Meet the team, Senior Carer Kim

I’m semi-retired and moved down from Buckinghamshire to Clacton. I had six months off work but I was so bored! I started looking for a job and when I saw this role at a Christian home it was a done deal for me.

I did a lot of research about the organisation and read up about the managers online. It all sounded very positive.

When I came to the home for an interview I thought it there was a lovely feel about the place. I was made to feel very welcome. The home even has a cat, Fred, which I thought was a good sign.

I started my career working with people with learning disabilities. I then moved into mental health. When I was made redundant, I moved into care for older people. I’m a people person and I also like to be hands-on so care is perfect for me.

As a team, we have strong leadership. Our managers, Timothy and Sharon, are very supportive. Their door is always open if you want a chat.

Being a senior carer is a busy job. No two days are the same. I need to be able to multi-task and wear many different hats.

In care, the individual always comes first. We’re in the process of training our staff in The Way We Care (Pilgrims’ Friend Society’s bespoke approach to care). As part of this training we’re learning about the GEMS approach to dementia care. Wherever a person is on the dementia journey, they are viewed as a precious jewel. This has really helped our staff to understand dementia.

We invest a lot in our staff because we want them to stay. As part of the life of our home, we have regular team meetings. Everyone has a thorough induction and then there are regular supervision meetings so they know how to develop.

There are a lot of difficult moments in this job. One the family members I was close to passed away recently. It was very emotional phoning up his family to tell them he’d passed.

There are lots of rewarding times too. For example, there’s a gent who lives upstairs. Sometimes I’ll go and ask if he wants to read the Bible. If he says” no” I tell him I’ll come back in a bit. Then when I go back he’ll say, “Come on then” and we’ll read the Bible together and I’ll say a prayer. I notice there’s a bit of an uplift in him afterwards.

Every Sunday evening we have a church service, which I love. Even if a family member can’t join in with everything, they are people watching and interacting with others so they don’t feel lonely and isolated.