Are you considering a career in care? Are worried because you have never worked in care before?
Are you looking for a role which has meaning and provides you with a sense of satisfaction and achievement? Oakland Care could be your next step towards that goal. If you have a genuine desire to care for people, then an exciting career in care could be just around the corner.
Whatever your career aspirations, we will provide you with on the job learning and ongoing support to achieve them.
Do I need any qualifications or care certificates?
You don’t need any specific experience to become a Health Care Assistant with Oakland Care. All we ask is that you are passionate about caring for people with a desire to make a genuine difference to the lives of others, have lots of common sense and want to work for a values based company. We offer a full induction to the company and how we work, a buddy scheme and ongoing learning and development to help get you off to a great start.
What is expected from a Carer at Oakland Care?
To become a Health Care Assistant (HCA) at Oakland Care, there are a few things that we expect from you:
Flexibility
As a HCA, there may be times when you will be required to look after a resident at a moment’s notice. Daily routines are often unpredictable, and so we want team members who are prepared to be flexible. You will have freedom and autonomy in your work and our shifts have the potential to provide you with more free time than a regular 9-5 job would!
A good listener
One of the most important things to us at Oakland Care is that our residents always feel listened to and are treated with dignity and respect. You will be required to listen to our resident’s requirements and work hard to meet those requirements. This level of communication and attentiveness is especially important when it comes to delivering person centred care.
Infection Prevention and Control
- As a HCA at Oakland Care, you are responsible for infection prevention and control. You must make sure that a clean and safe environment is maintained, especially as our residents are at the time in their lives when they are more susceptible to infections and viruses. This includes following procedures that have been set out for this purpose, all of which is explained as part of the training you will receive when you work with us.
- We have shower and locker facilities in our homes and provide our carers with uniforms that can be washed at high temperatures to remove the majority of viruses or bacteria that may be present. We also offer a laundry service so that team members do not travel to or from work wearing their uniforms. Our priority is to keep our team and our residents as safe as practicable.
Respect
Working with our residents means you will support all elements of personal care which has the potential to cause embarrassment for the resident if not done correctly, therefore as a HCA at Oakland Care, it is our expectation that you must be able to manage these situations in a way that is calm, respectful and professional. You will receive training on how to manage these situations.
What does a Health Care Assistant do on a daily basis at Oakland Care?
Your day-to-day responsibilities will depend on the resident you are caring for and their specific or immediate needs. We believe in giving person centred care and an important part of this is the resident’s care plan which has been written either by the resident or by someone close to them. As such on a daily basis, you will be required to check the care plan of each resident and support them in line with this. In addition, we recognise that our residents may have goals they want to achieve and we support them to achieve these. This could be taking a walk in our beautiful gardens, or having a shopping trip organised. But most importantly, a HCA’s main role at Oakland Care is becoming a friend and advocate and providing companionship and support to our residents and those people important to them including pets.
What to wear for training as a carer?
We recommend that you wear comfortable clothing that allows freedom of movement when attending training as our training sessions often include practical exercises involving getting on the floor to learn the correct procedures for moving and handling residents for example.
Building trust with Residents.
- Our dress code is in place to build trust with our residents and the people important in their lives and enables them to identify who is looking after them. Our team members are proud to represent the quality care that Oakland Care are synonymous with.
- Interacting with residents and respecting their preferences will help to build trust.
Comfortable footwear.
- Comfortable footwear is a must as you will often be on your feet for many hours of the day. Shoes must also be sturdy and with a closed toe, to avoid any trip hazards or injuries, particularly when working with residents who use wheelchairs or mobility devices..
Jewellery, nail varnish, hair.
- Only a few items of jewellery can be worn when working in a care home. Necklaces, chains and loop earring could be caught up in equipment or accidentally pulled and this may result in injury to the HCA or the resident.
- For similar reasons and from an infection prevention and control perspective, hair must be tied back and off the collar.
- Nail varnish, gel nails etc are also not permitted for similar reasons.
Fun and laughter and job satisfaction
Fun and laughter are allowed and expected! The role of a HCA can be challenging and is often a lot of hard work but our care team always have fun – look at our social media pages for evidence.
We also pay you above the real living wage.
At the end of a working day how many of your mates come home from work and say “I made somebody’s day better today” or “I made somebody smile today” or “I helped somebody walk again today” YOU WILL and that feeling is priceless.