‘You’re overworked and you can’t win’ – homemaker shares her story

Homemaker Virginia Ellis, 55, joined aged care provider Uniting Springwood's team 15 years ago.

And even then, they said, 'Oh, hey, Virginia, I know it's your first day, but we're short-staffed. Can you come?'

But she said the last few years had been so hard that she often thinks of quitting. 

"It's really hard sometimes," Virginia shared with Aged Care Insite.

"I don't think people understand exactly what we do each day.

"So many times I think of leaving. But I won't quit because I love my job; I work with some really good people. And things have to get better."

Covid outbreaks in aged care facilities have driven the already staff-depleted sector into further turmoil – the remaining workforce has to juggle taking care of residents while also being restrained by strict Covid regulations.

Last week, there were 1,064 active outbreaks in aged care homes with 6,360 residents and 3,546 staff infected. 

Virginia said the worst outbreak they've had was in Lewin Lodge, a single-person type of accommodation in Springwood, where they had 14 cases at once.

"They said, 'Virginia, we're going into lockdown. Can you go and get the table from the seminar room? Can you go and get the PPE equipment?' And it's mostly just us."

Virginia said they're constantly short-staffed and that the pandemic has made the workload "horrendous".

"There's so many staff that ... they've just gone. Good staff we have lost, and we're down to just a very good few. Our workloads have increased so much.

"I've never known it so bad – of the original team, we only have three regulars left.

"Even just doing RAT tests on everybody that comes in and doing their check-ins. The front door's locked, answering the front door, the paperwork ..."

Her team recently received an email saying there were 100 vacant shifts every two weeks, a figure not unfamiliar among many residential care homes in Australia.

At the peak of January's Omicron wave, 30 to 50 per cent of the staff was in isolation due to Covid.

A study from Notre Dame University found that in May, 70 per cent of job vacancies were in aged care, equating to nearly 60,000 jobs needing to be filled. 

In response, the Health department released a 'Covid surge workforce package', which involves recruiting retired people who still want to work and collaborating with stakeholders to clear the backlog of enrolment into jobs.

They also extended the Australian Defence Force (ADF) program until September 30th.

But Virginia said she had not seen anyone from the ADF helping at Springwood since the program commenced in early February this year.

"At times, it's just me and one other staff member taking care of 35 residents, and we're doing everything: medications, washing, breakfast preparation and all things that go with it," Virginia said.

Nestled in the heart of the Blue Mountains, Uniting Springwood follows a 'household living' approach with a strong focus on individualised care.

While this indicates that residents are free to set their own day-to-day routine, it can complicate tasks and caretaking for the understaffed team.

"When I come in, I've got breakfast to prepare for 20 to 25 residents that chose not to go to the dining room because they like it in their room," she shared.

"People want a fried egg, the skin off the tomato and the crust off the toast. The next lady wants scrambled eggs, her own bread lightly toasted and so on. 

"And I said to her, 'I honestly don't think you realise the workload that is expected of us in a morning'."

Although Virginia's roster is 76 hours every two weeks, it's easy to work overtime as she often comes in early and stays late, and catches up on emails and inquiries after work hours.

"You feel overworked, and you can't win."

But Virginia said that as long as there are no falls and everybody is safe, they'll be able to get through these rough times.

Still, one of the main reasons she gets up for work every morning is because she cares for the residents, who also care about her.

"If I didn't think and feel for the residents I would have quit some time ago, but I care," she said.

"And they really do love you as well. I've also got good connections with their families and things like that."

Virginia loves exercising and goes to the gym or for a run every day, which keeps her physical and mental health in check.

She said she's also lucky to have a very supportive partner.

"I have no stress in my life except for work – I'm fortunate in that respect.

"But I do feel tired. I asked to be off work tomorrow because I've been here nearly every day for the last fortnight.

"And tomorrow, all day, I'll feel tired. I just know it. And then I'm back on Sunday and Monday."

While the lack of staff is a significant issue, the ones that do get hired are often young and inexperienced. 

We need more staff, but we need staff that are trained, she said.

"These young kids that are coming through the agency, they have no experience.

"And I understand that they struggle; they're also nervous and frightened under the enormous work pressure."

Virginia said the sure-fire way to solve the sector's problems is if workers were paid a better wage.

That way, she said, we can retain our good staff or attract people that really want to work in this industry.

While the Fair Work Commission raised the minimum wage to $21.38 per hour, which came into effect on July 1st, the ANMF strongly advocated for an increase of at least 25 per cent for aged care workers.

The Minister of Aged Care and Sport, Anika Wells, has been lobbying with the Commission and put forward a submission, which will be discussed in September. 

Virginia is hopeful the new Labor government will do something about the aged care crisis. 

"The team and our residents need a plan to look forward to," she said.

"I'm 55, and a lot of people are coming into aged care in their early 60s.

"If we don't start to try and make it better, I would not like going into aged care."

Since she started working at Uniting Springwood, Virginia said the management and team have always been very supportive and inclusive to everyone and that she's proud to work for them.

But she's looking forward to better days ahead.

"We actually need a film crew here for one day to follow the life of aged care workers so people can see that our workload has quadrupled over the last couple of years," Virginia said.

"But I've had my little meltdown, my little cry, and now I just get through every day as best as I can."

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