The Fast and The Furious: How to Provide Quality Care in the Fast-paced Aged Care Environment

Sometimes working in aged care feels like ‘The Fast and The Furious’ – but instead of Vin Diesel, it’s Mr Jones in Room 2 with a banged-up hoist, not a Mazda RX-7 street racer.

So how do we provide quality care and still have enough time to get it all done each shift?

Here’s how (without pedestrian casualties):

First five: Invest your first five minutes planning your shift – save fifteen later on. Enough time for your notes – win.

Heads up: You might know your plan, but the Resident doesn’t. Don’t expect them to be ready 10 seconds after you walk in. It takes time to extrapolate oneself from a nice warm bed into a cold bathroom and strip down with an audience. Would you need time to work yourself up for that? Me too…so before you begin personal care for the room next door, pop your head in and give some notice, and you’ll have a way better chance of the Resident working with you, faster.

Ask for help: It may be inconvenient to seek out a second pair of hands, but with two on the job it’s simply way quicker, and way safer. And it’s not illegal – that’s a bonus…

Help someome else: Wait…this is the opposite of saving time, right? Wrong. Jumping in to help someone else can actually save heaps of time because they will be more available when you need the help next time around. No one goes it alone, especially when it comes to manual handling and Resident safety. Let’s look out for each other, and never make someone feel bad for asking for help.

There is a difference between ‘fast’ and ‘rushed’. Through simple strategies and looking out for your mates, you’ll never have to sacrifice time for quality care. Working in aged care, you can do both.