Q: What does your job involve?
A: My job involves assisting with any personal care, spending time with residents, supporting them with appointments and trips, and going together to the cafe for a little bit of socialising. Overall, I assist with any general things they might need help with. For example, I make sure everybody has had their lunch, breakfast, dinner. Most importantly, I ensure that the residents I care for are happy and content.
Q: How do you do that?
A: By spending time with residents and looking out for their needs. If someone is upset, then I’ll sit down with them in a quiet room and have a chat. Sometimes somebody can be unhappy because it’s the anniversary of a loved one who passed away, but by chatting together, you can remind them of all the happy times they enjoyed and help them to be calmer and more at ease. I love learning about residents’ personal histories – what they did in their lives – and, actually, I’ve learned quite a lot from them myself.
Q: What do you like about Cramond?
A: I like the feeling of community as soon as you walk through the door. In some other places I’ve worked everything is very regimented and has run to a strict schedule and you’re expected to do 30 different things. At Cramond, everything much calmer and focused on the needs of the residents. For example, residents get up in the morning when they wish to. This means you can focus on your job, which is to make the residents as happy and independent as possible. At Cramond, it’s all about giving the residents choices.
I also like the fact that there are so many different activities in the day for the residents to enjoy. We also have specific staff to help with pretty much every duty – be it laundry, cleaning, etc. This means that we careers can spend quality time with the residents, and really get to know them. Because of this, the quality of care we give is enhanced – we can tell when there’s a problem or something that needs to be checked out.
Q: What did you do before you came to Cramond?
A: I have many years of experience working in care. In my last job I was a care coordinator for a company providing community care. I scheduled all the calls and assisted my careers if they had any problems. But my role was quite administrative, and I missed the caring part. I actually heard about Cramond through my last care job – one lady I was looking after spoke very highly of the time she was here – and I thought I should check it out.
Q: Is Cramond a good place to work?
A: When I first arrived at Cramond, I knew it had high standards. The Cramond team made me feel relaxed from the word go. Nothing was too much trouble and I was told that if I had any questions, I should just ask. I like the fact that everyone helps each other and we all pitch in, and I think this helps to enhance the feeling of community as well.
Q: Would you recommend Cramond Residence?
A: I would definitely recommend it. The location is really good, as it’s just on the outskirts of the city. The care here is phenomenal and I’d be happy to bring one of my own family members here if they required care. You only have to look at the care rating that Cramond has to be impressed.
Q: What do you do outside of work?
A: I look after my cats and enjoy going out with friends, chilling out, watching TV, the usual! I also do some charity work and I am studying for a business degree through the Open University. I’m hoping to advance my career in Cramond and just want to see how far I can go.