During the first week of 2020 we welcomed a new domiciliary carer to the Access Care office in Hampshire to register with us. She explained that this is a new career for her as she had reached retirement age and decided that becoming a home carer would bring together all her favourite things:
Caring for people who needed & would greatly benefit from her working in their homes
Doing lovely everyday jobs around the house
Cooking nutritious meals
Completing chores and tasks which help make life at home just that little bit sweeter!
Previously this lady has been a nurse in a big hospital and could transfer those skills to benefit clients who require help to support them to live at home in their own familiar and dear surroundings. What a win-win situation!
Maybe you are considering changing your career too, to give full-time 24/7 care to those recuperating from illness and surgery, mobility needs and complex care needs, as well as for the elderly, frail, and vulnerable at home where they deserve to be. It is easy to forget that each person has an amazing life story to tell and to be cared for with dignity and affection.
I recall this wonderful story I once saw: when an old man died in the geriatric ward of a nursing home in an Australian country town, it was believed that he had nothing left of any value. Later, when the nurses were going through his meagre possessions, they found this poem. Its quality and content so impressed the staff that copies were made and distributed to every nurse in the hospital. One nurse took her copy to Melbourne. The old man's sole bequest to posterity has since appeared in the Christmas editions of magazines around the country and appears in magazines for Mental Health. And this old man, with nothing left to give to the world, is now the author of this 'anonymous' poem, winging across the Internet.
Cranky Old Man
"What do you see nurses?... What do you see? What are you thinking... when you're looking at me? A cranky old man... .not very wise, Uncertain of habit... with faraway eyes? Who dribbles his food... and makes no reply. When you say in a loud voice... 'I do wish you'd try!' Who seems not to notice... the things that you do. And forever is losing... A sock or shoe? Who, resisting or not... lets you do as you will, With bathing and feeding... The long day to fill? Is that what you're thinking?... Is that what you see? Then open your eyes, nurse - you're not looking at me. I'll tell you who I am... As I sit here so still, As I do at your bidding... as I eat at your will. I'm a small child of Ten... with a father and mother, Brothers and sisters... who love one another A young boy of Sixteen... with wings on his feet Dreaming that soon now... a lover he'll meet. A groom soon at Twenty... my heart gives a leap. Remembering, the vows... that I promised to keep. At Twenty-Five, now... I have young of my own. Who need me to guide... And a secure happy home. A man of Thirty... My young now grown fast, Bound to each other... With ties that should last. At Forty, my young sons... have grown and are gone, But my woman is beside me... to see I don't mourn. At Fifty, once more... Babies play 'round my knee, Again, we know children... My loved one and me. Dark days are upon me... My wife is now dead. I look at the future... I shudder with dread. For my young are all rearing... young of their own. And I think of the years... And the love that I've known. I'm now an old man... and nature is cruel. It's jest to make old age... look like a fool. The body, it crumbles... grace and vigour, depart. There is now a stone... where I once had a heart. But inside this old carcass... A young man still dwells, And now and again... my battered heart swells I remember the joys... I remember the pain. And I'm loving and living... life over again. I think of the years, all too few... gone too fast. And accept the stark fact... that nothing can last. So open your eyes, people... open and see. Not a cranky old man. Look closer. See - ME!!"
So many life stories are remarkable and honouring those lives by being a living in carer is a great and noble calling.
There are of course many benefits for you in becoming a carer. We believe strongly in the choice of being a self-employed home carer so you are free to choose your own patterns of working and the type of client you feel best suited to – we make a point of letting you choose who and when and work hard to match you with your perfect client. You choose how much you want to earn and we can give you guidance on that and all things connected, including documents you need and insurance. We ensure you are ready and trained and continue to offer you support and guidance in your work, if wanted.
The work you do as a live in carer is invaluable and more and more in demand in this modern world of ours – so go ahead and welcome 2020 with a new career in caring! Get in touch and we will guide and support you through the process from first phone call, registering, training (if needed) and through all your bookings with us. We will recognise your loyalty and hard work too.
Call Emma on 01264 319 393 or email Emma@access-care.co.uk