No two days are the same

Emma Ross is Senior Healthcare Support Worker at Hannah House, she tells us why she loves her role...

“I'm passionate about community services
because no two days are the same.”

"I have worked for the NHS for around six years, four of those have been spent working at Hannah House, where I provide planned or emergency short-break care for children with complex needs. The house is a ‘home from home’ where we provide care for children up to the ages of 19 years. 

Before Hannah House I worked for a community team in Wakefield where I would deliver respite for children with disabilities and complex health care needs within their own home.

I applied for my role at Hannah House as a Senior Healthcare Support Worker because I wanted to work with children in a relaxed home from home setting as I find this type of environment is more comforting for the children and less daunting than the hospital. Also I wanted to work in a team rather than on my own.   

No two days are the same at Hannah House. A typical day will generally involve getting the children who have stayed overnight up and ready for the day, which includes helping them wash and dress and with meals. Through the day, I take care of their personal needs and assist with meeting their healthcare needs as well as spending the day doing various activities and having fun.

I love working at Hannah House. I enjoy spending time interacting with the children and doing activities with them. Every aspect of my role is rewarding but I especially enjoy making the children happy."

A positive impact

Siobhan Jones joined the team at Hannah House at the start of 2014 and has been enjoying it ever since. She explains what led her to work for a community trust... 

"I'm passionate about community services as you
get to see the children in lots of different settings
and work with the families to help build relationships."

"Prior to working at Hannah House I spent 16 years working for Leeds and York Partnership NHS Foundation Trust. I worked on several units predominately supporting adults with a learning disability who also display challenging behaviour. This included working on the assessment and treatment unit, respite unit and working with people during their transition back to the community. I also worked on the respite unit for adults who also have complex health needs.

I applied to work at Hannah House for several reasons, the main one being the opportunity to work with children. Prior to and during my nurse training I worked with children in a variety of settings all of which I found extremely rewarding. Since becoming a mum I have been reminded how enjoyable it is to spend time with children and to help them through the various stages of development. 

Each day at Hannah House is different. Overall a typical day can be broken down into three main areas. The first being the direct contact you have with the child; meeting their needs whether this be personal care, medication, nutrition, in relation to play and stimulation or supporting their method of communication and assessing their health needs and responding appropriately. 

The second concerns communication with others. This may be the family, school, community nurses. It may be carried out on the telephone; obtaining information regarding changes since their last stay or providing others with updates and information e.g. their school. 

The third is looking how things can be done better. This can be reviewing practices and identifying how care can be delivered better at Hannah House. It may involve looking at how we can improve communication between ourselves, the child and others who are involved in the child’s care. It may have a wider scope involving how the services can work better together to provide the most effective and efficient service possible.

Working in a community trust allows me to work with other teams and in different locations, such as in the child's home. This enables me not just to see how the child spends their time at home but helps with building a relationship between myself and the family.

The most rewarding aspect of my role is knowing that something you have done today, however small, has had a positive impact upon the child you are caring for."