Working as a care worker in a care home can be rewarding. Getting to know your patients and their families, helping them to live their life to the full leaves you with a great feeling. But when you no longer feel like you are making a difference or have grown tired of the same routine, maybe it’s time to move to pastures new.
1 When there are limited or no professional development opportunities
Some care homes provide a schedule of training for their care workers, improving and building on the skillset of their staff so that residents and patients are provided with the best quality service.
Inevitably, this schedule of training and development will be guided by two things: what the care sector regulations say they have to provide and what they the care home management want to be able to provide their residents. If your care career and your own desires for professional development are not being met, you can feel stuck and unchallenged.
2 It’s unsustainable
There comes a time when the routine and shift pattern you have ‘always done’ or are always expected to do becomes unsustainable. For example, if the care home staffing rota seems to be in the perpetual state of being understaffed, you will always be asked to do more in terms of shifts and hours. This isn’t something you can or want to sustain.
There is also the issue of pay to consider too. Anyone seeking their fortune in care work will be sorely disappointed but low-levels of pay is not something that you can sustain either. There are care work paths that do pay well, such as live-in care work work that is also rewarding in terms of the difference it makes to the lives of the person you live with and care for. Why not find out more here ?
3 Something better comes along
There is a saying that once you are in a role, you should be looking for your next. Today’s generation of workers isno longer prepared to stay in the same role for decades. As a care worker in a care home, there is nothing to say that you too cannot keep looking for a new role in care work that provides new challenges and opportunities for you.
When it comes to the care sector, it is not only one of the most diverse industries but also one of the most fast-paced too. The way we offer care to people is changing because it has to. The care that older people want is changing because they want as many different care options as possible.
What this means is that there has never been a better time to work in a care setting but that doesn’t mean staying at a care home. Is it time you moved to pastures new?
