It can be stressful when everyone wants to say, get up at the same time and you have to prioritise those who need you the most, because you can't be in two places at once but you can be guided by more experienced colleagues until you have that experience.
Good luck! The care industry isn't for the faint hearted, but for the big hearted - you won't make your millions but I'm earning a living at it and I have more job satisfaction than I've had in the last few years.

Im sure you will be absolutely fine
Dont above reply put you off about having to get someone washed and dressed in 7 minutes, places like that should be shut down. That is not person centred care.
It is a fast paced job, but you have far longer than 7 minutes in the right setting.
Good luck im sure you will be a lovely carer, the laughing, joking interaction will come in time when you get to know the people you care for ❤

And my shifts in residential was 7 hours, new job 6 hours

My care home does 8-2 shifts, 8-5 and 8-8.

I wouldn’t recommend community care to my worst enemy.

My home also does 8-2/2-10 and nights are 10-8 and you can do 'doubles' as well, so 14 hour shifts that I choose to do so I have a shorter working week.
Another one who wouldn't recommend home care either.

It all depends how n what type of care; and as another poster said if you are getting hurt doing manual handling you've not been trained properly or given the correct equipment.
All care has pros and cons.
Some places it can feel like a production line of people getting people dressed, fed, toileted, fed, dressed for bed whilst others are more laid back. Community care can be a little impersonal but you get to meet lots of people. My favourite job I've done in care was supported living working with adults with learning disabilities, it was my first job in care. I worked at several different house over the years i was there. Some had personal care, others didn't. I really enjoyed just getting on with life with the service users... shopping, visiting family, cinema, holidays, even cleaning the house! This job made me decide to become a nurse in the field and I now manage a residential school.
As long as you have the right values you can find where you fit in in care.

Care is such a satisfying career. I spent 4 years working in a care home before training to be a nurse.
There's always more work than people yo do it so you often feel like you're chasing your tail but the time goes fast. I've never worked a care shift where I've clock watched, there just isn't time.

In terms of lifting I can think of only 3 instances in the 13 years I've worked in healthcare where I've had to take someone's full weight. Once was a man that we had to move from a chair to the floor in order to perform CPR, once was a woman who somehow fell and got herself stuck near the toilet so we couldn't get a hoist in and the last one was not in elderly care but suffice to say was an emergency situation.

One thing I confess to hating, at least in the home I worked in, was that it was the carers that made residents less independent. And its not their fault usually. Let's say you're given an hour to get 6 people up (and that's actually an overestimation). If Fred can shave himself but takes 10 minutes to do it with supervision then you don't actually have time to help him so you end up doing it for him, repeat this across every resident and you see why they become so dependant on staff. Its sad. I'd like to think it was just the home I worked in not putting enough staff on but my brief foray into agency work tells me this is widespread across the industry.

There's sooo many area of care!

I started out in community care for very capable young people, who just needed a bit of assistance. Shifts could be from 1 hour nipping into their home to help with cooking. Or an evening where I escort them to the pub for example and they meet their mates. No personal care included. This wasn't for me, I was constantly picking up shifts trying to reach full time hours. Day was split into an hour here, 4hours there. Also felt like a spare part. They didn't really need me much because they were so independent, they just didn't want to have to rely on their parents getting them out and around. My sister does this kind of care and loves it.

2nd care job was a residential home for young adults with autism. This was very challenging. The young people always had two staff each. Involved some personal care. Administering meds. Helping tidy round home. Preparing meals. Taking to activities. Challenging behaviour meant they could be physical. They had a lot of staff turn over, it was a very hard job for such little pay. I think the people you work alongside as well make such a difference. The ones at this place just couldn't give a shit. They'd do the bare minimum and had no interest in the service users. Management wasn't much better.

3rd care job. Similar environment to the 2nd but I was on wake and watch shifts. Arrive, take hand over. Young people already in bed. Would do tidying, ironing ext then all I had to do was stay awake! Some people love this kind of work. They enjoyed how solitary it was. I found it very lonely, hardly saw anyone at night and slept during the day.

4th care job was a day centre. When I applied I thought I was applying for a day centre with abled bodied young people. When I walked in, it was people In wheel chairs with severe disabilities. In all honesty I was very scared. It wasn't something I wanted to do. The hours were very appealing mon-Friday 9-3. I thought I'm here now so may as well give it a bash and loved it. Young people would arrive at the day centre, we provide personal care/meds ext then take them out somewhere for the day. I really felt like I was enriching someone's life which was missing from the other jobs. More and more young people joined the service but the building was so small, felt very cramped, especially in bad weather when we couldn't go out. Was very bitchy with staff. Manager left and it just nose dived. New management would openly talk negatively about service users. I just couldn't stand it, if someone spoke about my son dribbling, ect I'd be so upset.

Stayed with the same company as job 4 but went to supported living services. I now support a handful of young people in their own homes. They are loved and adored by their families, pre covid I would take them out for the day with one another staff member. Help with showering, meds personal care ext.

Dear OP, you’ve got some very helpful and experienced people giving good advice here, and I have none to add, just wanted to say that you sound like a very caring person, who has thought this through, and I hope that you find a good place to work and gain some confidence and experience.
I wish you all the very best in your future job hunt😊🤞🏻

Support work is better than care work.

Where I work now a night shifts has 2 carers for 5 people. The nursing homes where I did nights before had two staff on for anywhere between 20 and 40 residents. And I am not exaggerating.

Working with elderly people is back breaking. Lots of bending to use baths/commodes, etc.

So I wouldn't recommend it.

I’ve been a carer for nearly 20 years in a residential & nursing home. NEVER have we had to assist someone with personal care in 7 minutes even when we’ve been short staffed. All manual handling is done with assistance from hoists & standing aids. All training we receive is done in house and paid for. You need a strong stomach at times but As long as your kind & respectful you can do this job.
In the current situation care homes are calling out for staff due to staff being long term furlough etc.
The money isn’t huge (minimum wage for me) but it’s the enjoyment. I’m lucky I work with a good team of people & supportive management.
Go for it...

Where I work now a night shifts has 2 carers for 5 people. The nursing homes where I did nights before had two staff on for anywhere between 20 and 40 residents. And I am not exaggerating.

This was my experience. The main home I worked in had 40 beds, was usually full and our day numbers were 4 carers 1 nurse. Over half the residents were "doubles" meaning they needed 2 carers to assist. We begged for more staff all the time. It was relentless.

Thank you all so much!!

@Tattoocrazymum
@UseOfWeapons
@chunkyrun
@TheLightSideOfTheMoon
@bigpurplefuryknickers
@GeologyRox
@TwilightSkies
@Elmo230885
@Umbridge34
.. and anyone else I've missed.

Extremely useful information to me, I am going to go for it!!

Can I just ask how you got into it?? Did you do a course or just apply??

When I've had a look at jobs, some of them say no experience in care required or experience required but not essential, some say experience or NVQ required.

an alternative is home care, where you don't usually need to do much lifting, or have another person with you.

Or working with younger people with special needs, or other problems. No lifting, but good people skills.

To answer your questions:

Yes there is rather a lot of heavy lifting - there’s hoists etc to use but the hoists are still heavy to move, and turns in beds or chairs can be heavy work if the service user is on the large side.

I’ve never experienced bullying in care, though it’s very busy work and can be stressful, particularly in times of illness outbreaks or when a service user passes away.

I don’t have a college course, I’ve learnt on the job.

Generally speaking it helps to be quite chatty, though some service users prefer quieter people! You’ll find as you get to know them you’ll be more bubbly etc anyway, and you’ll find your own way to encourage people to accept assistance with their care needs.

I’d recommend working in a residential care setting rather than community care, particularly as it’s your first time working in care.

Vast majority of people just learn on the job rather than going to college first. You usually get the chance to go nvq once you're working.
I would just start applying when you see posts come up.

I just applied and asked to do any courses or training available. Most places will offer NVQ in care

@TwilightSkies

My care home does 8-2 shifts, 8-5 and 8-8.

I wouldn’t recommend community care to my worst enemy.

I’m surprised you have a 8-2 shift that’s really good for the mums.