A Shotton Colliery care home is bucking the national trend with a local new carer who could not be happier with her new career.
Nicola Hunter started working at Croft House in April 2022 having never worked in the sector before.
Having long held an interest in looking after people, Nicola finally took the plunge to apply for a role with Croft House and has never looked back.
“I’ve been interested in care work for some time but never taken my interest any further but having taken on this new role I couldn’t be happier with my decision. Said Nicola.
“I really love the job, I love chatting with the residents, being with them, supporting them and meeting their needs.
She added, “The job is living up to everything I imagined it would be, it’s so rewarding and I would love to continue with this area of work and build a career in care.
“The home is a fantastic place to work and I get on so well with all my colleagues. Knowing that we’re working to improve the lives of all our residents is such a lovely feeling and it’s great to be part of this amazing team.”
Care home manager Karen Clarke said: “With the pandemic and the uncertainty we are now facing, staff recruitment and retention has been a real challenge.
“Seeing new people like Nicola coming on board is such a huge boost for us as a home as we continue to look to provide the highest level of care to our residents”
Since the pandemic, the care sector has been uniquely affected with a Government backed Adult Social Care Workforce Survey of over 9,000 care settings across England highlighting increased difficulty in both hiring and retaining staff.
Over 70% of respondents said that staff retention had become more difficult and over 80% said that recruitment had become harder.
Better pay, increased working conditions and finding less pressurised jobs were all cited as key reasons to leave a sector that is still battling the after effects of the pandemic.
Karen continued, “Nicola is dedicated to learning and committed to our residents and it’s been a breath of fresh air for us to bring in someone with so much energy and enthusiasm for care.
“We understand it’s been a stressful and difficult time for the whole sector and with so many homes still struggling to hire and keep staff, we feel incredibly lucky to have found someone like Nicola who is so passionate and wants to stay in care for the long term.”
Comments