Career in care stands test of time

Meet Kath Patterson, Care Support Officer at BlueCare Toowoomba Community Centre.

Kath has been supporting our work in the community for more than 11 years and says BlueCare is a great place to work.

“The best thing about working here is you get to make somebody’s day. I get paid to help people achieve their goals and dreams, and make them more independent every day. It’s an enormous privilege to work in this sector, to be able to go into people’s homes, and for them to come into our centres.”

Kath says for older people, this usually means empowering them to live in their own homes for as long as possible.

“Every day BlueCare Nurses are on the road travelling to people’s homes across our vast state. We provide a range of in home services including but not limited to respite, domestic assistance, nursing care, and helping people to travel and go shopping,” says Kath, explaining BlueCare focuses on supporting the individual in conjunction with their personal network of family, friends, neighbours and other advocates.

“We also deliver respite care via our centre-based day programs, and have a large allied health presence at Toowoomba to support the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of a range of conditions and illnesses.”

Kath says BlueCare has given her flexibility to evolve in her career over the years, enabling her to transition from her first role delivering direct care to her current project-based role where she is involved in supporting new recruits into BlueCare.

“The focus is on getting the right people on board at the right time, and providing the education and training they need to succeed,” says Kath, explaining a Certificate III in Individual Support is a minimum preferred qualification. “Hopefully they will have as long and satisfying an experience as I have had at BlueCare.”

For anyone considering making a switch to a career in caring, Kath says the choice is obvious.

“Join us! It’s a great job - every day is different, every day is a challenge, but every day I go home knowing I’ve made a difference for the people that we serve.”