Whiddon Group Laurieton employee Donna Jones has been working in aged care for the last 24 years and says it’s wonderful staff now have their own day of recognition.
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Aged Care Employee Day launched on August 7 and is a day for the entire aged care workforce.
“It’s a hard slog what we do and it’s nice to think there is now a day specially for us,” Donna said.
“It means a lot for us as workers to be recognised.”
The day was designed by Whiddon Group to celebrate each and every team member involved in the journey of caring for people who receive aged care services.
These people include the nurses, care workers, cooks and hospitality teams; to the drivers, cleaners and laundry employees, to the volunteers, to the leisure and lifestyle officers and administration teams.
Donna said she was always interested in elderly people and their stories, as growing up she didn’t have a close relationship with her grandparents.
In the community, Donna said, there tends to be a lack of awareness about what aged care workers do.
“We’re there from before the residents wake up in the morning, through the day and when they go to sleep,” she said.
“It’s a holistic approach of care.
“We’re there a lot more than families.”
Everyday Donna’s daily tasks change according to each client’s needs.
“No one day is the same,” she said.
Donna said people have preconceived ideas of aged care and a negative stigma has been created due to bad publicity on nursing homes in the past.
“They should know that people can still maintain their interests and passions when they come to homes,” she said.
“Our approach is very personalised, according to a resident’s likes and dislikes.”
The staff at Whiddon Group Laurieton are constantly working to change the negative perception that aged care homes are a clinical, hospital setting where the elderly are left to sit out the rest of their days.
The centre initiated a program called Best Week which is a way of introducing tailored and meaningful activity into the lives of residents in the Whiddon care home.
Donna enjoys making people’s lives happier on a daily basis.
Outside of work Donna enjoys gardening, going to the beach and for walks in her home suburb of Dunbogan.
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