registered nurse

facilities manager

deputy manager

residential manager

service writer

Southern Cross Care

I was taken on by Southern Cross Services as a maintenance worker.  I accepted the role and was issued a contract which detailed a salary, annual leave entitlements, fuel card and an agreement that I would be supported with RPL to obtain my carpentry certificate. 
Based on this information I resigned from my previous role and accepted  the job offer. 
Upon acceptance the terms then began to change!
Firstly I was told by Southern Cross that they would no longer be employing me as they had appointed a commercial builder by the name of MGA Systems.  They reassured me that MGA would honour the terms of the contract and that none of the terms under which I had accepted the role would be retracted or different in any way.
I commenced work under MGA on Southern Cross houses and chased them consistently for my onboarding paperwork as they had not provided me with a contract from them outlining ther terms of my employment, they had not sent me a request for bank details to pay me, a tax request form or superannuation nomination account.

After 3 full days of working for them I received a call from MGA Systems to say that they would not be honouring the contract at all and that they would be taking me on as a sub contractor.

no annual leave, no super annuation, no RPL to obtain my carpentry license.

They informed me that Southern Cross Services had 'washed their hands of me'

I was so disgusted by both of these companies and I would never have left my former role if I had of known that they were completely misleading me in the terms of the job.

This building needs a huge overhaul, it is very old in the low care part and the positioning of the ensuites in each residents bedroom is ok until you need to get a hoist in that room, it is near impossible!  Doorways are not wide enough. The high care part and the dementia part are new buildings and they are very well designed.  Management was very nice there and very helpful they make sure you are settling into your new job and everything is ok.  I didn't like how they employed people with no experience and not even a cert III, this was very discouraging as they had no idea how to do their job and the residents suffered. I saw a lot of things happen there that I didn't like at all. Things not being reported properly because 'its too much paperwork'.  Certain PC's not following the rules of residents care plans, and nothing being done about that. There is no training for manual handling. Residents lists need updating in the kitchen badly as new staff come on and are left to do shifts on their own and are not aware of the dietary needs of the residents, or the kitchen doesn't even know. Its too dangerous. Handovers between shifts were not thorough enough. In the end I was glad to leave there.

My morning shift starts at 7am,We receive the handover from night staff. It takes 15minutes.Then we go to our allocated wings.
We first check on the shower list to get to know the residents that are supposed to have a shower in the morning.
We head to the dirty room to get troys to use while making the residents beds to put in the dirty linen.
We knock on each residents room to wake them up to get ready for the day.
Those supposed to be showered are showered and assisted with dressing up and personal care.
At 8am they are ready for breakfast, we transfer them to the dinning room, breakfast is served.
After breakfast ,those ones intrested in activities head to the activities room. Morning tea is served at 10am.
At 12noon,all residents come back to the dinning room to eat lunch, after lunch at around 1pm,Residents are free to either go for games or do whatever makes them happy.
My morning shift ends at 1:30pm.

I have learnt to be patient and tolerant.
The management is alright as long as you do your duties in time.
My co-workers are good, we work in a team.
The hardest part of my work is that every day is different from the other because residents die and yet you have been close to them.
The most enjoyable part of the job is that you get to learn new things everyday through the residents life experience.

What is the best part of working at the company?
It is a big company, years ago HR did great job. Not anymore. Professional development, courses to study avilable. 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Managers changing every year. Staff was hired never was moving grades and levels. No big rise of salary. Company is Penny pinchers. 
Every year dismissing staff and just before accreditation hiring again. Culture of the staff create an internal conflict: magority vs minority. Builing issue never was solved. To many dominant male  disrespecting residents, refuse of care, neglect, disrespect. 


What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Philippines - hired based  on the manager's background.
Favorite and non favourite.
The problem is that: Manager should be an RN, but not every RN know how to manage. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
I was working independently, I love what I do. I am happy I left. I should leave earlier.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Being able to work with and assist the elderly residents within the homes was great.

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The fact that the vibe is so suffocating, and the environment is so toxic due to some staff who feel they are within their rights to beat others down and be awful to them for no apparent reason.

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Toxic and suffocating. A shame really, as the elderly residents deserve a whole lot better.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Full of anxiety. I was not trained by pca buddy staff properly, nor was I treated with kindness and respect very often, despite always ensuring that I treated everyone this way at all times. Often made to feel as if the staff were just making a complete joke out of me.

Very busy of course working within an aged care setting. Learnt a lot about the importance of caring for elderly patients who are less fortunate then myself regarding physical and psychological well-being. 

Management were really supportive and encouraged me to learn fast and keep up in which I did not mind as I like a challenge and this was a very challenging environment/role. 

The most difficult part was caring for someone who you were getting to know a lot more through patient-care worker trust relationship and they either passed away or their cognitive condition got worse and could not recognise who you were. 

Absolutely loved looking after the elderly people because they made me laugh, treated me with respect (majority), and made me appreciate more about life.

i learned lots of valuable things when working with the elderly,they we sweet to me while i worked in the aged care system.I love my job in aged care and working as a team leader on all different shifts.The shift i most liked which i done for years was working afternoon shift.I done several courses over the years with southern cross care which gained me experience in medications.diseases,manual handling.The hardest part of my job was watching the elderly go thru the end of life.I loved everything about my job to staff and the elderly i really enjoyed going to work when it was my shift,happy environment makes a happy person.enjoyable moment at work was christmas day i recieved several presents from some residents for been such a good worker and polite when caring for them,that made my day feeling i made them happy with the caring service i provided.

What is the best part of working at the company?
Good wages , good work life balance , very caring support staff at anytime .

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
Spend a lot of time on the road can be very challenging especially during peak hours 


What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
Really good no issues at all 
Friendly colleagues with many years of experience that can be a good guiding way of doing our job well .
The supervisor is very approachable and helpful. 

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
Working hours are easy and you can have the same clients every weeks .
The company follows your experience and make sure you will always work within your working hours from start to finish.

Not enough training given
Very physically demanding
Resident's are wonderful
Need to be strong emotionly 
Enjoyed working with the residents
got along with most, availability of shift work,job entails helping the residents in activities of daily living such as showering drying dressing shaving cleaning teeth and or dentures. Regular linen changes,making beds organising their room so neat and tidy. Regular toileting of residents thru out the day .Assisting with meals help serve and help residents with eating, clean &tidy of common areas such as lounge/dining,sun rooms

your typical day is filled with anxiety and nerves .  I learned that i was deceived in the interview and would later discover that the place is desperate for staff.  As a result of that i  found that i was questioning myself everyday.  Management is awful, in they way that she would not listen to my concerns. i was left unsupported and ridiculed
in front of colleagues at meetings ,  be seen as a bother when trying to learn.  The culture is absolutely toxic and favoritism takes place.  The hardest part was every single minute of the day. 
Residents are enjoyable but they should be getting more out of staff than the little they receive.  My mental health really suffered  

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Registered nurse 5 salaries reported	$45.97 per hour
Facilities manager 1 salary reported	$100,000 per year
Deputy manager 1 salary reported	$45.00 per hour
Residential manager 8 salaries reported	$99,375 per year
Service writer 3 salaries reported	$45,000 per year

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