Aged care workers acknowledged by awards
The finalists in the Aged & Community Care Providers Association (ACCPA) Excellence Awards have now been announced.
This will be the sixth time the association has celebrated aged care workers across Australia, through Aged Care Employee Day — which this year falls on Wednesday, 7 August.
“Aged Care Employee Day is a chance to say a massive ‘thanks for caring’ to our dedicated and compassionate aged care superheroes, who look after our older loved ones in residential care, home and community care, retirement living and seniors housing,” said Tom Symondson, ACCPA CEO.
“This important date reminds us of the caring and professional work our aged care staff perform every day. From managers to personal carers, nurses, kitchen and laundry staff, diversion therapy staff, allied health professionals, administrators, gardeners or volunteers they have all worked above and beyond the call of duty to keep our older Australians cared for, safe and thriving.
“This year, we’re delighted our inaugural ACCPA Excellence Awards provides another opportunity to thank these everyday heroes for their dedication and service.”
The 48 ACCPA Excellence Awards finalists have been selected from over 460 nominations received as part of ACCPA’s industry recognition program, ‘You are ACE!’.
Among the ACCPA Excellence Awards finalists is recently retired aged care nurse Cathy Buick, from Coolibah Care in Western Australia, who was nominated in ‘You are ACE!’ after 54 years of caring.
“Nursing for me has been a fantastic journey with lots of challenges along the way. I have loved every minute. Caring for people from babies to aged care and everyone in between has been so rewarding,” she said.
Buick feels deeply privileged to have served as a nurse. She loved caring for older people at Coolibah Care in Mandurah for the past 17 years.
“All my life nursing has been a great passion for me, and I would definitely encourage people to go into nursing — I loved it.
“Coolibah gave me a lot of choices to do things. It was a fantastic place to work. I’ve got great friends there.”
Another finalist, Wagga Wagga aged care volunteer Anne O’Connor, is spreading smiles and warmth with the help of her faithful four-legged companion Ellie May.
With wagging tails and smiling faces, they lift the spirits of all, engaging in lively conversation as part of their weekly visits to The Forrest Centre — an 80-bed residential aged care home.
“I’ve lived 67 years in Wagga. There are quite a few people that I’ve known who grew up in the area and it’s nice to go and have a chat with them. You only need to spend 10 minutes with four to five people. For them it’s like fresh air and brightens up their day,” O'Connor said.
“(Ellie May’s) the best icebreaker. She’s really good for that, then they love to chat. They’re lovely people and it’s a nice way to fill a little bit of time.”
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