Call For Kiwis To Earn While They Learn In Healthcare Support Work

One of New Zealand’s leading home support health and disability providers, Enliven Northern, is calling on Kiwis to join the healthcare sector and start earning while they learn a rewarding career as a support worker.

The call is part of a drive to get people of all ages and backgrounds into support worker roles throughout the upper North Island, including Tauranga, Rotorua, Hamilton and Auckland.

Enliven Northern General Manager Wendy Hoskin says people don’t need previous experience to work as a support worker for Enliven.

Support workers help clients with everything from showering, grooming, dressing, supervising medication, preparing food, and doing light housework through to taking clients to social events, appointments, and grocery shopping.

“We provide a caring and supportive working environment with an emphasis on training staff to provide quality services,” says Hoskin.

All our staff are trained to Level 3 of the NZ Certificate in Health and Wellbeing, Support Work, in the first 10 months of employment and are encouraged to achieve their Level 4 qualification. This is a point of difference as Enliven staff gain a Level 3 qualification within the first year and therefore get to the Level 3 pay scale faster.”

Hoskin says that when it comes to pay, Enliven pays the living wage rate of $22.75 (rising to $23.65 on 1 September) to start with, but this quickly goes up as workers reach their Level 3 and 4 qualifications to a maximum of $28.25. Guaranteed hours, generous travel allowance rates and long service recognition are part of the pay package.

“We provide a full induction into the organisation and ongoing training through an award-winning integrated training package to refresh skills learned during the qualification process.

“We also provide a Samsung tablet for work use and internal support by qualified Learning and Development staff to walk alongside our people to support them in achieving qualifications.”

Hoskin says support work is an excellent career for young people. It can be a stepping stone to further qualifications in the health sector, for example, some people, after qualifying as support workers, go on to train as nurses and occupational therapists. It is also a great job for those who are studying, looking for part-time hours, or who are looking for a career change later in life.

“Support workers make a massive difference to clients, but importantly, support work provides huge work satisfaction – you are providing essential support to people to enable them to remain living a purposeful, fulfilling, and connected life, continuing to do the things they love,” she says.

Enliven has support worker vacancies right across its northern region from Whangārei to Auckland, Hamilton and Rotorua to Tauranga.

More than 100,000 New Zealanders are supported to live at home by 16,000 support workers though this workforce is largely unseen as many clients are protective of their privacy and dignity.

Have a look at what one of our support workers has to say about his role: The Life of a Support Worker - Melencio Gado Silveron IV

About Enliven Northern

Enliven Northern is a leading and innovative provider of at-home and community services for older people and people with disabilities. Most people want to stay at home as long as they can, which is a key focus for Enliven. Our focus is on working alongside people to achieve their independence goals. Enliven is the health and disability arm of Presbyterian Support Northern, a charity that also provides the well-known and trusted social services of Family Works, Lifeline, and Shine.

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