Working in aged care

[Miss H]

I am really interested in going into this field. I want to return to work after 4 years of looking after my girls and am looking at studying Cert III in Aged Care. Has anyone else done this course and through which institution? Or do you work in the field and have some advice. Thanks

[Me+him+bub]

i am an RN and did aged care all through uni, I will be honest, the pay is ok if you are casual if not and you are full time it is about $600 after tax a week (back when I was doing it), the work is physically hard, it is also shift work and weekend work, and you must be able to stomach EVERYTHING to residents having accidents to the 2 hourly pad checks all through the night and feeding them at meals. The industry is also very understaffed and there is a lot of pressure. It all also depends on whether you work in high care or low care or dementia, it is all very different. I personally didn't "enjoy" it but I was good at it and it was rewarding knowing I was helping the elderly and it led me to bigger and better things and gave me experience. I think it is great you are thinking of it but it isn't for everyone so do a bit of research first.