Do you want to work in an industry where every day or shift is different? Where you get to work with people and can make a real difference in their lives? …then working in Aged Care maybe for you!  And Aged Care is a job with a future…With the evolution of modern medicine, and better health care, we are living & ageing longer, so there will always be plenty of employment for good care support workers & qualified Nursing personal.

If I had to pick the most important thing that we do, I would say it was listening. Some times the best medicine is just to take the time to sit beside someone and really listen, maybe even hold their hand and let them know they’re not alone.

Most people also don’t realise that those of us who are nurses or work as Care Support Workers are so much more…Most of us are wives, mothers, sisters, teachers, waitresses, chauffeurs, laundry personnel, house-keepers, etc. There isn’t much we don’t do.

If you are still reading this then maybe you should think about training in Aged or Community Care.

You can start by gaining you Certificate III in Aged Care, later if you feel you still want to learn more this opens up a whole world of possibilities for you.

You can go on to do further certificates like Cert IV in Allied Health, working as an OTA (Occupational Therapy Assistant) or PTA (Physiotherapy Therapy Assistant), or maybe you want to go on & study your Nursing at TAFE, becoming an Enrolled Nurse or attend University to become a Registered Nurse. You may decide to study Naturopathy or other holistic medicine courses. Life is what you make of it.

And yes, there are days I am exhausted from taking care of everyone else all the time, feeling that I never have anytime for myself. Then I look at my family, friends, and the people I work with, including my residents, then I remember why I get up every morning to do it all again. As a Care Worker It is a great privilege to walk with a person on their journey we call life.

Ann Barber

Enrolled Nurse, Trainer /Assessor

June 2014