Quitting care assistant job after 1 week

milliehaha

Hello, I just feel like I need to get it off my chest. Got a job in a dementia care home and I just hate it. The place absolutely reeks, the rooms are so hot and smell of festering skin, stale wee, poo etc and not once have I seen a residents teeth being brushed so the place absolutely stinks of bad breath too. Never worked in a care home before but need 6 months of experience before applying for my masters. They have put me in for 72 hours for my first week even though I was contracted to 36. I am doing 12 hour night shifts and its already got too much for me. I haven't been given a proper induction, just some slides I have to read online. I woke up yesterday from my day sleep and couldn't physically leave my house to go to my shift so I just didn't go. Unprofessional I know but I am so overwhelmed with everything and already so exhausted. I'm a good worker, have a degree in Sociology and want to do my masters, I don't give up easily but I just don't think I can do the job for the next 6 months. Anyone else been in a similar boat or have any advice for me? I am thinking just leave now and start again and do my masters next year rather than this year and look around for experience more suited to me... or do I give the place another try as all healthcare assistants work in these conditions? I enjoyed the people side of it, the residents I met are so lovely and I really try to be as loving as possible but thinking of it as a whole it is just disgusting. 

elsien

If it’s that bad, report them to CQC. Or the local authority safeguarding team. Or both.
You can do it anonymously - no one deserves to live like that. At least you get to go home after a shift - the residents don’t. 

Not all health care assistants work in those conditions, other places will be better. This one needs to be made better which won’t happen unless someone does something. 

[Deleted User]

In a day or 2 you’ll see you’ve probably done the right thing - trust your gut instinct and best getting out quicker then letting it fester and becoming more emotionally attached in a situation you may struggle to change. I left my last job because I came to wonder if I was of the right emotional calibre and was I in a role/sector for wrong reasons, there was a Moving on episode couple of years back where a once homeless person went to work for a homeless charity thinking they were most experienced to do so but let’s say they ended up leaving after not liking what went on. Try and find a more lenient company who will edge you in slower as care newbie (if you are) or allow you to be part time building up hours so it doesn’t feel over bearing. 

Marcon

milliehaha said:

Hello, I just feel like I need to get it off my chest. Got a job in a dementia care home and I just hate it. The place absolutely reeks, the rooms are so hot and smell of festering skin, stale wee, poo etc and not once have I seen a residents teeth being brushed so the place absolutely stinks of bad breath too. Never worked in a care home before but need 6 months of experience before applying for my masters. They have put me in for 72 hours for my first week even though I was contracted to 36. I am doing 12 hour night shifts and its already got too much for me. I haven't been given a proper induction, just some slides I have to read online. I woke up yesterday from my day sleep and couldn't physically leave my house to go to my shift so I just didn't go. Unprofessional I know but I am so overwhelmed with everything and already so exhausted. I'm a good worker, have a degree in Sociology and want to do my masters, I don't give up easily but I just don't think I can do the job for the next 6 months. Anyone else been in a similar boat or have any advice for me? I am thinking just leave now and start again and do my masters next year rather than this year and look around for experience more suited to me... or do I give the place another try as all healthcare assistants work in these conditions? I enjoyed the people side of it, the residents I met are so lovely and I really try to be as loving as possible but thinking of it as a whole it is just disgusting. 

Sounds ghastly - but you need to keep some emotional distance between yourself and your job. 'Trying to be loving' probably isn't the best idea, whereas 'trying to be professional and caring' might better sum up the sort of approach you need to cultivate, if only to keep yourself sane. 

If you are contracted to work 36 hours and you've not opted out of the maximum 48 working week, you should have firmly rejected a doubling of your hours. Give the place another try, but based on a 36 hour week! 

This isn't the first time in recent years you've had an extreme negative reaction to a new job (https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6077993/hate-my-new-job-and-going-back-to-my-old-dead-end-job/p1), so possibly you do need to try and take a slightly longer view the a week or so.

Diamandis

I will say most care homes do kinda smell of stale wee. I dont think going back will really be your decision if you just didnt turn up for work. You might want to apply to a different care home but if care work isn't for you (and lots of other people couldn't do it to be fair) then what does that mean for your masters? What job roles were you looking at after obtaining a masters? Can you get into these with your current degree and different experience? 

Thrugelmir

milliehaha said:

I'm a good worker, have a degree in Sociology and want to do my masters,

The real world can come as a total shock. Requires a very different skill set. Not everyone is suited to every role. My partner has been involved in child protection for 30 years.  Over time you toughen up. 

MalMonroe

I don't even think it's legal to make people work 72 hours a week, see here:

https://www.gov.uk/maximum-weekly-working-hours

and also here:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/work/rights-at-work/basic-rights-and-contracts/check-how-many-hours-youre-working/

I agree with elsien, please report this 'care' home. Care homes shouldn't 'stink' of anything. Just because people suffer from dementia (which in itself is more than enough for anyone to cope with) it doesn't mean they should be neglected and left to wallow in their own filth.

What Masters degree are you studying? I've never heard of such a thing as having to work for six months in a care home prior to studying. Voluntary work in such places on a part-time basis as preparation, yes but not being employed for 72 hours a week (most people would be half dead at the end of that, working in such a demanding environment.)

But please do report this terrible place, those poor people don't deserve that kind of life, nobody does. And of course none of us knows what our futures hold, we could end up with dementia. And I'm sure none of us would want to end up in a home like that.

billy2shots

Taken on face value then as others have said, things must improve. 

Speaking to your manager is the very first thing to do. If the manager is involved in neglect or ignores your concerns then you should move on to CQC and or the local safeguarding team (who will inform CQC if necessary). 


However that's if your post is taken at face value (no need to dispute that). 
Playing Devils advocate for a minute. 

You are contracted to 36h a week, you are due to do 72h in your first week. You are doing nights. 

So that's 7 nights in a row. 12 hours on 12 hours off. How many shifts have you actually done?
It is possible to have very bad days in care if multiple residents are ill and or staff are off. This could be a one off crisis period and for someone new to this work or who is used to education it could be a massive shock. 

Is the home experiencing a covid outbreak where unfortunately it means all hands to the pump especially if several staff are isolating. I myself have done multiple 72h weeks this year in my care home as we have lost up to 50% of staff on occasions. I'm not saying this is an excuse for people to be neglected but that could explain the need for you to work more than your contract hours and also explain why their usual standards have dropped. 

Alternatively have you considered that teeth are being brushed in the 12 hours when you are not there? 
Without an induction it would be unusual for you to be providing personal care so might not see mouth hygiene if it does take place whilst you are on duty although you might be shadowing I guess. My staff won't shadow personal care until the service user is comfortable with the new member of staff which can take weeks to build up trust/relationship. 

justworriedabit

Taking your comments at face value, forget the manger, etc CQC ASAP.
I've been in a few, yes some rooms will reak as heating is up and hot days. I've been to others,, they hardly smell.
From what you said, I've taken into account you are new to it but it does not sound right at all. So https://www.cqc.org.uk/

cannugec5

Nursing - and care assistants- have been ‘allowed’ to do their hours in one week instead of two, ever since the Working Time Directive came into being. As long as you do 75 hours (or less) per fortnight they have followed the rules. Seven on seven off was a classic shift pattern. 

But if you are not suited to that type of work then leave. I understand that you are struggling with it, but the night you didn’t turn up meant even less care for the residents. They can’t replace you if they don’t know you are not coming. 

As others have said. Report the place. Would you want you Grandma living in those conditions? 

greyteam1959

Looks like whoever set up whatever 'masters degree' course you are doing is sorting the wheat from the chaff ??
My granddaughter works on the dementia unit of a care home.
It's like a 10 star hotel !!
Report the care home NOW.