Hi all. I am at a crossroads with what to do with my working life. I've been a pharmacy assistant for 20 years and recently left to try my hand at medical administration, but quickly found it wasn't for me and am now at at a loss. I enjoy customer based work and helping people as this was a big part of my pharmacy work. I am starting to consider work as an In Home Support Worker. Does anyone do this role? Are there roles out there that you can start off in without needing a certificate? As I'm not sure I'm ready to look at study at this point in my life. Does anyone work for or know someone who works for ECH as they are currently advertising. I'm wanting something part time to give me time for my family and the business hubby runs and I help with. Any advice or insight would be much appreciated for this confused and feeling very lost Mumma.
2 Replies
I am also a pharmacy assistant of 10 years but have had a break to have children. I really wanted a change from pharmacy and really wanted to work part time school hours, so I applied to do domestic work for an aged care provider. I do general housework such as cleaning toilets, bathrooms and vacuuming/mopping. But I can also go shopping for client’s, prep meals and have a cuppa with them. I didn’t need any certificates for this. My employer also offered me a chance to study for a certification so I can become a support worker and help client’s with showering, dressing, medication etc.
I’m really enjoying my job. I’m meeting some lovely people in my community and I love helping people. That was also my favourite thing about working in pharmacy.
The housework isn’t all that fun but at least I have a job and am working towards a certificate now. 🙂
I do in home care and there are some places that accept people without certification. These are level 1 positions and a very low pay rate but to be fair level 2 isn’t that much better.
A lot of the time you’re doing DA services (so domestic work such as cleaning) it can make for a long day if the time between clients is quick. The only thing I don’t like is the amount of KM you may do if your chosen organisation is not good with scheduling.
At times I’m travelling to my first service some 32km away from home which isn’t paid for, and I don’t have a company car. Then I’ll do a 2 hour service, travel 11km and potentially have a wait of 1-2hrs before starting that second service. I’m not paid to wait 2 hours between services but I am usually paid the 11km but that’s only .90c for me per KM.
All the bad stuff aside I have found some beautiful humans I support and care for. This can be hard if you’ve seen them for ages and they pass away though. I’ve lost 2 amazing clients this year and my 3rd is palliative. Our company policy is disheartening as we aren’t allowed to attend funeral 😫 you have to accept you might never get a chance to say goodbye to someone that you cared for and provided support.