Inspired by buzzfeed and my experiences, I thought I'd write about what it's been like to be a domiciliary care worker for individuals with physical or mental disabilities for the past half year of my life. The people I work with are able enough to live on their own, with hours of outside support to help them with practical home things and personal care. The way Domiciliary care works is that each individual has a certain number of hours of care each day, usually a few hours in the morning, sometimes during the day and then a few hours at night- Some weeks I have consistent back to back 10+ hour days, other days I only technically work for 4 hours but I have 6 hours free in the middle of the day. The free time is useful to get jobs at home done however there's never time to relax as I'm always looking at the clock and waiting until I have to go back out to work again. I've not had a week where I haven't done over time. I realistically only get 2 full days off a month. I also work alone, which I love because I prefer 1-1 time with people so that I can really get to know them.
My job role is to go to individual's (aka 'service user's') houses (where they live alone or with a partner) and help them with shopping, cooking, cleaning, finances, personal hygiene, hospital appointments etc. However what it's really included is: burying and buying a budgie, playing endless games of pool, DIY, going on day trips, driving 300 miles per week, crying with service users and their heart breaking stories, laughing hard, sometimes leaving the house at 7am and not returning until 10pm. I've learned how to dismantle a wheelchair in 30 seconds, how to transfer birds from one cage to another and how to multitask giving a someone a shower, making a full roast dinner, giving medication and deep cleaning within an hour. I've also had horrendous days where I've burst out crying from things said and done towards me. But then again all jobs have those kinda days.
I've learned so much about myself from this job, it's been restorative and encouraging. Being the number 1 carer in peoples lives is a beautiful job, it's humbling and it's scary- i feel like i can barely look after myself let alone be responsible for another person! Despite my doubts, I've grown emotionally and mentally stronger. I have grown in character- when the going gets tough the tough get going! I'm learning tough love, how to say no and how to help others achieve their potential. One of the best bits of this job is to see someone be able to do something they've never done before. Whether that means learning how to cook, how to write or count money correctly. One thing God taught me early on is to do all things in this job with excellence, to the most that I can do. Often that extra work would go unnoticed but it's a important work ethic quality that I've learned and am thankful for. I've also learned that I'm human and I make mistakes and I don't have to do everything perfectly in this job, mostly because thats impossible. And thats ok.
The Lord's grace has been all over this job- I've learned so much from the people I've worked with. God has done deep healing work in me through being able to care for people. The majority of the time I've come home, exhausted but satisfied knowing that I have the best job in the world.
I'd recommend this job to anyone- its so much fun! It grows you as a person, challenges you and exposes parts of your character that need to be dealt with. It's expanded my world view and helped me to look outside of myself. I will be forever grateful. :)
My job role is to go to individual's (aka 'service user's') houses (where they live alone or with a partner) and help them with shopping, cooking, cleaning, finances, personal hygiene, hospital appointments etc. However what it's really included is: burying and buying a budgie, playing endless games of pool, DIY, going on day trips, driving 300 miles per week, crying with service users and their heart breaking stories, laughing hard, sometimes leaving the house at 7am and not returning until 10pm. I've learned how to dismantle a wheelchair in 30 seconds, how to transfer birds from one cage to another and how to multitask giving a someone a shower, making a full roast dinner, giving medication and deep cleaning within an hour. I've also had horrendous days where I've burst out crying from things said and done towards me. But then again all jobs have those kinda days.
me after work often
I've learned so much about myself from this job, it's been restorative and encouraging. Being the number 1 carer in peoples lives is a beautiful job, it's humbling and it's scary- i feel like i can barely look after myself let alone be responsible for another person! Despite my doubts, I've grown emotionally and mentally stronger. I have grown in character- when the going gets tough the tough get going! I'm learning tough love, how to say no and how to help others achieve their potential. One of the best bits of this job is to see someone be able to do something they've never done before. Whether that means learning how to cook, how to write or count money correctly. One thing God taught me early on is to do all things in this job with excellence, to the most that I can do. Often that extra work would go unnoticed but it's a important work ethic quality that I've learned and am thankful for. I've also learned that I'm human and I make mistakes and I don't have to do everything perfectly in this job, mostly because thats impossible. And thats ok.
The Lord's grace has been all over this job- I've learned so much from the people I've worked with. God has done deep healing work in me through being able to care for people. The majority of the time I've come home, exhausted but satisfied knowing that I have the best job in the world.
I'd recommend this job to anyone- its so much fun! It grows you as a person, challenges you and exposes parts of your character that need to be dealt with. It's expanded my world view and helped me to look outside of myself. I will be forever grateful. :)
Wow, it all sounds pretty amazing, well done. :)
ReplyDeleteWhat a great post! Well done.
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