registered nurse

Blue Care

Under last management the PCs were treated with much more of the respect that front line workers deserve but not now, they are treated like menial workers whose lives don't matter.
Rarely got to see other PCs as we worked on our own but when you did catch up everyone was unhappy but they felt scared to speak up.
Only one team leader is trusted enough to listen to staff issues,.
Huge amount of stress because of short periods given to drive to clients homes, no consideration given for different traffic situations in different times of day.

There was a mass exodus of staff last year mainly due to Managements handling of all the changes happening but no one  from head office apparently  thought it was worth investigating.
Management was quick to blame PCs if things go wrong but rarely support you . 
PCs were told they couldn't even come into office anymore to speak to supervisors about work issues, because we were disturbing everyone, (including our own supervisors apparently)  that's ok but supervisors did not pick up their phones to PCs and the front desk line is always busy so it was hard to get hold of them , this makes a potentially hazardous situation for staff needing assistance in the community and not being able to get through to someone.
Shifts change in an instant, what you had on your phone the night before is likely to be different to what is there in the morning, so having a work/life balance where you can make personal appointments or plan around family becomes impossible. Work is unfairly distributed,  many staff got huge amounts of cleaning a week while others got mainly socials and showers. 
The stress in this place and indifference and rudeness by the manager is incredible and leaving was the best thing I could have done for my health.
Moral was so low when I left that staff were not doing their jobs properly or even caring about what they were doing because they didn't feel any loyalty. There is a definite culture of ‘jobs for the boys', as long as you are in the ‘group' you will get the best jobs or hours.
I now have a Manager who treats PCs with respect and realises the important role they provide for a company and for that gets loyalty and respect back, it's  not a hard concept to follow.

First 4 years at blue care were great and then they amalgamated and things went down hill for my last 4 years there. Management did not care for staff or clients and only for the money.  There was no communcation between the office and community workers even though they provided us with mobile phones to work from.  Clients were always complaining about having different staff every visit and nothing was ever done. staff were asking for permanent runs which they kept saying we would get and then never did its like they changed there mind every 6 months just as things were starting to get done they changed and said theyd do something else instead.  Blue care use to have a great reputation now hearing from clients it does not.  Package partners are a joke and clients can never get in touch or called back even though the clients are paying them a monthly fee to work for them now alot of them are changing to different providers but Blue care dont care if they loose a client there is always another to take their place.  I changed to a different part of the coast for my last year at Blue Care and the team leaders and co-ordinator there was great they communicated with staff and if there was any issues they followed them up but anything to do with payroll or scheduling was out of their control and they could only do so much. If you do work for Blue Care please join a union so if you have issues they can represent you when things go bad.

I provided ongoing mentoring and support for Indigenous staff and clients, as well as cultural advice, support and training for services across North Queensland and Far North Queensland. Worked in a pivotal role and worked autonomously, managing the Indigenous Employment Program in NQ and FNQ. I learnt how to step up into a senior role and meet deadlines according to funding KPIs and the organization's requirements. I worked with a team of 3 Indigenous Co-ordinators who took the Indigenous Programs to a higher level and exceeded my duties. Deadlines were met and the team provided quality outcomes to the Executive Team and entire organization. The hardest part of the job was the travelling, however, I did enjoy it immensely. It was also a challenge breaking down barriers with Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff. I enjoyed everything about my job, but most importantly, providing jobs for Indigenous people, providing cultural training to services and meeting new people. Winning the Qld Premier's Award, providing a report of the Cape York Indigenous Employment Strategy, being a member of UnitingCare Queensland's Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group and promoting the Indigenous Employment and Care Strategy.

A the saying goes(its who you no, not what you no)
making others smile and knowing that they are safe/well and happy is a great feeling to  be able to pass on to others. 
I learnt many things over my time with BlueCare, good and bad. 
management isn't like it use to be years ago, its only about money now and if you dont fit in you dont get the shifts. 
The best part of my job was when i made the residents laugh and they hug me saying they love me.  they are like family. they become family, they are family. 
But if you do not fit in with the team leaders and staff, you dont get a good name, even if you do your job right and with a caring heart, 
the care factor is gone now, and unfortunately English spoken their isnt very good and they residents have problems understanding some staff, 
staff just rush residents and dont let them speak much ,i found many of them to be unhappy and just want to go home. 
but in saying all that, it can also be a good place with the right staff , just need more mature staff with compassion . not staff who are family or friends to get into the workplace, and not people who just want to sit on their phone all the time. 
the floor mats and kitchen cups and mugs are always badly stained, and the tea pots are horrible inside also. staff dont have time to keep them clean as lack of staff, most staff will start an hour early if your in the kitchen. 

Typical day at work means your  constantly on the go, maintaining routines answering buzzers, attending to the needs and wants of the clients. Ensuring that their comfort and security is maximized.

What I learned was that everyone is different, no two needs are alike. The different personalities, health issues and degrees of independence and non independence that  I dealt with made me very aware of my own mortality. 

Management/Supervisors were friendly and available if required and allowed you to get on with the job at hand. I like that. Not once did I feel like someone was looking over my shoulder. 

Co-workers were friendly and helpful. I was accepted and nothing was too much trouble to teach me and very quickly I was trusted to do aspects of the job on my own. eg showering, feeding. 

Initially the hardest part of the job was being on my feet during the shift. It was only because I wasn't use to it. By the middle of the second week and wearing better suited shoes it wasn't a problem.

The most enjoyable part was knowing that I had made a difference to someones day. It was an absolute pleasure to look after these people. I also enjoyed how busy I was. 

I am looking forward to finding a position within the industry to continue enjoying the job satisfaction that I had with Blue Care.

When I first started working for Blue Care as a Personal Carer, it was an absolutely amazing place to work. Then a couple of years ago, the company intregated.  I loved my work, and I loved my clients. I always possessed, a strong work ethic, emboided in certain principles, that have guided my work behaviour, leading me to high quality work. My work ethics included, dependability, responsibilty, adaptability, honesty, and intregrity.
In the last 6 months, I have found this a very stressful place to work. Long hours, wrong scheduling travel times which always fell on deaf ears, when other actions were submitted.The carers, have now become Professional clock watchers.
I have also found, that I can no longer go on representing a company, Whose management, has No Respect, or Care factor, for its clients or staff.
Clients have now become $ signs, and the Carers are now Robots.
The Morale is very low.  Carers are now Isolated completely from Management.
It saddens me that Blue Care has now lost its values for which they once were. Its all about the mighty dollar now.
Blue Care needs to realize, that without their hard working carers, and their clients, THEY WOULD NOT HAVE A BUSINESS!!!

Over the span of 9 years - have come across a lot of managers & clinical nurses come and go. Enjoyed working here. Salary sacrifice. Was amazing work place at beginning with adequate staff to resident ratio making the workload manageable. As time went on workload became very heavy & care staff cut on the floor which has affected the quality of care towards residents.  Too much work put on care staff. If kitchen staff were down care staff were expected to help and be short on the floor. If registered staff were sick, busy or short care staff (medication comp) were expected to work short on the floor to help registered staff. Care staff are always walked on but the last to be appreciated. Management & above barely show appreciation towards care staff who are the hands, feet & eyes on the floor. We see and do everything but the last to be acknowledged. But the first to be lectured if something is wrong. Residents & families are lovely. Staff are also lovely & the older staff tend to treat each other as well as new staff like family which is a lovely workplace culture. Although you do have some staff who act as if they're above you with their nose in the sky. 

Work as a member of a team to provide direct care to allocated clients under the direction of a Registered Nurse.  
 	Assist with the implementation of the client’s personal care plan by providing direct activities including:  
 	Deliver direct care to the clients in accordance with Disability Services Policies and local policies, and participate in self-directed and/or other staff development opportunities to develop and enhance appropriate skills
 	Help service users meet their personal care needs sensitively and appropriately to a high standard, including personal hygiene, assistance with  laundry, and preparing meals and drinks.
 	Provide transport to the clients at respite care.
 	Provide transport to the clients for doctor’s appointments.
 	Report the observations and incidents to the blue care team leader
 	Manage private and confidential client information in accordance with Disability Services Policies.
 	Assist with the implementation of the client’s lifestyle plan, communication plan, behaviour intervention and support plan, and community access plan

I worked alongside the Occupational therapists and allied health team at blue care for four weeks during my third year block placement. 

Bluecare ensured that I had multiple experiences to assist develop my understanding of OT  including multiple home visits to clients. My supervisor ensured that we were able to meet our learning goals and provided us with multiple exposures to community occupational therapy. 
I learnt the benefit of  community exercise programs for older adults; including hydrotherapy and tai chi.  
I was taught how to recommend equipment, apply for equipment  grants, and discuss with nursing staff when to refer to OT regarding equipment safety. Multiple opportunities were made available to discuss equipment with providers and attend in-services.

 Furthermore much focus was placed on pressure care and falls prevention as the majority of our caseload were on my aged care packages.  Students were invited to join the allied health team at a regional conference addressing falls prevention.

I have worked here for 5 years now. Over this time I have witnessed many changes. Morality has dropped, workload is increasingly hard to keep up with, stress with coworkers bursting at the seams, never enough staff or inexperienced staff in a high care ward. This is felt not only with the nursing staff but all throughout other areas. It's such a shame as it was a very fair place to work years ago. I find that it's the support of your teammates and the fun you create together to get through what is a tough, challenging day for all. I know that of many facilities we are of the luckier ones, but it's a far from being at it's best. The good things are it's a newer facility, systems in place, you know what your doing and tools of the trade are normally available. Time management is a problem for many sectors with too many things on the to do list and not enough time or hands to help.

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