“I love making people smile and knowing I’ve made a difference. It’s the best feeling in the world.”

An extremely rewarding career

We know our CareAngels and their team leaders find their work with our client community extremely rewarding as they work extraordinarily hard to provide compassionate care to our families. In a new series of profiles, we will be spotlighting a few of our staff members in order to share with you what makes them such special individuals and why they are so valuable to Guardian Angel Carers.

Emily Lee, one of our Team Leaders, has given us a glimpse into her decision to become a carer, her work life, and her hopes for the future. Here is her story, which is told in her own words (which have been lightly edited for clarity):

Paid to retrain, I was a hairdresser before becoming a CareAngel

“I was working as a hairdressing apprentice at Creations in Chichester when my nanny began experiencing symptoms of vascular dementia and Alzheimer’s. Since then, she has been diagnosed with both, and her condition is now very advanced. At the time, I wanted to learn how to be able to support my family and especially my grandad as we all started to care for her as my grandparents are incredibly special to me. Another factor that encouraged me to choose care for a career is my mum. She has always worked in care and is now working as an HCA at Nuffield. Her kindness and her caring attitude toward others are qualities I share with her. I love making people smile and knowing I’ve made a difference. It’s the best feeling in the world.

I like to think of myself as a very caring and compassionate person. I thrive off of other peoples’ happiness and I always want to do more for people. I am a very family-oriented person and I would do anything to support them. I am very blessed to have the grandparents I do and now is my time to give back to them as a way to thank them for the love they’ve always given to me, from a very young age when my parents were unhappy and divorcing. Working at the hairdressers definitely gave me the people skills I needed to work in care. I learned how to talk to all different kinds of people and to be professional. As we all know, some people can come out with some interesting opinions, and hairdressing definitely gave me the skills to be able to deal with those situations with respect and tact.

What a day in the life of being a carer looks like for me

A typical day in care for me starts when I wake up between 5am and 6am, and I like to do some yoga and journaling to start my day. I find this gives me a chance to get in the right mindset. I have my morning coffee and breakfast, then I get dressed. I like to wash my uniform the night before and hang it on the radiator so it’s all fresh. I often have my first visit in Singleton, so I need a good 20 minutes to get there for a 7am start. I like to listen to music or a podcast while I am on my way and take in the beautiful scenery of Goodwood. I’m very lucky to live in such a beautiful area where I can take in the stunning country side as I travel between clients.

I like to de-stress by doing yoga daily for 45 minutes to an hour, and I meditate for 15 minutes daily. I also enjoy reading, writing in my journal, listening to music and singing. I find it really important to try and keep up with these daily activities as care is a very full-on job, both mentally and physically. I am a very empathetic person which doesn’t always work in my favour as a I have a tendency not to switch off from my clients, especially if they’re poorly.

My wonderful clients are what I enjoy most

What I enjoy most about my job is my wonderful clients, I work with such a variety of individuals with different personalities and needs, and it is so good to experience these differences. I do have my special clients: one wonderful lady is in her 90s, and she is the life of the party. Her energy is amazing; after a visit together, we are both so jolly.

I adore my job because it is so fulfilling and wonderful

I absolutely adore my job because it Is so fulfilling and wonderful, but I do have to be in the best mental and emotional state possible. Otherwise, it can be very mentally and physically draining. In my job, I have the opportunity to work with clients who have a variety of needs ranging from Alzheimer’s, dementia, MS, Parkinson’s, strokes and cancer. This means that no two visits are the same. Some clients only require me to support them as they walk with a frame, whereas others may need to be hoisted using a sling. Other clients are bedbound and need to be rolled in the correct way to ensure both their safety and ours.

I am a team leader for Cell 3A, and I have the most amazing team. I have made some lifelong friends, and we work so well together. We had cells put in place when the COVID 19 pandemic broke out, which allowed the office to assign certain carers to certain clients so that we could minimise potential cross contamination as much as possible. The office team is so approachable; they never hesitate to help. All the carers are just amazing.

Continuous support and training from my CareAngel family

For me, I see my professional future as bright and exciting. Working at Guardian Angels has given me so much knowledge and experience. I am also completing my NVQ 3 alongside my job as a team leader and carer. My dream job is to work as a theatre nurse. I would love to work alongside surgeons as they operate on people and save their lives. I find surgery absolutely fascinating and magical. I’m a very creative person, and I am in awe of the way surgeons work. That’s my end goal for years to come. Guardian Angel Carers is a wonderful company to work for. I can’t bring myself to think about leaving anytime soon as they’re all my family now.”

Join us and have a rewarding career in care

Our approach to home care is person-centred, which means that our range of different domiciliary  home care services are tailored to our client’s specific needs. And like Emily you do not need experience to join our team of CareAngels, just a kind, and caring nature with the ambition to learn and grow. Contact our recruitment team today to see if a career in care is for you.