Without thinking about it, Elfriede Roth can name her first day as a caregiver in Karlstadt: April 1, 1990. From that day on, she climbed the career ladder step by step: she soon took over responsibility for an entire residential area. After the birth of her third child, she returned to work full-time, but in administration: she became acting home manager and assistant to the home manager; for the past 15 years, she managed the Heroldstiftung senior citizens' center in Karlstadt. And now she is back in day-to-day business, as a caregiver. A step that the 61-year-old does not regret. “Going back is difficult,” she admits, however.
On this morning in August, a few weeks after she switched to nursing, Roth is loading the dishwasher, taking some day guests to the choir on the ground floor and then looking back on the first floor as she is chopping the soup ingredients. Then they go out onto the terrace for some exercise. As soon as the day guests are seated in a circle, they move some walkers to the side for a game with an exercise ball. Fitness is a must. Roth pulls a fitness watch out of the pocket of her work clothes, and it shows that she does around 12,000 steps per day. “If I don't have an office job, I have to move,” she says.
However, her work as a manager over the past 27 years has been mainly office work: admissions to homes, interviews, duty rosters – and many concepts that required the senior citizens' center to be restructured again and again. Years ago, she began to think about putting this chapter behind her.
Roth must first get to know the guests’ new processes and rituals
“I enjoy every day,” she says of her first weeks back in nursing. But Roth cannot pinpoint a particular moment as what the work gives her back: “If you only do it for those moments, it's not the right thing,” she says. Even a small gesture, a kind word, and the gratitude of the nursing guests, that's what makes it all for her.
“With pasta or potatoes?” she asks each guest at the food counter about their choice today. An older lady can't decide between the beef and the vegetable dish – no problem, Roth simply puts two small portions on her plate. Everything seems professional and routine, but she also had to learn again.
The routines in the day care and the guests' rituals were new to the experienced nurse. How does someone go to the toilet, where do they lie down for their afternoon nap? “I have to learn that – and I still ask some people,” she says. “I'm even more cautious because I'm out for a long time and sometimes I'm not quite sure: how much do I have to support someone to get them from the wheelchair to the recliner?” But it's all routine and over time you get a feel for the guests' need for support – Roth can say that from her own experience when she first started.
Don’t be afraid of starting your job late
In addition to the additional running meters that her fitness watch now misses, her new job also brings with it other physical demands. Although it is easier in day care than in full-time care, Roth still has to support and possibly lift guests. But she would also be confident working on the ward.
“I hired a lot of employees, some of whom were already in their mid-50s and were just starting out in nursing.”
Elfriede Roth, former director of the senior citizens’ center in Karlstadt
Where does she get the confidence that a job that is so physically demanding is doable even for someone who is returning to work late? “I hired a lot of employees, some of whom were already in their mid-50s and had just started working in nursing. And they did a pretty good job,” says Roth. It is certainly a demanding job, but it worked until they retired. The residents are grateful for every bit of support: “It might even help them forget about some of the little ailments,” says Roth.
She always advises career changers to do at least two weeks of internship; one early shift and one late shift. Otherwise, Roth believes: “You can't really prepare for the step into nursing.” The most important thing is empathy, a feeling for the guests. Sometimes guests or residents are not so friendly, sometimes even aggressive due to illness. “I have to be able to put up with that too,” she says.
By returning to work after many years, Roth can make a direct comparison of how the work has changed. There was always little personal involvement, she remembers. “Even then we thought we didn't have much time, but it still felt like we had more,” she says. Roth believed that nursing staff generally liked to have more time for each resident; that was why she had ultimately chosen the profession.
“You can’t really prepare for the step into nursing.”
At the beginning of her career, Elfriede Roth had already worked as a nurse for several years
In addition, time and personnel resources are also scarce in other areas of the health care system, which in turn affects the work of nursing staff. If there is not enough time in the doctor's office, the nursing staff sometimes have to spend a long time on the phone before they can get through to a prescription. “This time takes away from the time available to the residents,” says Roth. Roth is ambivalent about the more detailed documentation. “Some things are important and some are correct – but a lot of it is also paperwork and does not reach the residents directly,” she says.
Roth's boss used to report to her
One hope has been for years in digitalization. Roth would like to see a voice assistant that can tell her the weight of a resident, for example, and automatically enter it into a vital signs sheet. The other hope is for foreign nursing staff, but some of them would not have practical experience if the training in their home country was more like a university degree.
Roth is of course also faced with a rare situation: Monika Oppelt, her current boss, was until recently subordinate to Roth. Oppelt takes it in her stride. “It is a great advantage that she has such extensive know-how and is now available more quickly. I quickly find it easier,” says the head of nursing at the day care center. “The employees were all very open, I didn't feel any distance,” says Roth.
The 61-year-olds have to do the math to see if she will retire until 2028 at the earliest. The exact date does not seem to be that important to her. For the remaining years until then, she hopes above all to be able to “spend more time with older people in need of help and take things a little more slowly.”
