I did a little in care before going to uni to train as a nurse a few years ago. I think it all depends on where you work. I worked in EMI (elderly, mentally infirm - the residents mostly had dementia). At 18 years of age, with no experience, it scared the hell out of me. We were understaffed, in an inappropriate setting and I didn't really understand the residents' needs. It was horrible.
A friend works in another residential home, not EMI. It is in beautiful settings in the country. When she started there, it was good. The residents didn't need a lot, so they were well staffed. They had outings and nice activities taking place within the home for the residents. Now, though, it is not as nice there. The residents have become more needy, a number of them bed bound - they way she describes it, some of them really should be in a nursing home or an EMI unit. She sometimes does evening shifts, which involves giving out tea, medication, putting to bed, doing laundry, giving out suppers, cleaning and writing in the care plans. She also has to phone ambulances or the out of hours doctor if needed and phone families if there are any problems.
The other option is a nursing home - I have no experience of working in one of these. But, it means that you don't have to worry about medication, or if something happens, like a fall, then it would be up to the nurse to take charge.
Finally, there is home care. Some of my friends did this the first time I was at uni. They had a lot more flexibility in when they worked. Evenings would involved going to someone's house, making dinner for them and putting them to bed. Sometimes, you would be on your own, other times, you would meet someone else there, depending on the person's needs.
You are supposed to promote independence and maintain the person's dignity at all times. Even when I was working in a care home, completely inexperienced, I tried to do this, I would try and encourage the person to do what they could for themselves, but then the manager/senior would moan as it inevitably took longer than if I just went in and did it for them. I find that difficult. As a nurse on a busy acute unit, I would encourage people to be as independent as possible - we had one HCA who would be like 'no, this is not a rehab unit,' and I would refuse to let her do everything for the patient.
Some aspects I enjoyed, like being able to sit and chat in the afternoons to them, or get them doing little activities. My friend takes her dog in sometimes, and they love that. But then, there is the side where people will die or become ill or have to transfer to somewhere else. I also wasn't prepared for working in an EMI home. I thought they would be forgetful and that was it, but I really didn't understand the disease process. Yes, they were generally forgetful, but they could remember some things, their memory and abilities fluctuated, sometimes they would be aggressive and other times they could be difficult to reason with. Compared to the hospital, the home was poorly equipped, such as with manual handling equipment, and a lot of practises were out of date.
Have you considered looking at working within the NHS?
www.jobs.nhs.uk and seeing if you can find HCA jobs there. If you did bank work (as and when needed basis) you would be able to pick and choose your shifts.
