Our Senior Healthcare Assistants

We have a team of Healthcare Assistants and Senior Healthcare Assistants at the Manor House whose role is exactly as the job title suggests – to care.  This care covers everything from assisting with washing and dressing, assisting residents in moving around the home, nutrition including meals, drinks and snacks including keeping a comprehensive log of every resident’s consumption, as well as spending time with the residents supporting the activities team, chatting with them, sharing stories and anecdotes, singing and dancing and ensuring their happiness and comfort within the home.

We chatted to two of our Senior Healthcare Assistants to find out a little bit more…

Sarah Evans has worked in care for 27years, having worked with elderly people as a youngster, after her children were grown up, she returned to care and hasn’t looked back.  Sarah has worked at several nursing homes in Stafford and joined the Manor House 3 years ago as a Care Assistant on the Mental Health Unit.  Sarah has recently been promoted and works on the General Nursing Unit.

Sarah says, “I love looking after people.  The people here have in the most part lived a long life and done everything for others or perhaps raised a family, now it is their turn to be looked after and I find it a privilege to spend this time of someone’s life with them.   It’s the last and most important thing you can do for someone, and I find it an honour to spend this time with our residents.”

Diane Wright has nearly 40 years’ experience as a carer. Like Sarah she has worked in a number of care and nursing homes across Staffordshire and has been with the Manor House for over 15 years.  Diane works on the Mental Health Unit.

Diane says, “doing this job brings a reward that comes from the heart.  It’s the kind of job I would do as a volunteer if I could, getting to know our residents and care for them in their hour of need is incredible fulfilling.  Also, at the Manor House I feel incredibly supported, we are one family, and this is everything from the comprehensive training to the equipment, for example we all receive manual handling training, and, every room has a hoist we are all trained to use meaning we can move residents in a way that is safe for both them and us.”

Diane and Sarah are both currently undergoing their Level 5 training to become nursing assistants as part of the Manor House’s commitment to ongoing training and development of the team.

If you would like to join the team and discover how rewarding a career in care can be we’d love to hear from you.  Our latest vacancies can be found here.

Read about Bertha and find out about working life for our Unit Managers

Bertha joined the Manor House nursing home in 2015 as a registered nurse and has since been promoted to Unit Manager.

Bertha is a highly experienced medical professional, having qualified in 2013 from Buckingham University then working with people with specialist needs such as epilepsy in Slough and as a nurse at the Royal Stoke Hospital.

Bertha says of the Manor House,

it feels like a second home coming to work here, it’s such a lovely team who work together to look after each other and everyone who lives here

Bertha has a very varied role and can be found in all units across the home.  Bertha’s day typically consists of completing a comprehensive handover, checking in on residents, completing medical rounds, reviewing care plans and any health issues that need to be address such as dressings, taking bloods if required, re-stocking medication and auditing medication, and taking the time to sit with residents. Bertha continues,

my role is really varied, the clinical side always comes first and foremost to ensure all of our residents are cared for, but alongside that is the wonderful time we get to spend alongside the Healthcare assistants with the residents that makes this so much more than a job and why it feels like being in my second home, it’s truly rewarding job and I could never imagine being anywhere else.

If you’d like to join our team, find our current vacancies and apply here.

The wellbeing of our team is incredibly important to us which is why as well as launching DanceSing for the team to enjoy with residents, we have also invested in their ‘on Demand’ programme for our staff to use.  Every member of our team now has access to a pool of resources they can enjoy at work or at home with their families.

Angela Sands, Director of Operations said, “we are like a family here, we care deeply about our residents and about each other, therefore it’s essential we look after every single member of our team.  At the staff launch of DanceSing, the smiles across the team, the feeling of togetherness and the energy from the room was palpable; the launch alone demonstrated the impact on someone’s wellbeing this can have.

We will be actively encouraging the team to use the package available to them now.  We’ll seek their feedback throughout the trial and as long as the team find it valuable to them, DanceSing will remain a resource our staff can access on a permanent basis.

Natalie Garry said, “the beauty of DanceSing is it is an inclusive, intergenerational, feel-good wellbeing experience that can be used anytime, anywhere”

Angela added, “We don’t need to run marathons to add physical activity into our lives, and there is a proven link between activity and our overall well-being, our intention is to support our team at work and at home, whenever they need a little boost or as part of a daily routine.  The beauty is this programme offers so much variety so everyone should be able to find something that makes them smile”.

Find out more about working at The Manor House Nursing home here.