Celebrating our Registered Manager Nicola’s 10-year anniversary at Oaklands!

We’d like to say a massive congratulations to our award-winning Registered Manager, Nicola, on her 10-year anniversary at Oaklands! We’re so lucky to have Nicola, as such a fantastic and dedicated member of our team.

To mark this incredible milestone, we sat down with Nicola, to find out all about her extensive experience in the care sector and what the future holds:

1.    What inspired you to start working in the care home industry?

      “It was actually an ex-partner I was with. We found out he had mental health issues and that led me to doing a course in college, where I had a chance to go and work with children, and work on a geriatric ward in a hospital. I love children. It was a lovely year, but the geriatric ward was where I found my passion and where I thought, I really want to do this.

      After I left college, I worked night shifts in a residential home. I enjoyed it, but I wasn’t spending enough time with the residents, so I left and moved on to other non-care-related jobs. However, I began to question if this was really what I wanted to do.

      Then, I decided I was going to do my nursing training. In 1994, I qualified as a psychiatric nurse. I did different work placements, but always found my heart was in the elderly wards. I started out in a nursing home, that’s where I’ve developed, then I went into management in 2004 in Wales, and I was there until we relocated to Hampshire in 2014.”

2.    What has kept you motivated over the past decade?

      “I think it’s understanding what the elderly have got to give us. I see them as a walking encyclopaedia, they’ve got so much knowledge, so many memories. You can get so much from them that helps in your life as well, their wisdom and their stoic mindset.

      It’s very different now, the kind of care and guidelines we have to follow from when I first started. It keeps me motivated to make it the best it can be. It shouldn’t be the way the institutions were, when residents were told what to do, at what time. They should be given the chance to live more. We make sure that we can do that for them. Make sure that have everything they need to live perfectly.”

3.   How has the care home industry evolved during your time here? What have been the most significant changes?

      “Definitely the introduction of technology. The care plans we used to write before were pages and pages, it was tricky to look back over all the records and find something. I think it’s for the best, and for somebody who had to be dragged kicking and screaming into technology, I would never turn back. Now, I think technology has just allowed us the time, the security and the innovation, to do our very best. It’s allowed us to reflect in real-time, know what worked for that resident and what to take forward.

      Another big change is the resident being at the heart of everything. When it was the old institutional way, it wasn’t. It was, everybody was treated the same, everybody was given the same. Residents got very little choices, but now everything’s personalised to them. Everyone is an individual, regardless of age. And I think that’s a massive, massive improvement!”

4.    What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a care home manager, and how have you overcome them?

      “Recruitment and retention can be difficult. It’s such an important job and we work hard to find the right people to take care of our residents.

      Fighting negative press around care homes is also a battle, but I think that’s changing. At Oaklands, we run valuable inter-generational sessions that show children a care home is just a different way of living, a safe environment, not something to be afraid of.”

5.    Can you share a particularly memorable moment or experience from your time here?

     “Oh gosh, there are so many! I think one of the funny ones is when we did sports day and we teamed up with the residents. I was with one lady in a three-legged race, and she was determined to win and surged ahead. Every time I think about that just makes me smile.

      End of life always brings special, treasured memories to me, because families tend to reminisce and open up. You learn a lot and it’s truly magical being part of their family. It’s just Oaklands really, the residents come up with little things that make you smile, and you think that’s made my day!”

6.    What initiatives or changes have you implemented that you’re most proud of?

      “I think one of them is building an open-door policy. I’ve worked in places where you only saw managers if there was a problem and you’d be scared. With my open-door policy, I love that people can approach me.

I’m very proud the team saw me transform from a technophobe into somebody who champions technology. I wasn’t a tech wizard coming in, but I’ve said let’s go for it, taken it by the horns along with the directors. I’m proud I’ve pulled people into the tech world with me.

      Continuity has been important. I’ve been here for 10 years. You hear of places who have gone through four or five managers in the last few years, and that must be so unsettling for the staff. We’ve got quite a few staff who’ve been with us for six or seven plus years.”

7.    Looking ahead, what future trends do you see shaping the care home industry in the next decade?

      “I think expectations will definitely shape care homes in the next decade. We’ve got a change with the demographic as well. At the minute when we reminisce, we go back to wartime and the swinging 60s. When I’m ready to retire, we’re going to be talking about Covid. It’s a completely different history. There’s going to be nobody from World War One or Two, so we’ve got to change with the demographic of people that’s coming into care.

      Obviously, there’s going to be new technology. I’d love to see my residents going around on a hoverboard or something. We’ve got to change with tech. That’s going to be a given the way the world is going.

      But the trend I really don’t want to change is people’s values and people’s care. I think the core stuff has to stay.”

8.    What advice would you give to someone just starting out in a career in care and as care home management?

      “Don’t go into any aspect of care thinking it’s just a job, and one that appears easy, because it’s not. You have to be in the job for the right reasons. If you’re going to do it, go through with your eyes open. It’s very rewarding, but you have to put the work in.

      With management, I would think about it as a long-term goal. Think about where you want the establishment to go and have a plan. While you have to be professional, don’t forget to allow people to see the person underneath as well.

You can’t sit in your ivory tower and expect people to share their issues with you; you have to be open and share something of yourself. They respect me for being Nicola and the person I am, not just because of my title. People are the bricks and the foundation of the whole place, if they can’t come to their worries and woes for me to help them, the place is going to fall apart.”

9. What has been the key to your success over the last 10 years?

      “To actually stay in a post for 10 years, you have to have a good team and a really good backup system. That’s obviously my directors and team, they’ve been a massive support to me. But you also have to have the support of your family, you can’t do it on your own. You have to have a good team around you. I would not have been here 10 years without the people I worked with. I’d like to say a big thanks to them as well!”

With many awards already under Nicola’s belt, we can’t wait to see what the next 10 years has to hold for her at Oaklands! Please join us in congratulating Nicola on her incredible success next time you see her!