Helen McGowen - From Long-Time Nurse To Outstanding Manager
Series 5 is being kicked off by Helen McGowen who is the Home Manager of Dearnevale, an Exemplar Care Home rated Outstanding by the CQC. We talk about her career in the Army as a nurse, and how she transitioned to become home manager, as well as the OneCare initiative which creates specially adapted individual houses and flats for service users who do not require the wrap-around care of a home, but still require support for their nursing needs. I really like this episode to start the series, as Helen shares some really interesting thoughts on work-life balance for staff, and how important work ethic is to achieving your goals. LINKS The Exemplar website is here You can find Exemplar on Twitter here and on LinkedIn here I also shared a lot at the start of the episode and want to link to a few of the things mentioned: The Celebrating Women In Aged Care website is here and you can find links to all their social media and how to get involved. Professional Care Workers Day information is here on the NACAS website. Get the 4th September in your diary! Matt Hancock's Twitter is here if you want to nag him about coming on the podcast (but be nice!) The podcast episode with Dawn Hartley who recently gained CQC Outstanding in all 5 of the KLOE's is here. It's well worth a listen. You can find more information about my upcoming book; The Care Leader's Handbook here. You can find all of the episodes on iTunes, Spotify or Podbean. Why not download the free Podbean app if you have an android or use the Podcasts app if you have an iPhone to listen on the go? Don’t forget to check out our sponsor Sekoia who provide digital care planning for care homes. Their technology is person centred and incredibly simple to use. You’ll make fewer mistakes and save so much time I really recommend heading over to their website and checking them out. Finally - follow and join in the conversation over on Twitter to keep up with all of the latest interviews and share your comments. It’s @CarePodcast. As always, thank you for listening! Sophie