Care homes and choosing the right one (Care Home)

Member Name: ashton08

Product:	Care Home
Date:	04/10/08 (117 review reads)
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---INTRODUCTION---


There are 2 main types of care homes. Residential care homes and Nursing care homes with many homes offering different services. Some specialising in specific illnesses/disablities. They can be run by councils, private owners or charities and although homes and services vary, they all have to be regulated and regularly inspected by government offshoot, CSCI.



---RESIDENTIAL CARE HOMES---


Many residential care homes have a 'speciality', ranging from dementia/alzheimers disease to old age only.

Things that you can expect from residential care homes are;

-Meals and accommodation
-Help with personal care
-Staff available 24 hours a day
-Physical and emotional care
-Care through short illnesses



---NURSING HOMES---


Nursing homes are for people with a disability or illness that means they need nursing care on a frequent basis. A registered nurse is on duty 24 hours a day.

Nursing homes offer the same as a residential care home as well as care for more complex conditions and terminal illnesses.



---COMMISION FOR SOCIAL CARE SERVICES---


CSCI regulate and inspect all care homes, to ensure the service users are looked after in a safe and caring environment. They help improve standards of social care and stamp out bad practice.

All care homes recieve quality ratings of excellent, good, adequate and poor.

The CSCI are an important organisation and very useful in choosing the right care home. Their website offers advice on using care services and has a list of all registered care homes, also showing their 'speciality'.



---MY EXPERIENCE---


I have worked in 'care' for almost 8 years now. I started when I was 16 and about to leave school, originally a way to earn extra money whilst I studied at college. I soon started to enjoy it and the satifaction I gained from helping people. The regulations have now changed, meaning nobody under the age of 18 can administer personal care. Although I understand that an elderly person may feel uncomfortable having assistance from a young person, it does mean that fewer people are choosing this as a career and an already short staffed profession is suffering further. Add to this the huge amount of paperwork

I have worked in 2 residential care homes, the first for 4 years where I gained an NVQ level 3 enabling me to be a 'Senior', administering medication and supervising other staff members. The home I worked in was registered for 19 and was a mix of dementia (EMI), physical disalbilties and old age. I enjoyed the variety of residents and each day was never the same.

The home I work in now is registered for 14, specialising in EMI only. I have worked here for nearly 4 years and although it is harder in repects of the residents, I enjoy the challege of looking after them. The people I look after can be aggressive, I have finished work on many occasions with bruises, cuts etc but I still love my job.

Looking after people that have so many amazing stories, with many that fought in wars for our country is a pleasure. There is no greater honour than caring for people in their last moments/days/months/years and giving them the best quality of life you can.

The people I work with are just as passionate about the job as I am. There are fantastic care homes out there, but sadly the only ones you hear about happen to be bad. These really are in the minority.


---Extra Information---


For more information on care homes visit;
www.direct.gov.uk/en/HealthAndWellBeing/HealthServ ices/CareHomes/index.htm

or CSCI

www.csci.org.uk

Summary: Lots of choices so there will always be the right one