BLOGMAS Day 7: working as a carer.

I have been working in the care industry for nearly 2 years now, wither with the elderly or with children and young adults with learning difficulties. Now it is safe to say my job is not an easy one. And on more than one occasion I have had people say oh but you're just a carer, you wipe bums for a living HAHA yeah of course that's all I do... WRONG. I work my ass off. I am currently working 13 hour night shifts in a care home with the elderly who have dementia and a residential home. People assume that because I work nights I have an easy job. A few of my residents do not sleep and are often in an out of bed and I do a lot of personal care, plus the admin jobs and jobs around the home. Its not an easy shift at all.

I'm writing this just before I go to work, I cycle to and from work getting a bit of exercise in and try to eat healthily. On an average night shift I do over 12,000 steps so a lot of walking and on a day shift its more.

So, what is it like to be a carer? I'm going to talk from the perspective of an carer working with the elderly as that is my current position. I am currently an acting senior carer at night, which means to some extent I am in charge. Just means that I help the nurses out a bit more and make sure the level of care is the highest standard. I still assist with pretty much all care but I also help with care plans, admin work and making sure all the jobs are complete. A lot of my work involves making sure my residents are safe, that they are eating and drinking enough and are happy. Personal care such as assisting with showering, bathing, changing pads that kind of thing is an hourly occurrence. I think a lot of people assume that on a night shift once everyone is in bed you just sit around and do nothing but that is not true at all. We are always busy!

20:00 - handover from day shift (15 mins)
20:15-01:00- assisting residents to bed and personal care for those already in bed
01:00-03:00-  kitchen jobs, emptying bins, laundry, cleaning and tidying. As well as hourly checks on all residents and personal care if and when needed.
03-00-07-00- getting ready for the morning, emptying the dish washer for the third time, more admin jobs and of course personal care.
07:00-08:00- checking paperwork and one final check on the residents, some residents like to be up early from 05:30-07:30 so we do showering and bathing and getting breakfast ready for those. and of course our night handover to the day staff takes place at 08:00-08:20.

That is a really basic and quick guide to my job, I have properly left out so much more I could add. But I will be doing a day shift as well soon, more tends to happen as activities take place during the day. It is a stressful job and I've wanted to quit on numerous occasions but I am sticking with it. Getting used to everything and how best to work. It is hard work and I am not JUST a carer I am much more.

I hope you enjoyed this.

Love yah
IsThataRedHering

I'm finally doing it!

For ages now I have thought about writing a book. I have had many ideas but none of them developed into anything I wanted to actually pursue. I kept coming up with excuse after excuse why I couldn't write my book. But then something clicked. I love writing and this idea came to me just before I went to bed. I wrote a note to myself on my phone then went to sleep. I forgot I had written myself this note until 2/3 weeks after; and I still really liked the idea for a book. So, I got researching and writing bits and developing my characters.

Researching is the hardest part. I found that I got distracted way to easily when I was at home so would often venture to the library, where I was restricted by 2 hour computer slots which meant I got more done in the time. But when researching for a book you end up searching and googling the most randomist and weirdest things. For instance today I was in my local library which is small as I live in a small town. Away I was printing 10 pages worth of research on breast cancer then followed by asking if they had any baby name books (which they didn't). The librarian gave me such a weird look as she handed me my printing and unsure what to say. I laughed and said I'm doing research for a book I am hoping to write and we got talking about it and how she has written a children's book for her children which they love. It went from an awkward interactions to something quite rewarding and interesting to hear about.

I haven't been working on my book for long, an hour here and there. However I am able to concentrate on it more now that I am between jobs. I finished my job as a carer last Friday and do not start my next job until October. So I am using this time to research for my book, catch up on books I want to read and generally having some me time.

If you have any writing tips I would love to hear them. All advice is welcome.

Love Yah

IsThataRedHerring