Yet again, we have had wonderful nominations for CareLineLive’s monthly star carer award. Join us in celebrating yet another dedicated professional who loves her job and has been in the profession for the past twelve years.
The winner for May is Kerry Alexander from ‘Outstanding’ rated Wright Care at Home, based in Stamford. Kerry was nominated by founder and director, Samantha Davis-Wright.
This is what Samantha said about Kerry in her nomination:
“Kerry has a wonderful way of breaking the ice and making customers feel confident to carry out their daily routines. She is always pro-active at finding ways for them to meet their goals and within their strengths find ways to access the community. Kerry recently went above and beyond when a customer needed urgent medical help. She quickly recognised the signs, sought urgent help and then stayed with the customer and ensured the family were emotionally supported. Kerry makes everyone smile as soon as she enters a room and is well thought of from her colleagues and customers. It would be so lovely to see her get this shout out after 7 years of contributing excellent care!”
What was your reaction to winning CareLineLive’ s Star Carer award?
I didn’t even know that Sammy was nominating me she told me after she’d done it. Two days after that, Sammy told me that I had won. I said ‘Oh my gosh’ and Sammy told me what she had said about me. I was so proud I could hardly get through the door.
What aspects of being a carer do you enjoy?
I love my job and I love to see the smiles on my clients faces when I arrive. I’m quite a cheeky soul and the clients like that. I’ve been a carer for twelve years and became interested in the profession when I helped my nan look after my granddad when he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. When Sammy opened her business, she asked me to work for her and I’ve been with the company for seven years.
I love doing things for clients and solving problems with people. For example, today, I was working with a lady who struggles to access her under bench fridge, we talked about the benefits of having a bench top fridge which my client was really happy about, I measured up, we looked online and found the perfect solution. The fridge is now ordered and will be here in days. Little things like that makes people’s lives so much better. Making sure that they are comfortable and have everything that they need for the day is lovely too.
We have lots of different clients some with complex needs, so we work closely with the occupational therapist and district nurses and other health care professionals. Recently we all worked together to make life more comfortable for a client who was forced to spend the majority of the day in her bedroom as she couldn’t access her stair lift. We worked with her and suggested that it may be a good idea to convert an unused bedroom into a living room. This project is now underway.
How does CareLineLive’s Carer Companion app help in your job?
I love the App it’s brilliant. We’ve got all the information we need like visit times, documents, what we need to do, relative contact information which is really good when we need to speak to them. The concern reporting is great, I can add photos and the information goes to the office straight away and they can pick up on it issues in real time. We can also rate the severity of the concern.
What are the challenges in your job?
Some clients have very challenging behaviour and one person in particular was very difficult and life for her husband was really stressful. We worked jointly with the family and husband to support them as well as the client. I find with Alzheimer and dementia clients that we have to work with their present view of life rather than contradicting people and telling them the reality, because for them it’s all very real.
I had an emergency recently, which is one of the reasons that Sammy nominated me. I had a serious incident when I arrived at a client’s home and realised that his breathing was laboured and I took a deep breath and said to myself “This is what needs to be done,” and I just got on and did it. I decided to call the emergency services and his family. He was very poorly and I worked to comfort and calm my client. I managed the whole situation and handed everything over to the paramedics calmly and professionally.
How do you switch off after a hard day at work?
I’ve lost a lot of weight and I’m on a journey where I go to the gym. I love watching fantasy series on Netflix, for example series about vampires. I love to get out for walks with my dogs, one is a King Charles Spaniel cross with a Maltese and the other a Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
