Aged Care Employee Day 2021

Aged Care Employee Day is a national event dedicated to celebrating the contributions of all aged care employees around Australia.  It celebrates each and every team member involved in the journey of caring for people who receive aged care services – from the nurses and care workers, to the allied health professionals, cooks and hospitality teams, to the drivers, cleaners and laundry employees, to the volunteers, to the leisure and lifestyle officers and administration teams.

As we celebrate Aged Care Employee Day across Anglican Care, we wanted to give you the opportunity to learn more about some of the members of our team, and highlight the many different roles of those involved in the aged care journey.

Name:  Debbie Fox, Care Advisor, Community & Home Care Mid Coast

How long have you worked in the aged care industry?  I have worked in the aged care industry since 2006 both in residential and community care.  I’m very new at Anglican Care, being here for just over 3 months.

What does your typical work day look like?  The day of a Care Advisor is very busy and you really need to have good time management skills as you are juggling a lot of tasks at once.  A typical day consists of visiting consumers to do home care assessments, clinical care, wound care, reviewing services and ensuring our consumers are happy with their package of care and support.  We work closely with consumers at all times to ensure their care plans are up-to-date and reflect their needs.

How does your work impact on the quality of life of our residents/consumers?  It is really important that we work alongside and in partnership with our consumers to ensure that the service we provide reflects their care needs and is in turn enhancing their quality life.  It’s not just personal care and domestic assistance that we provide, but a broader holistic level of support including socialisation and taking into account the needs of carers.

What do you love about your job?  The people!  Being able to visit people within their homes and their own environment where they are happiest is a privilege.

Name:  Jen Ellis, Laundry Supervisor, Hospitality Services

How long have you worked in the aged care industry?  I’ve worked for Anglican Care for 5 years and prior to that worked with House With No Steps.

What does your typical work day look like?  I manage a very busy team of 25 people and we are responsible for the washing, drying and redistribution of residents clothes, together with linen for the facilities.

How does your work impact on the quality of life of our residents/consumers?  I think we play a major role in impacting on the lives of our residents.  It’s very important that our residents have clean clothes that they are comfortable in which in turn helps them to feel good in what they are wearing.

What do you love about your job?  I love the team I work with and look forward to coming to work each day and working with them.

Name:  Glen Farmer, Maintenance Officer, Property Services

How long have you worked in the aged care industry?  I’ve been in the aged care industry for 2.5 years.

What does your typical work day look like?  My work day is very varied and consists of prioritising what is most important on my list.  I could be doing anything from fixing the fire alarm system, or maintenance in the boiler room, through to doors not working properly.

How does your work impact on the quality of life of our residents/consumers?  The work of the Maintenance Team makes a big difference to the quality of life of our residents.  It’s really important that everything in their room and the broader facility is operating to its full potential so they are as comfortable as possible.

What do you love about your job?  I love the interaction with different people and the fact that there is never a dull moment.

What does your typical work day look like?  My work day is very varied and consists of prioritising what is most important on my list.  I could be doing anything from fixing the fire alarm system, or maintenance in the boiler room, through to doors not working properly.

How does your work impact on the quality of life of our residents/consumers?  The work of the Maintenance Team makes a big difference to the quality of life of our residents.  It’s really important that everything in their room and the broader facility is operating to its full potential so they are as comfortable as possible.

What do you love about your job?  I love the interaction with different people and the fact that there is never a dull moment.

MEET:  Neenie Andrews, Lifestyle & Wellbeing Team Leader, Scenic Lodge Merewether

How long have you worked in the aged care industry?  30 years, 5 of them with Anglican Care

What does your typical work day look like?  No two days are the same given the diverse and ever-changing interests of our residents.  Basically my day consists of designing and running an engaging program of activities for our residents that keeps them stimulated both mentally and physically.  At the moment the residents at Scenic Lodge are loving trivia, cards, exercise programs and they love a good theme day where all of the staff get involved and dress up.

How does your work impact on the quality of life of our residents/consumers?  Keeping our residents active, engaged and having some fun no matter what stage of life they are at is really important and has a massive impact on their quality of life.

What do you love about your job?  I get so much joy seeing our residents when they are happy and enjoying life.

MEET: Christine Jones, Human Resources Business Partner

How long have you worked in the aged care industry? Since May 2021. I feel part of a family already.

What does your typical work day look like? My day is to be a people expert! To support, guide, influence, inspire, listen, inform, challenge, coach, advise and share helpful insights with managers and staff.

How does your work impact on the quality of life of our residents/consumers? By providing support to managers and staff it gives them the opportunity to be the best at what they do – providing exceptional care and quality of life for our residents and consumers.

What do you love about your job? I love building relationships, making a difference and seeing people grow!

MEET:  Heather Murphy, Residential Care Manager, Storm Village Taree

How long have you worked in the aged care industry?  15 years as a Registered Nurse and Manager.

What does your typical work day look like?  Having commenced as the Residential Care Manager at Storm Village on 26 July, I’m yet to have a ‘typical day’ and still have my ‘L’ plates on but I am enjoying getting to know the residents and staff better.

How does your work impact on the quality of life of our residents/consumers?  Staff become like an extended family to the residents and are integral in providing an environment that is as homelike as possible together with delivering great care and quality of life.

What do you love about your job?  As opposed to working in the acute sector, I love that in aged care you get to know the residents and their families over an extended period of time.

MEET: Aimee Levey, Human Resources Business Partner

How long have you worked in the aged care industry? I started in June 2021 – it is great to be part of the team.

What does your typical work day look like? Over the day we can wear many hats but typically for me here are a few – I can be a mentor, a coach, a trainer, a leader, an energiser, a designer, a project manager or someone to be there to just listen and understand.

How does your work impact on the quality of life of our residents/consumers?  Collaborating with managers and staff and working towards a common goal with passion and care, creates a balance in providing the best care for our staff which in turn creates the best care for our residents and consumers.

What do you love about your job?  I have a passion for building relationships working towards the same values and goals. I enjoy looking after the life and wellbeing of our staff, and working with them on their motivational drivers – I love people!

MEET:  Lea Hayes, Home Care Employee, Community & Home Care Hunter

How long have you worked in the aged care industry?  I have worked in aged care and with Anglican Care for 13 years.

What does your typical work day look like?  My days are very varied, dependent on what the needs of our consumers are.  I provide care and support to approximately 8-10 consumers and I can be doing anything from showering, giving medications, shopping, to providing transport.  Another really important part of my role is providing social support to people.  This can be anything from assisting with cooking, playing cards or games through to watching a movie together.

How does your work impact on the quality of life of our residents/consumers? The services we provide are very impactful on people.  In the last few years we have really focused on a reablement approach – assisting people to live the best quality of life possible and reconnecting them to do things that they love to do.

What do you love about your job?   I love everything about my job – it is full of variety and there is never a dull moment.  I love the look on the faces of our consumers when you are able to assist to do something that they thought they could no longer do, which is essentially assisting them to gain back their independence.

MEET:  Brigid Hull, Kitchen Assistant, Hospitality Services

How long have you worked in the aged care industry?  I have been working in aged care and at Anglican Care for 18 years.

What does your typical work day look like?  The main goal for my role is to ensure that all of Anglican Care’s services receive the food they need as per the orders they submit.  I am responsible for ensuring the food is ready and on the dispatch trolley ready for the truck drivers to deliver.  This is a huge job with our Hospitality Services team producing between 18,000 and 20,000 meals per week for our residents and consumers.

How does your work impact on the quality of life of our residents/consumers?  As we all know ‘Meals Matter’.  It is important for our residents and consumers to not only receive meals with the right nutritional content, but meals that they look forward to and enjoy as a social occasion and important part of their day.  I believe that our food is the best it’s ever been at the moment – we have a fantastic team of chefs and our team as a whole has a lot of pride in what we do.

What do you love about your job?  I love the fact that I enjoy coming to work every day and the incredible team spirit with everyone totally focused on producing fantastic food.

MEET:  Jessica Huth, Care Assistant, C A Brown Lodge

How long have you worked in the aged care industry?  For 2 years and I’ve been with Anglican Care for 18 months.

What does your typical work day look like?  My typical day is spent assisting our residents with their day to day activities and personal tasks.  This can include helping them shower and assisting them to pick their clothes for the day and getting dressed through to assisting with mobility and liaising with family members.  Anything that can help our residents to feel clean, happy and ready for their day.  I also recently completed my medication competency and am assisting with the issuing of medications to our residents.

How does your work impact on the quality of life of our residents/consumers?  I think we have a huge impact on the lives of our residents – being there for them and assisting them with things that they are no longer able to do by themselves.

What do you love about your job?  I love being able to help people, making them as comfortable and happy as possible in their older years.

Click on the link to see our leaders and some of our residents and consumers thanking staff for everything that they do.  https://youtu.be/9wNbWeLHUkI