Work At Long Last!

Published in 'Newslink', Headstart ABI Service; December, 2018

 In October, I responded to an ad for a ‘General Service Officer’ at a nearby Aged Care Facility. To my surprise, I was called that very afternoon and asked to come in for an interview! Shortly after, I was offered the position of Laundry Attendant. This has not been without its challenges, but already I am feeling a lot more confident with the job. 

 As it’s developed, my shifts loosely follow the same pattern:

From the Nurses, I have learnt the value of having a ‘hand-over’. I’ll clock in about fifteen minutes early, and be updated on where things are at. 'Wash these', I might be told, or 'deliver these trolleys’ of clothes’, which gives me a head-start on how the shift is to progress. Writing a few pages of key notes (‘hang these’ and ‘operate-like-so’) for quick reference has helped too. 

There is always a mound of personal linen to be sorted, which threw me in those first few weeks. But the alphabetical list of resident’s names made shortly after I started with their room number helps tremendously, as does composing a mental map of people and faces by delivering to them. ‘So-and-so?’ I’ll think. ‘Oh, he’s  in wing 2!’ and often look straight to the trolley.

I wrestled with those bothersome sheets and blankets at first! Then I was showed a neat way of folding those pesky fitted sheets and the handy-man told me about the '3rd Arm'. A tool used by the hospitality industry, it has a clamp and footswitch which allows you to fold linen sheets with minimal back-strain and zero ground-time. Haven’t looked back.

So for the first few hours of my shift I’ll alternate between washing, drying, folding and delivering, which will of course be guided by the hand-over. Then in the last hour I’ll set aside some time to focus on the cleaning routine. The lint filters must emptied, the soiled soiled linen trolleys must be cleaned (Residents’ can be quite care-free with corn-flakes), floors must be regularly swept and mopped, bins must be emptied and supplies need re-stocking. 

On a good day I’ll knock off maybe five minutes late. Sometimes I may stay back a little longer if I’m a bit behind, but there’s kind of an unspoken agreement there.  ‘You scratch my back, and I’ll scratch yours,’ I was told one day, and I get that. Can’t rest on my laurels just yet, mind you- still gotta pass the six-month probation- but they’re a good bunch to be working with, and I’m feeling optimistic about this...