Mandy Morrison

I work as a PA carer for a young lady and her son. She has a very complex medical history and needs help around the house with tasks. The majority of my tasks are keeping her house clean and gardening etc. I help with ensuring she makes all her medical appointments, and hep with her mail as well as phone calls and speaking on her behalf. I help out with weekly food shops, sometimes help out with meals. On good days, we can try going to the gym and swimming pool to use the health suits as this is beneficial for her health. Her son has just started high school, he has ASD and has his struggles also, so whenever mum is not able to look after him due to illness, I help care for him too. She also has a little dog, so I walk her every day, if the weather is nice she can sometimes make it out with us. She does have mobility issues and cant always manage everything on her own, so I am there to help her with anything she needs. It is my job to help ensure she gets the care and support she needs for herself and her son.

My main duties and responsibilities while working at Thera were: Delivering person centred care. Promoting independence where possible and ensuring everyone was given choice. Treating people with dignity and compassion. engaging in fun activities to provide mental stimulation and to help put a smile on their faces every day! We would go for nice walks, or go out shopping, help them with food shopping's, ask them what meals they would like throughout the week. I would cook and bake for them, and get them involved too. I also provided a high standard of care while providing personal care. Helping people get up in the mornings, help with getting washed and dressed, similarly, with bedtimes. I also was responsible for doing meds rounds. Following care plans, adapting them if need be. As a support worker, I had to have excellent communication skills, being able to read all verbal and nonverbal ques, as often I would have to advocate on their behalf's with doctors and be their voice for them. This could simply be observing that someone wasn't feeling themselves, and therefore, I would have to act in their best interests to ensure proper health and wellbeing needs were met. Similarly, communication skills were just as important with other staff members, this helped ensure the people we support were kept safe. I also helped with managing their money tins, and also maintaining a clean and safe environment for them.

My main duties and responsibilities while working at the Buccleuch was: Serving customers at the bar and providing table service for the restaurant. Doing weekly stock takes, locking up at the end of the night, doing opens also. Managing the tills and balancing the safe. I was also the main person that was tasked to do inductions and training new staff members. I was also the bars party planner and had to do weekly conference calls, and I was in charge of taking customer bookings, helping set up. I also came up with different theme nights, helped decorate or make decorations.

I took on this role as a volunteer care worker, to give myself the relevant work experience to help my application to get into college and university, as a student nurse. Here, I shadowed other carers and helped deliver all aspects of care, in a compassionate way. I would also enjoy interacting with the residents, they would always brighten up my day and I made it my job to brighten up theirs. There was a lady I used to sit with and knit, and we would enjoy making things together, she really enjoyed this.

In this job, I started off as bar staff, and with training, I worked myself up to supervisor and then with further training, a duty manager. I was responsible for serving customers, managing my own bars, managing the tills and staff. I would be involved with weekly stock takes, doing interviews and staff training and inductions. I would also be responsible for opens and closes, and balancing the safe. The main aspect of this job is friendly customer service. It was important to remain calm under sometimes, stressful situations, sometimes having to deal with police, cctv and similarly, on occasion, paramedics. So excellent communication skills were of the highest importance, as well as a friendly face.