does anyone work for HICA? as a home care worker? Advice needed!

[pinkyp]

Hi i am thinking of applying 4 a job as a home care worker for a company called HICA. Does anyone work as a home care worker for this or any other company? Can u tell me what ur day involves and if u enjoy it etc? Thank u so much, never done anything like this b4 xxx

[Ripeberry]

Hi, i've been doing Homecare work up until a couple of months ago.
I've really enjoyed the job itself and meeting all the lovely people, but in the end the unsociable hours and the crappy management made me give it up for now.
The best thing about the job is knowing that you are helping someone and some of our clients were very lonely and i could sometimes be the only person they saw that day.
Great variaty of people, not just elderly but also dissabled young and old.
The worst bit of the job was when you were asked to go to new clients in a strange part of town at night.
I was with them as a "bank" homecarer so could get called up at very short notice.
So, finding addresses was quite time consuming, also if you were 10 mins late with one client at the begining of your shift it could escalate into 30-40 mins late with everyone else, then you would get complaints.
The clients themselves were always nice even if they could be a bit grumpy sometimes but i personally found , clients with Dementia a bit scary as they were unpredictable..nearly got hit by one.
You have to have a strong stomach and not mind disgusting sights.
I had one lady who used to try and rinse her soiled "nappies" in the sink and she would leave them there..leave your imagination to it.
It can be lonely, you are by yourself most of the time and you only meet up with other carers when you "double-up". You have to be able to deal with anything when you go through that door.
Personally not found anyone dead, but lots of clients on the floor because they had fallen.
Also, don't forget about the relatives, they can be quite nasty/argumentative about the care of the person you are caring for.
All i would say is research the company you are working for, i just went to the wrong one.
They wanted me to take my children to work for an afternoon shift (aged 3 and 5), they never gave me an appraisal (was with them for over 9 months), they kept fobbing me off about getting the NVQ 2 (supposed to start it within 3 months of starting work) and they bullied workers.
If you choose carefully then you won't regret this type of work.
Good luck!

[Ripeberry]

Just to carry on.. My day used to start at 5.30am (getting up), leave house by 6am and drive to first house (usually 30 mins away).
Luckily the 6.30am call was with a lady who was always awake at that time of the morning and she just needed help with washing and dressing (6 layers).
Up until 11am it was just getting people up, washing/dressing, making breakfast/tablets and making comfortable.
Between noon and 2pm it was making lunch, heating up in microwave/sandwiches for later, tea/drinks for later.
There is a gap between 2-4pm, then from 4pm its the tea-time run, this would mean again heating meals/soup ect,tabs, lots of the calls would also involve helping to commode, emptying catherter bags and cleaning.
Then the job would carry on until about 10 to 10.30pm at night, putting people to bed with hoists, helping to undress, teeth out and security checks.
Personally, i never did a full day like that but lots of carers were doing over 60hours a week, but that was their choice, but some were bullied into doing longer hours than that, because conditions were so bad, lots of people were leaving!
Lots of reputable companies won't let you do such long hours anyway.

[pinkyp]

thank u for ur reply.... i declined the job lol.

[Ripeberry]

Sorry if i put you off, but with this kind off job you MUST go in with your eyes wide open, why do you think there are always jobs available.
Most people did not hack it for more than 3 months.

[jaki1]

i worked for that company, beware they go through staff like its going out of business, non profit, what a joke.....