Day in the life of a Care worker

Today we bring you a new guest blog from one of our Apprenticeship Ambassadors Steven Isaac where he talks about life working in Care.

Hi, my name is Steven and I’m a Care/ Support Worker. I have recently completed my Level 2 apprenticeship in Adult Care with Paragon Skills, completing it with an outstanding distinction in all areas. Today I am going to give you an insight into what life is like as a care worker. 

Some people say that care work is a hard job and that they would struggle and find it mentally and physically draining. BUT IT’S NOT…. 

Every day is different. You have good days and bad days, but at the end of the day, I finish with a smile knowing that I have assisted an individual to carry out something they may struggle to do alone. Even if it’s just a chat or help with domestic / personal care, it’s a goal they can feel they’ve achieved success. 

Within care I am expected to be available 7am till 10pm, this is only on days I am available to work, this includes at least two days a week being late finishes and every other weekend available to work. 

Weekdays 

My day starts at 5:30am in the morning. I get up, have breakfast and a nice cup of coffee to wake myself up. I have a wash and get myself ready for my day. I have a fresh sense of mind that whatever the day brings it will help improve my self-learning. 

Then, at 6:30 I start cycling to my first call which starts at 7am. This lasts for 2 hours. After that call, I then either have “single” calls to do which is basically where only myself is required to support the client or a “doubles” call which requires myself and a colleague to support an individual. 

Normally around 11am or 12pm I will then have a lunch break; in this time, I reflect on how my morning has been and refresh my mind for the afternoon/ evening shift. This starts at 14:30 (2:30pm) and normally finishes at 21:00 (9pm) but sometimes when overtime is picked up, I can finish at 22:00 (10pm). 

After I finish my day at work, I go home and reflect on how my whole day has been, sit down and have dinner with my partner/family sometimes. 

Weekends 

On the weekend I normally work a 12 hour shift; 9am till 9pm both days so normally I get a lay in till 7am. I then repeat the same process as during the week – coffee, breakfast and wash and start the day with a fresh sense of mind, because both these days I work with one client as a “Doubles” call because the individuals care plan requires them to have 2-1 24hrs per day 7 days a week. 

Care is not as scary as people think because when you go in to care for some elderly individuals, they talk about history i.e. wars, spectacular moments/ goals in their life and it’s those moments that people like me in care treasure. I like to hear about them, but it also builds a professional bond between myself and the client as they know they can talk about all these moments, and they are being listened to. 

When I’m not working, I spend as much time with my family as I can because this is the time to reflect on the weeks work and remember that every day is a new day, and no one can predict what will happen. 

One thing as a care worker that is always said, is to keep personal life outside of work life and to remain professional throughout work. No matter the circumstances, if you are having a bad day and need to speak to someone, always go to a professional or manager/ supervisor. Whoever you feel best to speak to and don’t bring it into your work life.  

The positive side to working as a care worker is you know that you are going to make someone’s life a bit easier, because there may be daily tasks they want to do but can’t do themselves, so your positive attitude to the job will have a positive effect on the clients. 

A positive thing that I get from working as a care worker is every day, I am learning new things and different ways. General daily house tasks are carried out by the clients because everyone is different, I also find that going out and helping others takes my mind out of things and has a positive effect on myself knowing someone else is happy. 

Since I started working in care, from October 2021 my knowledge wasn’t great and as a typical teenager/ adult, I didn’t really see that eventually, tasks can be really difficult as you get older. Then when I started working as a care worker and started my apprenticeship, compassion and empathy were the 2 words that stuck in my mind because I had empathy and compassion for my clients. Also, my knowledge in general throughout the apprenticeship is much better. 

As I stated above, I love to hear about the history from when I was younger and when my parents were children because some of my clients are of that age, also I learn about how things have changed from then, compared to now. One of my clients likes to talk all about when he used to ride a bicycle and used to race around my local area and how now, the younger generations don’t. 

Care work can be difficult but at the same time very rewarding.