Why I became a care assistant

At Bluebird Care Croydon, our care assistants are the heart of our business. These are stories by our staff about why they chose to work in homecare, and allows you an insight into their day-to-day lives as a care assistant. Read some of the special stories our staff have to tell about their experiences working for Bluebird Care Croydon.

If after reading our staff stories you are eager to learn more about us, please view our vacancies page or contact our friendly team on 02086 869496.

Nicola's Story

In January 2012, I started looking for part time work after my youngest son had gone into primary school as I had a lot more free time. At Croydon Jobcentre, I had a look for care assistant jobs and come across a few companies. I had a further  look into a few options but I heard that Bluebird Care Croydon had arranged a presentation at my local Jobcentre so I put myself down to attend.

I looked at their website and was impressed with the job information and noticed they had a lot of training to offer as well as being close to home which suited my circumstances. Whilst looking further into Bluebird Care Croydon, I saw a lot of positive things about them including a fully compliant CQC result. Following the presentation about care work, I asked for more information from the Director Dean Slade who gave me an application form and answered some questions I had.  

It was from that moment that I decided to start my journey with Bluebird Care Croydon. Once I had completed the application, Bluebird Care Croydon kindly invited me in for an interview. I was given more information about the company and how they worked, what kind of roles were available, what they involved and if it would be suitable. I was very happy to hear.

I was employed as a care assistant and given training days for an Induction, Moving and Handling and Medication Training that was very successful and I passed with flying colours. Bluebird Care Croydon were very welcoming, I was able to call when I had questions and queries and feel I had the best support. I enjoyed my care role and underwent various training and completed COSHH, First Aid, Health and Safety Level 2, Food Safety Level 2, Administration of Medication, Infection Prevention, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards and many more in my first year. I have continued to complete more online courses that are easy to access and very convenient for anyone’s schedule. In 2015 I also completed my NVQ 2 in Health and Social Care and look forward to starting Level 3.

During one weekend, Bluebird Care Croydon were looking for someone to cover the on call service so I volunteered as I had built a good relationship with customers and care assistants. I felt confident enough to take on this responsibility and this eventually led to me taking this on full time. I was praised for my work and was even invited to the London Care Awards by our care manager, Mandy.

In November 2015, our director presented a new career path at our staff meeting.  There were positions available for Lead Care Assistants/Team Leaders which interested me so I applied and was successful in my application. My role has now extended to doing spot checks, supervisions, auditing daily diary sheets, experiencing the office environment and building a good rapport with care assistants and customers in my team.

My most recent training was ‘Moving and Handling -Train the Trainer’. This was part of my team leader role as I was to become Moving and Handling Trainer to enable me to teach new employees when they joined Bluebird Care Croydon. This has been a great experience as I was able to meet with other senior care employees from other companies, we shared experiences with each other and I was able to take on new ideas from others to take back to the office and help build a stronger team.

Since being with Bluebird Care Croydon, I have always been encouraged with my career path and given the best support and advice. Bluebird Care Croydon have always had the customer’s best interest at heart. I am aware that our customers have had reliable and consistent care assistants that go above and beyond the call of duty in a professional friendly work environment. I am very happy I made that choice in 2012 and very happy with my position and proud to be part of the team.