Over worked till you drop

[brenda]

my first post on the board - i have been reading this topic with great interest.

Wanda - you make some excellent points, and ones that are often overlooked - the residents. Complacency amongst staff is common - many are unhappy, BUT many don't "do" much about it.

As far as loumullen's "it's all about me" comments:

If we are to take up the cause to improve services for the aged in our care, then first we need to take into account our work conditions and respect for our own self esteem to press forward and deliver a quality of care service in the first place.

Couldn't agree with you more Wanda:

Were the aged care workforce ever to mobilise on behalf of residents DESPITE the pressures they face as workers (it’s an idealistic thought, I know) – then I think we all know that change would be instant and dramatic.
And were that to happen, I think you might discover that, actually, it works the other way round? When the day comes that residents are “valued, respected and treated fairly” within aged care then the conditions you seek and the respect you desire will tend to “flow on” to the workforce.

cheers,
brenda.

[Snappo]

Hey, guys, I'm one person here, I can only do my bit, I can't be responsible for other people. I have stated before on here, I am 60 years old, I come from an era where respect for your elders was taught from the cradle. I do this job out of choice, I could go on a little further here, but don't want to be accused of being a 'bleeding heart', among the other stuff. The reason there are crap carers is because the pay and conditions are crap. Why do you think nursing staff are leaving in droves? Why would they work in aged care when there are no staff/resident ratios, as there are in general nursing, and the pay is less than their counterparts in general nursing?

We all know that you don't have to have any qualifications to work in aged care, come on, if you're new to the country, have no qualifications and limited English, one of the few places you will find work is in aged care. Why? Go figure... Now, will you please go and tell these people that it's about 'respect', and 'careing', and not about the rotten pay packet at the end of the fortnight!!! I mean no disrespect to our new Australians here, but facts are facts.

Wanda, I can see where you're coming from, I can understand your feelings, it sounds like you've been through the mill, but why take it out on me, I'm actually on your side, I agree with the majority of what you've said. You are a very angry lady.

I thought about your question regarding how the residents are at our facility. On the whole, it's pretty good, I mean they are well fed (I just did the monthly weighs and, apart from one lady who seems to have an aversion to food in general, all are either steady or have actually gained a little), no one is neglected or abused, we have a great variety of exercise programmes and activities, outings, etc., and there is a great deal of affection between staff and residents. On the whole (and I can only speak of the evening staff as that's the only shift I work), the carers are, if not totally dedicated, a fairly good bunch. Occassionally a resident will tell me that so and so is lazy, or have a grumble about something or other. I always encourage them, assist where necessary, to fill out a complaint form. We have some very vociferous residents who will let management know, good and proper, if they aren't happy about anything. Some have been residents for 10+ years and are very clued in as to their rights and where to go to get them. I am very happy to say that they complain bitterly if their needs aren't met according to their liking. As they say, 'we pay good money to be here, we want good care for it'. Couldn't agree more.

So, instead of chucking sly innuendos at one another, lets try to think of something positive and work together. Maybe post your experience on agedcarecrisis (I did), nothing is going to change overnight, we all know that, but we can keep plugging on and doing our bit, and maybe one day things will change. If you can suggest anything else, we are more than open to hear it. I don't want to be your enemy, I want to be on your side, you sound angry enough to do something....

Snappo.

[abbie]

I think we need to be clear that caring for frail residents and industrial relations are very much interconnected. A dysfunctional, low-morale workplace is not going to help the residents. When my Mum was in a nursing home the CEO sacked the DON for all the wrong reasons. I was told that there was only one nurse who was a union member. Although everyone - residents' families and staff - knew this was an unfair dismissal most went quiet. The DON wasn't supported and the reforms and concerns she had (which had put her in conflict with the CEO of the whole shebang) went unaddressed. The whole place went into the dismals and it was awful for me and my Mum. As a daughter, I still feel I let my Mum down - keeping her in a place where people all felt frightened for their jobs and were miserable. The care she received suffered. If I had a wish, it would be for a lot more solidarity between staff, residents and families. I want staff to be strong and fight for good working conditions and I want residents and their families to speak out when neglect occurs. I am thoroughly sick of everyone being SCARED to speak up for their jobs and for their residents and for their family members who cannot speak for themselves. And I am totally sick of a Minister who keeps saying that everything is great when it isn't.

[Snappo]

So well put, Abbie. There are cases where families won't complain for fear of their family member being singled out for even more neglect. The same applies for the staff, they shut up, turn a blind eye, whatever you want to call it, for fear of losing their job. There are an awful lot of ways to get rid of staff, apart from straight out sacking. Shifts are changed, hours are changed, place of work is changed, duties are changed, the only thing that doesn't change is the feeling of not being wanted there anymore. It's usually the good staff who this happens to. There is no good reason to sack them in an overt way, so they resort to the covert ways. Believe me, facility heirarchy can make life very uncomfortable for the lowly carer if they want to. I was personally subjected to 3 months of this treatment before I couldn't take it any more. I know there are many others.

There are a never ending retinue of issues that need to be addressed in the whole aged care spectrum, and it's going to take a gutsy, hardworking, knowledgeable minister to tackle it.

[brenda]

Too true. Some of my closest friends did their "time" working in aged care - and simply gave up and left. They did everything they could - filled out those "improvement logs", "incident report" forms, personally wrote to the management (who were detached from what was actually happening in any of their places - so detached they were in their ivory white towers - in another state!), rang and spoke to the HR manager, wrote emails - all of them, I might add, were sensibly and practically written.

Another stress factor was reporting an RN (extremely hostile personality) who was working at the facility for not providing meds to the residents (couldn't be bothered and either tossed them all in the bin, or gave them all to the residents in one hit - which had a rather detrimental effect at dinner time, when most of the residents were falling asleep IN their dinner, instead of after!). The list goes on....and on.... and on..... oh, and all at a VERY expensive well-to-do place too. My friend just got so tired, she left the "system", vowing never to return. That was 2 years ago now, and she has kept her promise. She loved some of her residents - and the residents loved her as well, but she just couldn't do it any longer.

So - at the end of the day, you can have great staff who are willing to go the extra hard yards and report stuff to management - but to what end when management didn't give a sh*&? Where to go to next? That useless "I make no apologies" aging minister nimwit Elliott? She's barely qualified to inform aged care staff - she can't even hold on to her own staff (Rudd and Elliott have had the highest turnover in staff...apparently!)

There are a never ending retinue of issues that need to be addressed in the whole aged care spectrum, and it's going to take a gutsy, hardworking, knowledgeable minister to tackle it.

So true Snappo. Note my emphasis on knowledgeable. How can anyone trust a minister when in her annual report statistics quote figures of 1 day out of 365? Is she that stupid? Or does she think that the Australian population are that (gullible and) stupid? Then again....perhaps her work colleague, notably the Secretary of the Department of Health and Ageing's "put a lid on it" Jane Halton - (remember children overboard?) is just not providing ALL of the "appropriate information" for the aging minister. Little wonder aged care is in such a mess.

[peta]

Just joined up here and am interested to see Jane Halton's name mentioned by Brenda - inspired me to comment. I have been following aged care issues for a long while and was quite shocked when the PM allowed this woman to remain in charge of the Department of Health and Ageing. Many people on this discussion site have mentioned their disappointment about the current Minister for Ageing. But Ministers are often slaves to the bureaucrats they inherit. They come to the job knowing little about their portfolios and they are brought up to speed by the bureaucrats on hand. Many of us feel that aged care is like 'secret business' - that is hard to find the truth about lots of things. I am extremely puzzled as to why there is such a need for secrecy about funding, facility ownership and much else. I doubt we will ever get to the openness and accountability we should have while Ms Halton is running the show. She showed her true stripes when she gave evidence to the Children Overboard Inquiry.

[loumullen]

This is my last post on this issue. I had no idea the Pandora's box my original comment of support for Snappo's plight would open with regard to work place improvements for staff and clients alike. The opinions Brenda and Wanda have added are out of context for my original point of view. I have no intention of entering a slanging discussion based on personality and points of view based on sour grapes. Brenda, You're rhetoric for Loumullen's "it's all about me" smack's of administration and is out of line.
We all need to unite as a collective to bring about change for all who are involved in the aged care industry. I know for a fact this unity will never include providers or addmin as the intention differs from their needs in the first place. I know work place bullying and as for those who support it as a tool to intimidate nurses, carers, assistants, clients into submission is a sad fact from the dark ages and those who practise it's use have no compassion or soul and don't belong in the industry. My feelings also extend to hypercrits who believe they are above all other peers.

[Snappo]

Oh, my, here we go again! It appears that we got out of the frying pan, only to get into the fire. We have a new FM who started off really well. Morale improved markedly, staff were actually smiling, and even,occassionally, laughing out loud! Now the axe has dropped again. Here are some statements and new roles she has decided on:
- "You don't need the aged care certificate to work in aged care!!!!' (Honestly...she said that).
- One staff member for 60 odd residents (including a cottage full of dementia residents) is sufficient for night duty.
- Care staff to 'care' for 3 or so hours of a morning, then take on the role of cleaners, cleaning resident's rooms and bathroom.
- Care staff to be given 'appropriate' training to fulfill this role.
- Cleaners who have had their hours cut due to care staff cleaning, can 'pick up extra shifts caring'. (See point 1)... (OMG).
- All care staff to be paid as a Grade 2, irrespective of qualifications.
- New duty statements to be drawn up to reflect 'multi skilling'.
- Evening shift of around 7 staff will no longer have a team leader (except, of course, there has to be one to take phone calls, attend to doctors, family members, organize the RN if there is a fall, or other incident, attend to pharmacy deliveries, etc. etc.). They simply don't want to pay the miserable team leader rate.
- And on it goes, ad nauseum.

So, tell me, what do you see as the outcome of this? Substandard care and substandard cleaning. Go figure, I can work in the community cleaning houses for $30 per hour, and...I don't have to shower people, toilet people, clean up after incontinence, serve meals, clean up kitchens, do laundry, etc. etc. Staff will leave in droves, and new staff will last five minutes. And, tell me again, who will suffer? The residents, as usual, that's who.

[Sally]

Thanks Snappo, I feel so sorry for you because I have suffered the same and I know how hard and horrible it is. I left because I couldn't stand it any more and it wrecked my physically and emotionally. God help those who find themselves in those dreadful places.
The more things change the more they stay the same !! The only difference is it just gets worse !!

[Snappo]

Further to my entry of July 21st. The title 'Care Service Employee', is an umbrella. Beneath this umbrella are 'streams', eg. cleaners, carers, laundry assitants, kitchen assistants, etc. My place of employment now intends to bring all these streams together, so there will be no differentiating between CSE's. This means that all people already employed will have their grading ignored (grade3 and 4, though they can't lower the wage of the 3 and 4's, which makes us expensive 'albatrosses'), and their qualifications ignored. The role we will be expected to work will be called 'multi skilling', Grade 2 CSE, and encompass ALL of the above. All staff will do all of the above rolls. Clean resident's rooms and bathrooms, clean the common areas, such as dining rooms, lounge rooms, kitchens, cottage toilets, all hallways, prepare and serve the meals, then clean up after, wash up, clean kitchen, set tables. We will also, of course, need to attend to all personal care, bed making/changing, rubbish removal, showers and medications. There is, of course, the documentation as well (if we EVER find the time).

I actually think they have lost the plot, someone needs to remind them that we are people, not navvies and lackies. Are there any other ACF's where staff work under these conditions? They say 'yes', but I haven't been able to find one!! Feedback would be appreciated.

[Snappo]

Hi All, With regards to my previous post (above), I would truely appreciate it if any PCW's, CSE"s, whatever moniker they give you, could please let me know if their 'multi skilling' includes all the cleaning, and I mean ALL the cleaning, we no longer employ cleaners. Where I work, CSE's are now responsible for cleaning the entire area. Day staff have the responsibility of cleaning residents rooms and bathroom. Evening staff have the responsibility of cleaning all the lounges, dining rooms, common toilet, kitchen, staff office and laundry. Night staff must clean all the linking walkways, main staff room and toilets, and a huge activities area. We, of course, still have to do all the personal care, including showers, bed making, serving of food , washing up and setting tables, removal of rubbish, soiled laundry, etc, and documentation. I mentioned that not only is this an onerous workload, but it was suggested that cleaning could be done between 7pm and 8.30pm, the very time we are giving out supper and preparing residents for bed. This just proves that this cleaning program was written up by someone who has no idea what goes on during the shift. It was suggested we could be taught 'time management skills' if we felt we needed it!!!

I am told this is common, across the board, EVERYONE does it!! Is this so? I have spoken with various people who work at different facilities in my area, and they say 'no'. They keep the residents rooms tidy, remove rubbish, do basic OH&S cleaning in the form of spills, incontinent episodes, but categorically state that there are cleaners employed to do the major cleaning as depicted above. Feedback from people working in other facilities would be appreciated, I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.

[paulinek]

Hi All, With regards to my previous post (above), I would truely appreciate it if any PCW's, CSE"s, whatever moniker they give you, could please let me know if their 'multi skilling' includes all the cleaning, and I mean ALL the cleaning, we no longer employ cleaners. Where I work, CSE's are now responsible for cleaning the entire area. Day staff have the responsibility of cleaning residents rooms and bathroom. Evening staff have the responsibility of cleaning all the lounges, dining rooms, common toilet, kitchen, staff office and laundry. Night staff must clean all the linking walkways, main staff room and toilets, and a huge activities area. We, of course, still have to do all the personal care, including showers, bed making, serving of food , washing up and setting tables, removal of rubbish, soiled laundry, etc, and documentation. I mentioned that not only is this an onerous workload, but it was suggested that cleaning could be done between 7pm and 8.30pm, the very time we are giving out supper and preparing residents for bed. This just proves that this cleaning program was written up by someone who has no idea what goes on during the shift. It was suggested we could be taught 'time management skills' if we felt we needed it!!!

I am told this is common, across the board, EVERYONE does it!! Is this so? I have spoken with various people who work at different facilities in my area, and they say 'no'. They keep the residents rooms tidy, remove rubbish, do basic OH&S cleaning in the form of spills, incontinent episodes, but categorically state that there are cleaners employed to do the major cleaning as depicted above. Feedback from people working in other facilities would be appreciated, I look forward to hearing from you. Thank you.

Snappo - that is so bad!! I can't believe that already overworked staff would be expected to clean as well! At my mum's nursing home there is a lovely cleaner there every day working away. She is hard working but even with that, my mum's room will only be cleaned once a week - if that. I wipe down her over the bed table all the time as it is usually dirty or sticky. Often, I clean the floor with cloths I have specifically for that and take home and wash them. I clean the windowsill and surfaces as the dust annoys my mum. When there was a gastro outbreak - with three rounds and lock down of the nursing home - no extra cleaning or disinfecting was done until after it was over. Poor hygiene all around and the sad part is the amount of suffering that the elderly endured throughout this time. Cleaning is a really important function in a nursing home. It should not be left to staff who already cannot possibly manage the amount of work the administrators of nursing homes expect from them.

[Snappo]

Well, it is now 7 months down the track from my original post. Apparently, not only were staff not happy, but neither were the residents and their families. Many, many complaints were put into various government departments about the lack of hygiene. This was bound to happen as the staff were simply unable to maintain the level of work management expected of them. I could tell you lots of stories, but the end result is that we no longer clean!! We failed accreditation (No? Really?), and are only now getting out of the woods. Due to the fraccas of the cleaning debacle, accreditation went through the place like a dose of salts, the result was, we failed in many areas because we were unable to maintain the level of care, cleanliness, documentation, etc., hey, we are PEOPLE, not machines. Cleaners were reinstated, allowing the carers to get on with what they do best...caring!! Under the guidance of a new, committed, experienced and sympathetic management, we are now getting back to the facility we once were proud of. Unfortunately, we still have some of the staff who were employed during that horrendous time, simply because they would clean, no qualifications, training, or understanding, of many of the aspects of aged care, but they are slowly, but surely, being weeded out. Those who found they actually enjoyed aged care are now doing their Certificate III. It's been an amazing journey, watching a great facility being reduced to what ammounted to a slum, then to see it picking up again. I am actually proud to be a part of the process and wouldn't want to work anywhere else. As I have stated before, a facility is only as good as it's management.

[paulinek]

Hi Snappo,

That is a good outcome. I am so glad the facility actually failed accreditation - there is hope that they actually do there job occasionally. The tragedy is the amount of suffering that your facility put their staff and residents through by their cost cutting. I am grateful that there are carers like you in the system. It's the only thing that gives me hope. Thank you

[Snappo]

Thanks, Pauline. I love my job, and I'm now in a position where I can monitor staff and keep a watch over the residents. But I think the biggest motivating factor is that I am also getting on in age, and the care I saw dished out is not the sort of care I would like to be the recipient of. It's the old adage, do unto others as you would have them do unto you. I am a very laid back, easy going person, but do the wrong thing by our residents and I can be ferocious. They have a RIGHT to be well cared for, they PAY for it, and after a life well lived, they DESERVE it. The oldies ROCK, I love them.