“So yes, I did get poo on my face.”

Victoria Daniels gets more than she bargained for when she dives head-first into her role as a Health Care Assistant

Following my year of volunteering in a cardiology ward and my involvement in St John Ambulance, I used to dream of becoming a nurse. I even spent a good part of the Easter vacation caring for my close friend as she underwent a serious procedure in hospital. Looking after her was a big commitment – I cooked for her, helped her go to the toilet and washed her hair in a washing up bowl while she lay helpless on the sofa. It was she who inspired me to spend my summer in pursuit of nursing experience.

It was a fairly simple process – I did a thorough internet search and found ‘Health Care Assistant’ vacancies for a company called Nurse Plus, which has 29 branches around the UK. It sounded perfect for a summer pocket-filler: no experience needed, training provided and flexible hours. It was only a week or so after I applied (as well as paying for a CRB check) that I got offered the job.

During training I learnt about manual handling, hoisting service users, food hygiene, general hygiene and infection control, first aid and medication and lots more! Although training is a great way to learn the basics, the only way to truly know what to do is to jump in at the deep end.

Initially I didn’t realise that I was applying to be a domiciliary carer, which is where you provide care for people in their own homes, as opposed to in a resident care home. Working in someone’s own home means you need to think on your feet and be prepared to walk into any situation on your own and remain calm. To be completely honest, I had no idea what I’d have to do in people’s homes apart from the standard washing, wiping bums and cooking. But it doesn’t matter how much you know, or what you expect, because every assumption will be challenged.

Before my first service user, I remember meeting with my colleague outside the house and telling her that I had never done this before and that I would need some guidance. I felt way too young and inexperienced to be looking after people so intimately and I just had no idea what to expect. I was told that my service user was no longer able to speak. How would we interact? Will they like me? What if they don’t take me seriously because of my age? The most daunting thing about walking into that first home was seeing my service user lying in bed and I just thought, “What on earth am I supposed to do?”

I quickly learnt how to deal with various types of diseases and disorders; however, what was equally important was learning how to develop strong relationships with the people you care for. Taking time and getting to know people as individuals rather than service users makes the job more than bearable and even made me excited to work every day. Relationships with service users also allowed us to get to know exactly what to do to provide to the most effective care possible.

In truth, with the long hours it was difficult to fit in time with friends. The job takes a lot of commitment, but to me it was definitely worth it and spending time with everyone gradually fell into place as work and a social life became easier to juggle. Something that is hard to get used to is people passing away; when I hear of a death, I always take a minute to remember the person and I consider how I helped to make them comfortable in their last days of life. Mostly, though, I value the time that I was able to spend with them.

By no means is the job all doom and gloom, but it is certainly trying at times. When telling friends that I had a job, I was regularly asked if I had ever got poo on my face, which was apparently a hilarious question. Obviously, the answer was “No”. Though not for long: after giving the service user a ‘freshen up’ with wet wipes, I started the ‘down-below’ washing and there was a lot more faeces than expected – fine, not a problem. I then put the flannel in the washing up bowl while I resorted back to the wet wipes, but my service user grabbed the bowl and, as I tried to catch it, the entire water bowl flooded across my face, down my legs and drowned my feet. So yes, to anyone who wants to know, I did get poo on my face. Never did a shower feel so good to wash away the trauma!

Advice to anyone who wants to become a health care assistant – do it, but make sure you have the stomach for it! The work, while challenging at times, has strengthened by dream to become a nurse and I still work whenever I go home at the weekends – I just can’t get enough! The job definitely changed me for the better; I am so much more caring and sympathetic and I know that I can make a difference to people’s lives and brighten up their day. That is the most amazing feeling.