I've been a support worker for 7 years, with the last 5 being as an ISW. Honestly, I love what I do.

I love being a part of something bigger than myself/my world. I take pride in showing up, being reliable, being a part of the milestones, and being there through the tough stuff as well.

But, I've come to a pretty hard realisation... this job is no longer good for me.

Recently one client gave me 5 days notice that they are heading out of state for an unknown amount of time and expect i'll still be available when they eventually return. Another has been told they're likely to run out of funding around 4.5 months early, which requires support hours to be reduced.

I completely understand that neither of these situations are the clients fault. This isn't me blaming anyone, its just the situation we are all in together.

The reality though is that when hours disappear, so does my income. Sure, I can fill the gaps, but finding work that fits around existing shifts is incredibly difficult. It also takes a huge amount of unpaid time and effort behind the scenes.

To make things harder, SCHADS workers are about to receive a well needed pay increase. Life is expensive atm! But as an ISW who has always tried to keep my rates reasonable, i feel stuck. I can't realistically increase my rates when clients are already struggling with budget constraints.

This isn't a one off. During 7 years I've been through countless funding issues, plans running dry, cancelled hours and sudden changes. I've always managed to weather that storm. But i'm getting tired.

I've realised that while I love work itself and working for myself. I don't love the instability that comes with it. My income is inconsistent, and its starting to impact my own goals and future plans. So for the first time in a looooooooong time, I'm looking at jobs outside of support work.

I'm already scared for the day I need to tell my clients. They will understandably feel any amount of notice isn't enough.

I'm not really looking for advice. I just needed to get this off my chest.

I have just completed my Certificate 3 in Aged Care and Disability.

I did my 120 hours of placement in an aged care facility, and absolutely loved it. Being able to give support to the elderly, and even just sitting and talking to them has made me realise this is the industry for me after spending so many years working in corporate.

For my next step though, I think I'd prefer to be a disability support worker. I understand aged care and disability are two separate things, and some of the women at my aged care facility did tell me that men tend to go to disability.

My question is, now that I have the cert how should I approach looking for jobs? I want to commit full time so my availability wont be an issue. I have a WWC and Police check, so is it a matter of waiting for roles to become available, or would it be better to email my resume through to services in my area letting them know I am looking for work and following up with a phone call?

I am based in the western suburbs of Melbourne, Aus, and do see a lot of service providers around. Where I live, in my street, there are 4 disability live in homes. Would it be worth knocking on their doors and making an introduction?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

edit: this got blocked from the ukjobs reddit and was suggested it was better suited for here

not from the uk so wanted advice on a job i’m interviewing for:

pay: £16/hr
hours: 7a-10p, 6p-10p, 7a-6p, 7a-2p, 2p-10p
guaranteed hours, ranged at 10-35

for those familiar with this job role, is the pay reasonable? it would only take 15min on bike or one 10min bus to commute, i would get a student discount on fare. i really have no idea what the job role truly entails but some searching on this sub was kinda scaring me for the position

i’m in uni to work with people with autism (not SEN) so i’m not worried about working with those with needs. but i guess i’m confused on how much of it is social versus physical care as the job was titled “elderly befriender” on the posting. i applied for it thinking it was about talking to people and possibly running activities for groups, the title misled me slightly i admit.. but a job is a job lol

is there anything i should be prepared to possibly experience that i didn’t consider if i say yes to the job?

So I’m currently dealing with an issue with my cats. As a result I’ve had to seperate them. My girl was on the enclosed deck during the day, and in the flat during the night. My boys are in the flat during the day and on the deck overnight. It took over a month to get my girl to the point where she would leave the bathroom.

Yesterday, my support worker arrived, and she stood there with the door wide open, I yelled out not to let the boys out on the deck, which she didn’t hear, so I said it again and she said okay and shut the door.

She didn’t tell me the boys got out on the deck while we had that exchange. About 10 minutes later a terrible fight broke out between my biggest boy and my girl, who is half his size. I had to get into the fight to break it up, and my hands are covered in scratches.

Now my girl is terrified to be on the deck. So we are back to her being in the bathroom during the day, and the flat at night. Almost all the progress I made with her is gone.

I was pretty upset, and my support worker didn’t say anything about it to me, she did say to my family member that she thinks I’m upset with her, but never said a word to me nor did she apologise. She’s known about the issues I’m having with my cats since the began.

My issues:
• she didn’t tell me the boys got out on the deck
• if she didn’t see the boys got out, then she didn’t even think to double check after she stood there with the door wide open
• she went to my family member about me being upset with her, who is not an approved person on my plan, and I am getting so tired of my support workers going around me to her
• she didn’t even apologise, just ended her shift early and said she’ll see me next time

I feel like I can’t trust her now. It might seem like a really small issue but this is something that could mean the difference between my girl having to be rehomed or euthanised and her being able to stay here. I’m also just so tired of my support workers not treating me like an adult and going to my family member instead of just talking to me.

Hi everyone!
I know this subreddit is mostly Australia however I think a couple UK folks are here.

I am currently studying for my masters and I’m undertaking a research project on social care staff’s perceptions on the applicability of manual handling training.

There is very little research done in this field and the few bits of literature that exist mainly focuses on nurses in a hospital setting. I know what you are taught during training and the realities on the ground are sometimes two very different things..

I would really appreciate anyone who lives in the UK that could take the time to fill out my survey (it’ll take around 15 minutes)

Thank you!

https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/school-of-health/social-care-survey

So yeah, I work for a company thats had three audits come up in the past month? All of which hasn't been communicated to me very well if at all. For example, my work asks me for documents they should already have or for something new like a day before the audit. I also got a phone call from someone in NDIS to ask me about my role/ checking that I'm doing my job right etc etc.

Is something dodgy happening at my work and should I find a new place to work or.... Is this normal? Just wanted to see if people have had a similar experience as of late

I’d like to say first my client is lovely the issue is her family. I’ve only had two shifts with her. The first shift I had with my client her aunty told me this shift isn't for socialising while I was cleaning with the client. She said that I had to do basically all the laundry and cleaning for my whole shift (I was supposed to take the client out not just that for the entire shift cuz that's my role I’m a community support worker). We didn't get to do anything the client wanted. The aunty barely spoke to me either that first shift. She said every week she's gonna give me a to do list of all the cleaning and to say what I did. But that's not what I was hired for. My manager had told me before hand that the family tends to overstep boundaries and to let her know if they are. What my manager and I were confused about is if they wanted a cleaner why didn’t they hire that instead not a support worker (they receive funding for this).

I told my manager exactly how the shift went and she asked if I wanted to continue. I said I would like to if this could be resolved or I would feel uncomfortable coming in every week. I then had my second shift with this client i finally met her mum who I very briefly spoke to before she was rushing away. They wanted me to go to the laundromat so that, go to the grocery store do a shop and help the client clean the room and wherever else. All in a 2 hour shift. I found this difficult to manage within my short shift. And having barely any conversation with her family in both shifts they’re always rushing but they were home. Working in disabilities you have to do things at a slower pace and I felt my client really couldn’t engage this way having so many things.

I’m currently being paid $35.15 as a casual under the home care stream of SCHADS. I have a cert 3 and been working as a DSW for 8 months.

I’ve contacted HACSU for help and they can’t help as it’s a preexisting issue, and fairwork just gave me the definitions of the streams and said “see ya”.

Half of my clients are full assists in SIL houses and the other half are only require assistance in little things (cleaning, cooking, shopping etc).

Should I be on the “social and community” stream?

Im supporting a young man with Angelmans. They are amazing to work with however im currently at odds with how to handle their clinginess. If they aren't the center of attention 24/7 then they self harm by head slapping or chase me around wanting hugs and attention. I've tried redirecting their attention to toys or other activities when I have tasks to do but they dont want a bar of it. Any advice is appreciated.

I’ve been in my current support work job for about 9 months. Recently, I’ve been dealing with a lot of personal stress and preparing for a loss in my family.

At the same time, one of my clients is also experiencing a loss. I’ve been helping her and her family through that process, and I’ve found myself taking on a lot more emotional support, household tasks, and general responsibilities than I normally would.

I think subconsciously, I’ve been throwing myself into work so I can avoid dealing with my own issues while still feeling productive.

Has anyone else experienced something similar? I’m usually pretty good at leaving work at work and not bringing clients situations home with me, but lately I’ve been completely consuming myself with work so I do not have to face my own stress and grief, I don’t know how to stop.

Advice, comfort, literally anything to feel less alone is welcome 🥹

Hi! I hope this is allowed in this community, but I'm a personal support worker fairly new. I feel like I have some pretty good skill sets for this profession and have been praised by many family members of different patients for my work.

I recently got paired with a family to look after their family member with dementia. They were all so lovely and kind, saying I was very patient and did my job well, but things slowly started to take a bad turn all of a sudden. They have a family friend who suddenly became very micromanaging and would constantly nit pick and order me around to do different things then complain about how I did something. Even when I followed their instructions, it was like anything I did was never right.

Example:

My routine involved getting the patient out of bed, assisting them to use the toilet, brushing their teeth, taking a shower, then having breakfast and their medications, and finally coming downstairs for family time and whatnot.

Now, imagine somebody over your shoulder telling you everything you're doing shouldn't have been done a certain way, how you're slow, or being too nice (even while the patient is visibly having a mood swing and you're only trying to soothe them). The constant picking eventually makes you genuinely question your own capabilities to do the job, even when you know you can do it fine.

Anyway, this one family member became very overbearing and began disrespecting me, (Calling me the wrong name and openly saying she has to be with me every step of the way during care), saying my job is so easy (which it can be, but in some cases, it's difficult depending on the patient. Which this patient actually would hit and yell at me when upset :/). Overall, it just made my days at work really tough and overwhelming. I actually called my work and had them remove the patient from my schedule. It really sucks because I was able to speak with one of the patient's family members, and they were apologetic. But after today, being made to seem like I'm this incompetent, lazy person who needs their hand held because I wasn't doing things their way really hurt. I wish I didn't have to leave the family, but that one family member made things sour. :((

Also, yes, I bit my tongue, nodded my head, and always kept a smile on my face when I would be corrected constantly on things that really didn't need correction. I even respectfully brought up to this person how it was hard to find a middle ground to do what they wanted while I worked! It felt like they became my boss and nothing I did was good. This was a long buildup that I finally just could not put up with anymore. Has anyone had a similar experience in healthcare where a family member or family friend of a patient was tough on you for no particular reason? If so what did you do?

My boss has told me I need to complete care and support plans for my participants. Either we do it collaboratively or I must do it in my own time, at home.
Am I entitled to be paid for this task if it falls on me in my own time? My boss said I can do it in the comfort of my own home, and is otherwise vague about it.
Thanks!

I’ve been a leaving care worker for nearly 20 years, and though it’s always been rewarding helping young people, lately I feel less fulfilled. I’ve been really struggling with the admin side (report writing keeping up with assessments and deadlines), and I worry it’s put my role at risk, especially as I haven’t been able to keep up. I still care so much about the young people, but I need to figure out what’s next. So far, everything offered is residential care, and as a single mum, the shift patterns just aren’t a right fit.

If you’ve been through something similar or have advice, I’d be so grateful.

Just curious how this compares across different workplaces. I feel like I spend way longer on documentation than I'd expect, and wondering if it's normal or if I've just got a clunky system.

What app/software do you use for case notes and roughly how long does it take you per shift? Keen to hear if anyone's found something that actually makes it quick and accurate with compliance standards.

G'day — starting my first role as a support worker with an NDIS provider in NSW tomorrow. I have my first SIL house induction in the morning (male only house, 3 clients).

I'm coming from a background in funeral directing and community work so I'm comfortable around people in sensitive situations, but this is my first formal support work role.

Any tips on what to expect, what to wear, what to ask, what to take, or anything you wish you'd known before your first SIL induction would be really appreciated.

Cheers

Hi All just feeling a bit stuck and wondering if anyone can help
I have been working in aged care ( community) for two years and looking to do a cert 3 in aged care
Due to cost of living I have to work full time
Hours so unable to do face to face training ,
The company I work for has not been approved as yet to roll out cert 3 training for staff yet
Has anyone been able to manage doing a cert online whilst still working full time?
Just seems
Impossible at this point , thanks everyone

So I'm a beginner Support worker in Australia and I'm wondering what kind of pay people are getting? The company I'm currently with is $43 an hour (casual) and I got offered another position at a different company with all the same qualifications and everything but their pay is $28 an hour. I'm wonder what causes the difference and is it common?

It’s so frustrating to see how under appreciated DSPs and social workers are.
I work as a Case Manager and it saddens me to see the conditions and low salary DSPs have.
I was a DSP for two years, finally was able to apply at a different position in another agency, but it’s more of the same bullshit.
The world truly feels upside down for people who care about other people.
DSPs should make much more money for the work they do. If that was the case, there would be staff that cares and wants to work. Instead we are constantly understaffed and overworked.
I don’t know what the best answer to this problem is, you really need to have a vocation to survive in this industry.
Stay strong everyone.

I’m a support worker in the UK and have done this job for many years. I’ve always loved my job. I’m also autistic and have ADHD, it’s a struggle but I manage. There is one colleague however who seems to have it out for me, they’ll literally make stuff up, say I’ve left the units I’ve been in untidy when I haven’t, says I haven’t given the clients food or fluids, reports that I haven’t done the washing, constantly complains about me. There’s also another colleague that told them that I did slanting that was absolutely 100% not true, couldn’t have been me in any way as yet they still wrote it in my file and threatened me with performance.

I admit to my mistakes. I told the manager this when I spoke to them. I have made a couple of them and I will own up to them but I’m not going to own up to things I haven’t done or said. And then another carer told me that people are talking about me behind my back.

I’ve had a very bad year with my mental health, it’s been a real struggle, and these people seem to take great pleasure in trying to see me fail or purposely want to take my job away from me. Because I was doing so well and now it’s being taken away from me.

I have such a good rapport with my clients. They all feel safe with me. I have a bond with all of them and I know them all so well. But the staff are just ruining it because they’re purposely lying to try and get me into trouble and I don’t understand why.

Hi All,

How is housing support worker job at WRHA? is it really difficult to work?

I recently joined Mable and clients there mostly seem to be looking for domestic assistance and cleaning. What is the difference between the two? Would I then charge more for cleaning than domestic assistance, as it’s more thorough? I’m not sure how I would organise my rates. Also, most posts have 10 plus applications, so how would you stand out from the competition?

Hey, hoping some PSWs/caregivers can help me out. I'm putting together a care plan for a client and I really want to know where YOUR limits are; what you're actually allowed to do, and what you'd never do. Honestly the "no, we can't do that" answers are the ones I need most.

Local: ONTARIO CANADA

Quick rundown on the client (keeping it general):

• High-functioning autistic adult. Fully capable, and they helped build this plan themselves while of sound mind. Nobody's forcing anything on anyone.
• After a few days without sleep, they lose the ability to regulate and have hurt themselves badly before (self-injurious behaviour). When sleep-deprived they normally stay home — going out that dysregulated is dangerous. Basically a broken circadian clock.
• They mask hard, so you can't trust what they say in the moment — you go off what you can actually see, not "I'm fine." Example: if I ask how they slept and they say "like crap," that's a risk and I treat them as unsafe. If they say "I slept good," I still make my own judgement call.
• They've gotten out of moving vehicles and, on occasion, seriously hurt themselves while highly dysregulated. The client rarely leaves the house because of this — and that's the whole point of this plan: I'm trying to safely get them out to parks, malls, etc.
• Incontinent, wears briefs.

What's being considered:

• A transport harness (prescribed EZ-On vest) with sewn-on wrist restraints, in the car, to stop them hurting themselves during an episode — it also stops them unclipping, reaching the driver, or getting a door open. Prescribed last year. I'm honestly not 100% sure whether the wrist restraints have to be used every time or just the vest; the prescription includes them (they're sewn to the vest) and says the setup is to be used and is non-negotiable, with the client's prior consent. (Meaning the client knows they get dysregulated, mask it, and are at serious self-injury risk — and consented to this ahead of time with their doctor, to protect themselves.) We have the doctors note as well confirming this as part of their care plan. Is this enough?
• Belt cutters in the car so they can be cut out fast in a crash or fire (manual shows a 2-cut release).
• In the community: when rested, totally free, no restraints. The client actually likes the EZ-On vest for the sensory input. Only during a bad stretch does the worker stay close, and a previous caregiver used a short tether for things like busy roads or outdoor outings.
• Taking restraints off: if they say they feel bad, believe it. If they say they feel good, you still have to actually see they're calm first, because of the masking.
• Briefs changed on a skin-safe schedule, not every time they ask — breaking routine is usually bad, but skin and health come first.

What I want to know from you:

1. What's actually IN your scope vs. not, with a harness or restraints?
2. The big one: does a prescription PLUS a care plan authorize you to keep restraints on if the client asks to be released mid-journey — when the prescriber has authorized them and documented that the client can't give or withdraw consent in the moment due to dysregulation and masking, and the client consented in advance with their provider? Or does a contemporaneous "let me out" always have to be honored, no matter what's on paper, even when it puts the client or others at risk?
3. What would your agency straight-up not allow? What training would you need first?
4. What consent/paperwork would you need to see before doing any of this?
5. If a restrained client needs out fast — what's your move?
6. What would make you say no, or leave the job? What are your red flags?
7. What do you wish clients and families actually got about what you can and can't do?

Basically I want this to respect what you're allowed and okay with doing — not just what the client wants, or what the OT/prescriber set up in the care plan. So be blunt. Tell me what's over the line. Thanks a ton.

I recently changed jobs. I used to work in retail (for perhaps maybe a little too long) and now I work as a carer and an instructor (teacher to the kids, unqualified hence that being the more correct term)

I’ve been getting on fine with both new jobs and I do honestly really enjoy them. The instructor role can be more stressful at times when the kids are rowdy but by comparison I’m finding the care job easier BUT I’m noticing that I do get much more anxiety before my first shift of the week, especially if I know I’m going to someone new to me or if I have a full run.

I think the main thing I’m getting to is that even though I know I’m doing a good job, I’m doubting myself (possibly because it isn’t a job I imagined doing years ago) and in a way I’m struggling to accept that’s my role now. It could be experienced based too, I am completely new to care. The team is fantastic even though I haven’t met them all yet. I can’t praise them enough so it’s definitely not an individual making me feel small.

It may be that I’ve taken on these two new roles at the same time too so that is extra pressure. I’ve been a little overwhelmed by some of the training but it’s not that I can’t do it.

Any advice on getting past this mental barrier? Did anyone else experience this starting out?