The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
‘You build up a bond with residents’
For this nurse, working in a care home setting gives her not only job satisfaction but the flexibility she needs to be a single mother.
When Debbie O’Reilly started working for Balhousie Care Group, it was for the love of nursing in a care home environment. Three years later, she still wouldn’t swap it for a hospital or doctor’s surgery setting; and now she’s a single parent, Debbie finds nursing in a care home suits her lifestyle perfectly.
“There’s always something to keep me motivated, and every day I’m learning new things,” says Debbie, clinical lead at Balhousie Moyness care home in Dundee. “But it also gives me the flexibility I need as a single working mum.”
Debbie and her former partner split the care of their eight-year-old son in half. They work in two-week cycles, taking their son for a few days at a time. For Debbie, that means working weekdays or weekends, and some shifts longer than others. She and her former partner live close to each other in Broughty Ferry, and both are close to the two sets of grandparents, who also help with school pick-ups and childcare.
“It’s all about my priority right now, and that is to spend as much time with my son as I can when I’m not working. My job at Balhousie Moyness means I can fit work around him. When his dad has him, I can pick up extra shifts. If it’s out of hours or weekends, I’m getting paid a higher rate – time and a half – which is great for me financially.”
Debbie graduated from Dundee University with a BSc in adult nursing. She has worked in three care homes for Balhousie Care Group, which has 25 homes in Scotland, most of them in Tayside. Being permanently at Balhousie Moyness means she knows the residents and staff.
“I came straight to Balhousie after I graduated because I wanted to work in a setting where I could get to know my residents and family and make a real impact on people’s lives. You build up a bond with the residents. This is their home so it’s really important they feel that, from the care they receive to the staff treating them. Each care plan is individualised for the resident – that’s something we’re proud of at Balhousie Care.”
Debbie works the floor as a nurse, doing medication rounds, overseeing and carrying through care plans, and dealing with everything from wounds to palliative care. She is also a support for her team, carrying out audits and reviews and helping with staff development.
“I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, do a job where I was stagnant, just doing the work, bringing in the money, and going home again,” says Debbie. “Things don’t stand still at my work, whether it’s helping to implement a new dementia care programme or using the latest new technology to deliver our care plans.
“It keeps me interested, it keeps motivation high and it makes our teams really strong.”
Balhousie Care Group is recruiting carers, nurses and support staff across its homes. Email careers@balhousiecare. co.uk for details.