National Carers Week, 16 – 22 October, is a time to recognise and celebrate the 2.65 million Australians who provide care and support to a family member or friend.
Working carer, Sue is a Clinical Nurse Specialist at Nepean Hospital
As well as caring for patients and our community, many of our staff are also working carers. We heard from Nepean Hospital Clinical Nurse Specialist, Sue as she provided personal insight on her experiences as a carer.
This is her story.
“My grandmother came to live with me in 2018, after a fall. She was 105 years old and had been living alone in her own home. She was with me for 18 months until she died on her 107th birthday.
Caring for her was quite a difficult time, but there were good times as well.
We set up a hospital bed in my lounge room – there was an air mattress, an oxygen concentrator, the emergency call bell, a wheelchair, a walker and shower and toilet aids. I had people coming in twice a day to care for Nana, as I was working full time. I’d look after Nana mornings, evenings and nights, and on weekends. Looking back, I don’t know how I did it.
There’s a lot to organise when you become a carer. Aged care services, an advance care plan, palliative care and you become their advocate for health services, Centrelink, My Aged Care, banking, the electricity and phone. I had to learn very rapidly about the Aged Care Services system and funding. You learn a lot of things that you didn’t know before and a lot of what I did, I did by trial and error.
I’ve since met other nurses at work who are just starting the journey with their parents, and I’ve been able to share with them how things work and what they need to do to organise services. I’m glad to be able to share with them because it’s complex.
My work colleagues and managers were very supportive and I’m so thankful for that. There were times I needed to leave work early or have time off unexpectedly. This always made me anxious because I was leaving my work for others. But it was a relief to know that I could go and deal with what was happening at home.
Caring is a very hard job. I’d encourage carers to try to seek out and accept support from family, friends and carer support services. Don’t feel that you need to do it alone, it’s too hard, you need support around you. Try to take good care of yourself, try to sleep well, eat healthy, have little breaks and find moments you enjoy.
My carer journey hasn’t ended. My mother has dementia and I visit her in residential aged care 5 days a week and care for her there.
It’s an honour to look after the ones you love. They’ve looked after you and so it’s nice to think you can care for them. That’s the reward, but it doesn’t come without a toll. As a carer, there are difficult times but there are good memories too.”
