With our wonderful Lifestyle Coordinator, Nadine.
On Sunday 7 August, we celebrate Aged Care Employee Day by honouring Australia's residential, home and community aged care workers. This year’s theme #ThanksforCaring recognises everyone involved in caring for older Australians. This year, we asked our wonderful Leisure and Lifestyle Coordinator, Nadine, to share her aged care journey and what working at Seabrae Manor means to her.
My journey into aged care started after school when I went to study a bachelor’s degree in nursing. At the time I was interested in pursing work in the mental health space but as I was moving towards completing my degree, I decided it wasn’t the pathway for me. At that time, I went and worked at a local aged care home as a student nurse (Personal Care Assistant). Whilst working in the home, I learnt about what was called ‘diversional therapy’ and this led me to study a Diploma of Leisure and Health.
I began working at Seabrae Manor in September 2019, after having volunteered for some months to complete my practical requirements for my Diploma of Leisure and Health. I remember walking through the doors asking the Lifestyle team if I could work as a volunteer for my practical assessment. I will never forget how happy I felt and how welcomed I was by the team.
I love that in my role as Leisure and Lifestyle Coordinator at Seabrae Manor, we cater to many different needs of our residents, not just the physical or medical. Being able to cater to the emotional, mental, community, cultural, spiritual, physical, social and sensory needs, as well as individual needs, provides a lot of variety in my role and means I able to raise the spirits of residents and help them live a fulfilled life.
One of the challenges that comes with working in aged care is making sure we respect residents wishes whilst keeping them as safe as possible. We always want to allow our residents at Seabrae to live their life to the fullest, but we also feel it as a duty to our residents and families to keep them safe as well.
I have many special memories here in Seabrae Manor. You become so close to the residents and staff that they feel like they are your family. A favourite memory of mine is seeing residents whose memory may have declined and you know you’ve made an impact on their day as they give you a big smile when they would otherwise look a bit confused.
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