What Stops Care Assistants Caring?
The need for care doesn’t stop for bad weather, cancelled trains or sick days.
Earlier this year, the country was brought to a grinding halt when the “Beast from the East” met storm Emma. Many that were unable to reach work welcomed it as a day off or as an opportunity to work from home.
For care assistants, the cold snap meant braving treacherous conditions to reach their clients’ homes. Care doesn’t have a pause button and carers don’t stop caring!
We might not be able to control the weather, but we can continue to build the best support for care workers and enable them to deliver the best service.
Support and training
For a role that hinges on routines, it can be quite unpredictable. A lot of care workers would suggest this adds more to the role, but it also means you can’t always map out what care workers will encounter.
You can’t predict how people will react to every situation. Ongoing training and a sustained amount of time spent shadowing experienced workers will equip new carers with the skills to manage most situations.
Behind every care worker there also needs to be a support network that they can lean on when they’re out of their depth, in need of direction, want assistance, or are looking for support.
Additional work
Home visits can sometimes see the delivery of care squeezed into too small a window. Any additional duties, or delays, will eat into their time and cause a chain reaction that affects their next patients.
Agencies supplying care workers need to recognise this, accommodate it and help alleviate the pressure of time constraints.
We recently introduced an app to aid workers in completing their roles. It provides supportive context, time mapping and ensures that essential tasks are carried out so that the next home worker isn’t covering old ground and the patient receives the best consistent care.
Contracted and Zero-hour contracts
We offer both contracted and zero-hour contracts to suit your needs.How can we turn zero-hour contracts into an advantage for care workers? Plenty want the flexibility, but others need the stability and guarantee of more work.
With an ageing population promising to swell home care within two decades by 1.7million patients, it’s time to recognise and invest in the careers of those that care.
Difficult times
It’s something we’ll be talking about in more detail in the coming weeks, but the emotional and personal bonds you make with clients are real.
So too are the feelings you have when their health deteriorates. Care work is sensitive and can be extremely trying, which is why you need a supportive anchor behind you professionally.
We’re there to help you when you’re overstretched, when your personal life gets too much, when a client refuses your help or when you can’t leave a client. So much so, we put together a free guide for you to download, which you can access by clicking below.
