I once asked a resident what she would do if she could do anything.
I had a variety of jobs including an improv instructor, actor and corporate facilitator, then Covid arrived and all those people-facing roles disappeared.
I was placed in an aged care residential home, working on reception.
A few months later the temp agency called again.
Most of them had dementia, so every day was different.
5 sentences from our version of the report,
chosen to cover it. Nothing here is written; every line is in the article below.
How
Summarized version
A few months later the temp agency called again. Most of them had dementia, so every day was different.
The report’s most important sentence, shortened and in plain words. How
Headline check
Headline as published: A job that changed me: I cried nearly every day working in aged care, then realised I could bring joy instead
There is nothing in this headline a machine can check against the report: no figure, no name and no quotation.
I once asked a resident what she would do if she could do anything.
I n my 40s, I was beginning to wonder where I fit in the work world. I had a variety of jobs including an improv instructor, actor and corporate facilitator, then Covid arrived and all those people-facing roles disappeared.
Living in Sydney, with my kids at school and a mortgage to pay, I took on some temp work through an agency.
I was placed in an aged care residential home, working on reception. Within the first hour I was in tears. I was confronted by the residents as I hadn’t been around older people much before, especially people with dementia.
I worked there for a month and cried every day.
A few months later the temp agency called again. The same aged care company had some full-time reception work at another home, and had asked for “the lady who cried all the time”.
On my first day I was nervous. At one point I found myself in the bathroom letting go of a couple of tears and gave myself a good pep talk.
The desk itself was at the front entrance, between the residents’ rooms and the lounge and dining area. All residents would walk past me to and from meals and activities.
Most of them had dementia, so every day was different. Some mornings it was calm and smiles; other mornings it’d be residents refusing showers, or asking me to call their mum to take them home.
I decided to bring joy and love to the job each day.
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