Home Care Worker - experiences please

[basily]

I'm trying to return to care work having worked in residential/nursing homes 10years ago.

Now I have a family I'm thinking of giving home care a try. Does anyone have experience of this? Good and bad. I've actually got an interview tomorrow morning so I want to be sure it's right for me.

I mostly enjoyed the driving and being out and about generally. Ifg you got on in a care home well then I can't see any different happening here.

Going through peoples closets etc does take some getting used to. Have to learn how to say no firmly to office staff harassing you to do extra work (or her really good at negotiating). Generally 0hr contract. Then there is the safety aspect.

I was young and naive when I he this a go. If I was to go back into care I would do this again over working in a home in a heartbeat.

Terrible, honestly terrible.

Tried it not long ago and came home and cried. I was so rushed, there was no time at all to care. Often they were in a very poor state too :(.

It wasn’t in no way caring and I couldn’t tolerate that. I found that job so upsetting.

The good - flexible working, can more or less pick your hours, more time to spend with individuals than when working in a care home, can build lovely relationships with service users and their families, very rewarding
The bad - zero hours contracts, will be expected to work early mornings / evenings / weekends, can be lots of driving, gaps between calls etc, may feel like you’re rushing around all day.

Make sure you find a good company to work for. Speak to a few as there will probably be lots recruiting. If possible find one that pays travel time (this could work out more important than the hourly rate!) Be realistic about when you can work and make your availability clear from the start.

There are lots of good home care companies out there but lots of bad ones too. Ask about things like minimum call times (15 min calls is really bad practice). Ask about mileage and travel time. Ask about training (is it paid?) and support from the office.

Good luck.