Aged Care Coordinators and Team Leaders
Plan and coordinate care and support services to assist older people in various aged care settings.
Short-staffed on a Sunday morning
You are the team leader on the morning shift in an aged care home, with a full house of residents and a roster that just fell apart. It is 6:15am. Two care workers have rung in sick, one more is running late, and the residents will be waking up soon. The agency has no replacements until midday.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
Hi, I know we are short today. I can do a double shift if you need me, but I did a late last night and I am already pretty tired. I do not want to let you down. What do you want me to do?
Accept her offer gratefully, since you need every pair of hands you can get
Nina works hard, but by afternoon she is exhausted and makes a mistake with a resident's call bell record. Nothing serious, but you used a good person past her limit.
Thank her, say no to the double, and ask her to stay a couple of extra hours with a break
Nina is relieved and works the extra time carefully. You feel the gap on the afternoon shift, but you look after the people who look after the residents.
Turn her down and tell her to rest, then try to cover the whole gap by working the floor yourself
Nina is grateful, but you end up doing floor work and your leader duties go unfinished. A resident's family waits too long for a call back. Doing everything alone is not a plan.
My mother's lunch was cold yesterday and nobody told me the doctor had changed her tablets. I am not trying to be difficult, but I want to know who is in charge and why nobody speaks to families around here.
Listen fully, apologise for what you can, and check the notes together to give him a clear answer
Mr Alvarez calms down as you go through the notes. The change had been recorded, but no one had rung him. You promise a call when his mother's plan next changes, and you write it down.
Explain the staffing situation today and ask for his understanding while the home catches up
He nods, but he heard excuses and not answers. His question about being told is not addressed. Context is useful, but only after the person has been heard.
Defend the team, saying the doctor's changes are recorded and families are always welcome to ask
Mr Alvarez leaves angry and writes to the manager. You protected your staff and lost his trust. Being defensive made it harder to fix what actually went wrong.
I can see you are flat out, so I started using the mechanical lifter to help Mrs Park out of bed. I haven't had the lifter session yet, but it looked easy enough. I just wanted to help.
Step in, stop the task safely, thank him for wanting to help, and partner him with an experienced carer
Mrs Park is safely supported and Tim is embarrassed but not discouraged. The pairing works, though you lost some of the speed you were hoping for.
Tell him well done for taking the initiative, and ask him to be careful next time
Tim learns that skipping training is fine if nobody has noticed. On a later shift, another resident is hurt because he guessed. Praise for the wrong thing is a lesson too.
Pause it now, partner him with a trained carer and book his lifter session today
Mrs Park is supported properly, and Tim's training is booked for that afternoon. He understands why, and he is quicker to ask for help in future.
How it went
By noon the agency staff had arrived, the families had been called, and Tim was booked in for his session. Leading a care team means making fair decisions fast, listening to upset people and looking after your own staff while you do it. Would you want to be that person?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The Tuesday visits
A fictional case set in a residential aged care home, from the early morning handover to the afternoon rush.
The situation
Gwen was an aged care coordinator for a home care service. A woman named Mrs Dimitriou, aged eighty-four, lived alone and told everyone she was managing perfectly well. Her daughter lived interstate and rang Gwen worried that her mother seemed to be eating less. The visiting support worker reported that the fridge was nearly empty, but Mrs Dimitriou insisted she did not need any more help.
What they did
Gwen visited on a Tuesday and brought tea. She did not announce that she was there to check. She listened to Mrs Dimitriou talk about her garden and her late husband, and gently asked about meals. She learned that her client had stopped cooking because standing at the stove tired her. Gwen suggested trying frozen meals for a fortnight and a short visit from a support worker at lunchtime, and she let Mrs Dimitriou decide whether to try it.
How it turned out
Mrs Dimitriou agreed to a trial of the lunchtime visit, which she called a nuisance and kept for months. Her daughter relaxed a little. Gwen wrote in the care plan that the decision was Mrs Dimitriou's, and reviewed it with her after a month.
What would you do?
- Why do you think Gwen visited with tea instead of a checklist?
- How do you balance respecting someone's independence with caring about their safety?
- What would you want to be asked if you were in Mrs Dimitriou's position?