"Don't say no until you try"
Bindu, our Care Home Manager at Oakwood Court tells us about her career as she approaches the end of her first year in her Care Home Manager role.
“I trained as a registered nurse in India where I grew up, and began working for Sussex Housing & Care at Oakwood Court as a bank care assistant in 2008. This gave me flexibility around my other job which worked brilliantly for me while I settled in my new country.
Senior care assistant
Soon, my manager observed my patient and compassionate attitude and my good listening skills and offered me a permanent role as a Senior Care Assistant. I give 100% to everything I do and life is a big learning curve, I grab any opportunity and always try it before I say no. This is how I’ve managed to progress to where I am today.
As a senior care assistant I enjoyed spending time with residents, hearing their life stories and supporting them with daily living. In the background I spent around three hours a week studying for my NVQ Level 3 in Health and Social Care. I particularly enjoyed the responsibility in this senior role of liaising with other health professionals such as GPs, nurses and mental health teams and building a collaborative working relationship with them.
Being trained and trusted to manage the medication round also gave me valuable experience. When administering the medication to residents I took the opportunity to have a friendly one to one conversation with them and I’d often find they’d be looking forward to my arrival! If I’d been off for a few days, my medication round took longer because of all the chit-chat and catching up with them!
Deputy Manager
After five years as a senior care assistant, in 2020 I applied for the Deputy Manager role and was successful. I began studying for my NVQ Level 5 Leadership and Management in Health and Social Care and have enjoyed putting the theory into practice, and being supported by Sussex Housing & Care to continue my professional development.
Care Home Manager
Since March 2021 I have had an exciting time as the Care Home Manager at Oakwood Court. I now lead a team of 37 people and it’s my responsibility to make sure our residents are safe and create a positive relationship with their families. Of course there have been daunting moments taking on this role, but every day I get to boost my confidence and put my experience into practice. I’ve learnt to believe in myself more and with the support of senior managers here, I have a fantastic team around me.
It’s hard to believe sometimes that I’m now the manager! Everything I do I take the experience and learn from it. I will always try to go above and beyond and with this attitude, I believe there’s a career in care for many people.”
If you would like to talk to our team to find out more about our current opportunities please contact us at jobs@sussexhousing.org.uk or visit our vacancies page.
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