Rural home celebrates close-knit community on Aged Care Employee Day

August the 7th is a special day for aged care workers, providers and residents.

'Aged Care Employee Day', an initiative of the ACCPA, is an annual celebration that acknowledges each and every team member involved in residential care for their service throughout the year.

This year's theme, 'thank you for caring', is a simple call to action to honour the over 360,000 aged care staff in Australia.

RSL LifeCare's Lara Aged Care Home invited its residents and staff to join the festivities by hosting a BBQ on the weekend.

One of the facility's nurses is Monica Reilly, who works as the quality coordinator of Lara Aged Care.

"We're a small community with a family atmosphere," she says.

"I love this facility and the job.

"When I got married two years ago, I broadcasted the wedding on Zoom so all the residents could be part of it."

The charitable aged care provider started in 1911 and now cares for over 7,500 residents in 28 retirement villages and 28 Aged Care Homes across NSW and the ACT.

For Monica, it's the people she takes care of that are the reason she comes to work every day and why she enjoys her job.

"We look after each other," she says.

"Every day is different, sometimes it is happy, and sometimes it can be very sad. 

"We have a fabulous team and we work hard. Often, you feel like you don't stop running from the moment you walk in."

She entered the sector by accident – initially, she worked as a speech pathologist in a private practice and just signed up for a few shifts in aged care to earn extra money.

"I thought it was going to be easy work," Monica shares.

"How wrong I was!

 "As soon as I started working in aged care, though, I loved it."

She gave up her job as a speech pathologist and started working in aged care full time. 

Twelve years ago, Monica applied for the registered nurse position in Lara Aged Care Home, after which she moved from her city life in Sydney to regional Dungog.

Situated in the middle of dairy and timber country, the Dungog shire houses just over 2,000 residents and overlooks the Williams River in the Hunter Region of NSW.

The close-knit community often helps the residential home on a volunteer basis by organising outings and activities for the residents.

"There's a very strong sense of community," Monica says. 

"The staff and residents know each other well and have often known each other for years. Some have known each other since they were at school.  

"And some staff have been working at this facility for 20 to 30 years."

Pat Redgrove, a Lara Aged Care Home resident, also says that the family-like community stands out to him.

He says the staff will do anything for you, and their care and dedication "couldn't get better". 

"It's a lovely resident culture," Pat shares with Aged Care Insite.

"It's a place of happiness.

"This is my home now, and I like it here. I'm very well looked after."

With regular 'happy hour' and movie nights, the aged care home is quite familiar with hosting social events within the facility.

This year's Aged Care Employee Day celebration is no exception.

"I'll come to the BBQ and all the happenings and do my best to make everyone happy," he says.

"I love making the staff laugh, and I love tricking them."

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