When the great Bill Withers sang about having somebody to lean on in times of trouble, he wasn’t singing about carers . . . but he might as well have been.
There when we’re not strong or need a hand to carry on, carers are at the heart of our hospital wards, care homes and communities, providing the kind of hands-on nursing care that often goes unseen or unrecognised.
Not so long ago Granny Ina, too frail to live on her own but adamant she “wouldn’t be seen dead in a care home”, would have been brought, instead, into the heart of the family.
Jimmy Junior would have been kicked out of his bedroom and a cosy, knick-knack, photo-filled, doily-covered space made for Granny.
But working parents juggling busy lives, coupled with smaller homes and older generations living much longer, means this doesn’t happen as much any more, and so the responsibility for caring for others has fallen well and truly upon the NHS and private care providers.
So carers, aka healthcare assistants, healthcare support workers or nursing assistants are now the bedrock of our frenetic, under-pressure, too-busy-to-notice society. They’re the ones mopping up in A&E after nightclub incidents, changing sheets or visiting Mrs McAfee three times a day with her meals and medication.
In a hospital or care home setting, their jobs overlap with that of a nurse but they’re not allowed to administer medication or perform complex nursing procedures. Duties might range from washing and dressing patients, feeding, bed making, taking blood tests to doing condition checks. They might also help mobilise patients, talk to them if anxious or upset and encourage them to be independent.
There’s no doubt that being a carer comes with its challenges. A healthcare assistant might spend the most time out of all health professionals working with patients but probably has the least amount of training and supervision.
Long hours, lower pay grades, and lack of recognition by other health professionals are familiar gripes. But wedded to all of this is the full knowledge that the smallest act of caring can and does make the biggest difference. The power of an understanding hand on the shoulder, a smile, a kind word is immeasurable.
You can’t put a price on someone being there to feed a nutritious meal, to turn a patient into a more comfortable position or just chat about the weather outside.
Respect, dignity and empathy are paramount when it comes to being a carer; patience too, when dealing with dementia or mental health patients . . . and, yes, even the odd pesky family member.
For some, being a healthcare worker is the starting point for a future medical career. But not only is it the best grounding for becoming a nurse, it is in itself a vital, fulfilling and, ultimately, rewarding career.