
15 Dec A Day in the Life: Home Care Healthcare Assistant
This is my story of a day in the life : home care healthcare assistant.
I love my job as I get to meet so many different people in my work. There’s great satisfaction in knowing you help people during their day. I feel like I’m making a real difference. Especially during this pandemic – people are only delighted to see you to talk about something different.
Early Starts for Carers
I have an early start – most people need help getting up in the morning. This suits me as I need my afternoons and evenings free as I am studying.
My first lady needs to use a hoist to get out of bed in the morning so this means I’m working with another home carer. Hoisting is always a two-person job. She is always delighted to see us of a morning. This hour goes very fast as we get her up and dressed for the day ahead. We help her with her breakfast and make sure she takes her medicines. We leave her set up until her next care visit.
She is a real character so I always look forward to seeing her, I’m visiting her for nearly two years.
After this call I visit a man down the road. He has early dementia so he needs to be checked on regularly during the day. He is usually up when I get there as he rises early.
I help him with breakfast, his medications and also make sure he is dressed and washed properly. Part of my visit is to check his mood – I’ve done an online course about his condition – it will worsen and I know the signs to look for.
He is a lovely man – he is widowed three years, his kids visit a good bit. Sometimes he forgets I’ve been there, so now I always sit with him and write the diary visit in case I need to remind him.
Getting Outside
My next lady, I have visited for the past three years and it’s a mid-morning exercise visit. Her daughters live outside of Dublin – they are a lovely family. They’re always checking on their mam. She’s 78 and has lived an amazing life. She was widowed young and brought up the girls on her own.
We go out for a walk to the park together in good weather – it’s at the end of her road so easy. On bad weather days, we do the Chair Exercises – we usually have a great laugh. I make her lunch before I go and help her with her medicines.
If ever she needs to go to hospital appointments or to the G.P I bring her in a taxi. We have loads to talk about because we’ve known each other for so long.
Complex Cases
My last visit for the day at the moment is another two-person visit as the hoist has to be used. This client is palliative and we work alongside the Hospice nurse who looks after the pain medications and medical side of things.
This part can be tough so you have to be experienced and able to take it. You don’t have to do this type of work if you find it too hard. I did the modules on HSEland which helps you get the right perspective. I see it as a privilege to be making it a bit easier for the family.
It is important to understand that you need to support yourself sometimes. I make sure I’m not doing too many palliative clients during the year.
Anyone working as a home care healthcare assistant needs to mind themselves as well as others.
Weekend Working for Care Assistants
Because I’ve only a few hours available in the weekday mornings I do a few more hours on Saturday with different clients. Some home care assistants only work weekends – it’s flexible like that.
I have a lie-in at the weekends though so I do a couple of lunch-time afternoon visits. If the weather works with me I get my people outdoors – even if it’s only to walk around their garden.
With the lockdowns it is a big problem people not taking enough exercise – it is so important for mind and body.
Company Support
As a care assistant, employer support is really important to do the job. If you report things in you need to see action being taken – otherwise, you feel let-down in your work.
In Applewood there is a big focus on this – making sure carers are doing okay and have everything they need. We work in area teams and there is a big effort to make you feel like you have colleagues – as sometimes you can work mainly on your own. I have met everyone in the office at one time or another.
There is a focus on training and up-dating skills too – while we were in lockdown it was handy enough to do the on-line modules. Sometimes you do need the push to do them. Some courses are Zoom classes and a few from my team are finishing out the Healthcare Assistant Major Award this way. I’ve already the Major Award so I do online training in specific areas.
There are social events as well where you get to meet other carers. Everything is online now with Covid-19 but the effort is still there with different activities for Charity – they’ve done Bake-off, Running 100k, Xmas Jumper Day and raffles and Zoom Quizzes.
All the same, it’ll be great to get back to normal when we can have our actual Xmas nights out, coffee mornings or our Summer get-togethers.
I love my job as a home care healthcare assistant – every day is different and there’s something to be happy about knowing you are making a difference.