Working as an aged care worker in Australia is one of the most rewarding career paths you can ever imagine. As a professional, you will be responsible for encouraging and empowering the aging people in the community who need necessary support for various tasks, including regular daily activities, participating in a community gathering, etc.
In a word, you will help them lead a more satisfying and meaningful life. Usually, you will need a valid aged care certificate to apply for a job role. This blog discusses various career options you will find after completing Certificate 4 in Aged Care.
When you work with people who need support for most of their activities, you must have effective communication skills and confidence. The more you talk with them, the better you will understand their needs, for which you have to provide the necessary support.
What is a Certificate IV in Aged Care?
The minimum requirement for aspiring individuals who want to build their careers in the aged care industry is Certificate III in Individual Support (Aging and Disability). This course is an introductory level course and helps students find jobs as nursing assistants, personal care workers, and residential care workers.
On the other hand, Certificate IV in Aged Care is an advanced-level course, which helps students find employment in more administrative and managerial positions. Professionals with a Certificate IV qualification can work in a hospital, residential or community-based environment and need to take responsibility for their work within specified guidelines of the organisations. In addition to maintaining quality in their services delivered through the development and facilitation of individualised service delivery, they should also demonstrate leadership.
This course consists of 18 study units, of which 15 are core units, and 3 are elective. Of the core units, you have to study:
- Facilitate the empowerment of older people
- Coordinate services for older people
- Facilitate individual service planning and delivery
- Manage legal and ethical compliance, etc.
The three elective units are:
- Facilitate the empowerment of people with disabilities
- Assist clients with medication
- Provide first aid
What are the different job options available for you after you complete Certificate 4 in Aged Care?
Once you complete your Certificate 4 in Aged Care from a Perth college, you can find the following job options.
Aged care activity worker
As the name suggests, the job of an aged care activity worker is to provide necessary assistance to older people in an aged care facility centre or their homes. As a professional, your tasks will include:
- Helping clients with personal care activities
- Giving the elderly people company
- Providing them support in daily activities
- Performing daily household tasks like cooking food, shopping, cleaning, and laundry
- Designing and implementing strategies for managing different health issues, including dementia
- Delivering activities, which promote intellectual and emotional stimulation
- Creating and maintaining a safer living environment by reducing or eliminating potential safety hazards
- Implementation of care programs for people living in residential care facility centres
Care supervisor in an Aged Care facility
This job role is connected to the medical field. As an aged care supervisor, you will be responsible for overseeing and directing the support and caring an elderly patient usually receives.
- An aged care supervisor usually has very little or no direct contact with the client.
- Instead, they are recruited to train staff, including nurses and other employees who directly contact the patients to provide services. For example, you may have to teach nurses and staff how to treat and care for patients with chronic or acute medical conditions.
- Sometimes, an elderly patient may wish to move into a nursing home where the supervisor is employed. In that case, there is a chance of having initial direct contact with a prospective patient.
Disability support worker
A disability support worker, also called a personal support worker, is primarily responsible for assisting clients with physical and cognitive disabilities.
- A disability support worker needs to assist specially-abled individuals in performing basic tasks like brushing teeth, bathing, and other daily tasks like cooking and cleaning.
- These professionals are also responsible for taking their clients to doctors or therapists and other outdoor activities like shopping.
Disability support workers are also required to perform some additional duties, which include:
- Medical administration
- Behaviour observation and support
- Room cleaning
- Keeping a client progress record
- Helping clients determine continuing needs
- Motivating clients in building their self-confidence
Leisure and therapy assistant
Employees need to assist top-quality therapeutic services, which include both individual and group programs. They also contribute to developing and implementing programs that meet older clients’ cognitive, physical, social, and emotional requirements. Several key responsibilities include:
- Assisting clients with individual or group activity programs aimed at stimulating mental activity
- Contributing to care plan assessments
- Helping therapists in improving and maintaining the functional independence of a client
- Completing daily therapy statistics
Coordinator of volunteers in aged care services
As a coordinator of volunteers, you will need to arrange activities that involve volunteer operations in an aged care facility organisation or program. You will be responsible for providing adequate support and management to these volunteers and coordinate the whole procedure. Remember that for any help, the volunteers will contact no one but you. As a professional, you will be required to perform the following activities:
- Developing a cordial and friendly relationship with all the volunteers by using effective communication skills
- Maintaining ethical and legal compliance
- Managing and promoting diversity
- Taking care of recruitment of volunteers
- Maintaining proper health and safety standards in the workplace
- Managing workforce efficiency and development
Why Will Working In The Aged Care Sector Be Rewarding?
After completing the Certificate IV course, you can find these roles to work in and take your career to new heights. You will meet different people every day, which will bring newer challenges to fight. The experience you will gain from working with people who have seen a lot of things in their lives will help you grow as a person. So, if interested, do not hesitate and get yourself enrolled in Certificate IV in Aged Care.
To ensure top-quality care is being provided for elderly people, the aged care services need to recruit more trained and skilled employees. These employees have sufficient capability to provide person-centred support. To meet this demand, more top-quality aged care courses in Perth are required. Usually, these courses consist of theoretical learning and working in a professional working environment to learn how to react in real-life situations.
We have already mentioned that the industry is growing, thus ensuring the high availability of jobs in the coming years. It is the most significant reason behind job security. However, there is another factor that has a role to play. By 2050, the number of Australians needing aged care will double, automatically raising the demand for more people to be recruited.
In this sector, people can find a job more quickly relative to the other sectors, after completing a certificate course.
Working in the aged care sector can be a rewarding experience for your life. As older people require more medical assistance, your work will be primarily focused on monitoring their health and treating ailments. But your responsibilities will not end here.
Final words
For any aged care course, there is no need to have any prior college or university qualifications. All the applicants above 18 can enrol and get a job after just two years. For any information, ask the consultation team of the specific college you want to take admission.
