Bluebird Care Sligo & Mayo – Training Update. Staff at Bluebird Care Sligo & Mayo have just completed training on supporting individuals with Aquired Brain Injuries. This training was carried out by Phill McGoldrick, Physical and Sensory Disabilities, HSE, Sligo.

We would like to congratulate our third batch of staff who have recently passed our stringent induction & vetting procedures to qualify as Bluebird Carers.  Our newest customers have been very patient with us and we would like to thank them, we are sure they’ll agree, it’s been worth the wait !

We are also supplying Nurses and social Care Workers to Cavan / Monaghan & Louth

The Bluebird Care Waterford/Kilkenny office has scheduled two Dementia Training workshops for all Care Staff . The training will be provided by Deirdre Lenihan of DML Nursing Services. Deirdre has more than 20 years experience in Care of the Elderly, Dementia and Challenging Behaviours in both the private and public healthcare sectors.

Training is a key focus area for Care staff in Bluebird Care and the Dementia training follows on from the very successful Disability Awareness training workshops which took  place recently. Training and upskilling of staff is hugely important and ensures that carers are competent and confident when providing Care in the home, according to Brian Egan the Managing Director of the Bluebird Care Waterford/Kilkenny office.  Brian continued to say that ‘The Dementia training is just one module of our continuous training programme but its a very important area so hopefully all staff will benefit from it’ . There are currently more than 44,000 people in Ireland with dementia, with the number expected to be in excess of 104,000 by 2036 unless there is a medical breakthrough so it is important that Care Staff can have the opportunity to increase their knowledge in this area.

Care Staff in Bluebird Care Waterford & Kilkenny have recently completed Disability Awareness Training and feedback has been very positive.  The Disability Awareness Workshops were conducted by Disability Consultancy Services a highly regarded training company in the area of Disability Training and the training was also supported by FAS.

The training covered a wide range of areas and Evaluation forms clearly show Care staff thoroughly enjoyed the workshop and felt it would be very beneficial in their daily working lives.

Brian Egan, Managing Director of Bluebird Care Waterford & Kilkenny said, “This Disability Awareness Training forms part of the overall Bluebird Care training programme which is a key focus area in Bluebird Care”. Brian added that having fully trained, competent, confident and garda vetted care staff is so important to ensure that the highest quality standards of Care are delivered on a consistent basis and this is something that all Bluebird Care offices are committed to. ” We are delighted to have a very strong team of experienced Care Workers and this is down to a very thorough screening process, our detailed staff files and our focus on training and continuous upskilling”.

Bluebird Care Waterford/Kilkenny can be contacted on 051 898 111 or 056 780 6054.

The Bluebird Care Dublin South East office held the first Carers` meetings in their new offices recently and what a success it was. The meetings were held over two days to accommodate as many carers as possible and there was a tremendous turn out.

`We believe in ensuring our carers are happy in their work and we understand that working in the community can sometimes be lonely` said Care Manager kim Butler. `Our team meetings give our carers the opportunity to meet each other, swap experiences and also to tell us how they feel about working for Bluebird Care. They came up with some useful suggestions as to how we can improve our business for them and our customers. We discussed training and development for carers, they expressed what their needs are. We will be shortly be launching a Newsletter as requested by the carers and we discussed other ways we can improve the lives of our customers`.

Carer Lyn Duff commented `It was great to be able to meet some of the other carers and also to know that we are part of a team, I also like the fact that all the management staff ask us for our opinion and genuinely care how we feel`.

We`d like to take this opportunity to thank all the carers who took time out from their busy schedules to attend these meetings and also to thank them for their continued reliability and punctuality, which allows us to provide continuity of care for our customers and to maintain the reputation for providing quality care that we have established both amongst local health professionals and within the local community.

Bluebird Care Donegal & Leitrim have began supplying our first batch of Nurses to the community. Our carer’s in the past few weeks have completed the Children’s First Training course and are set to attend the Infection Control Course next week. Thanks to the Instructors & everyone that attended.

Bluebird Care (Sligo & Mayo) continue with development of their staff and the Child First program. Many further staff from Bluebird Care Sligo & Mayo have now completed the “Child First” training in conjunction with the HSE child services department. Thanks to all those who participated.

Bluebird Care Dublin South East have recently moved offices and are now based at 67 Patrick St. in Dun Laoghaire.  The Dublin South East office which also covers North Wicklow had previously been based in Killiney, but due to a significant increase in recent months in the number of customers receiving home care in the area and a need for improved on site training facilities for their growing team of Carers, a new premises was sought resulting in their new location in Dun Laoghaire.

Care Manager Kim Butler said `as our business has continued to grow, we felt the need to move to a larger premises, and our new combined office and training facility in Dun Laoghaire has received very favourable comments from both our Carers and from our customers and their families that have visited us since we moved two weeks ago. This move will assist us in continuing to grow and to expand upon the services we offer in the local community and to build upon the excellent reputation we have established to date by providing home care on a level and in a manner that we would expect our own family members to receive.`

Paul O’Reilly and Ken Shannon from Bluebird Care Dublin North attended the HSE Nutrition Course in All Hallows College. The course focused on nutrition for older people and included many practical situations and workshops. The course was extremely beneficial particularly when considering those with swallowing issues.

Many thanks to Helga Gerlitz, Senior Dietitian for Older Persons, HSE Area 6 .

On the 10th of May, Bluebird Care Donegal care staff will undergo training in the module “Overview of Learning Disabilities”. The training will focus on Causes, Types, the move from Institutions to community group homes etc.