Working through a pandemic “Down Under”- Meet Aussie caregiver Sam Jenkins
It’s a typical Monday morning as Sam Jenkins takes a 40-minute drive out to the countryside of Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, Australia, where he visits an elderly man who has dementia. His job includes tending to the client’s farm and driving him wherever he wants to go. In the evening, he visits an elderly woman, making sure she has taken her medication properly and checks to see if she needs any other assistance. By the time he returns home, it’s 7 p.m. and the day has officially come and gone.
Earning his certificate in 2017 at the age of 24, Jenkins was hired at Calvary Community Care as an elderly home caregiver. His job consists of different responsibilities, from helping to keep the elderly homes clean to personal care.
“I’ll look after the client in their own home or they come to our hospice house for 24-hour service,” said Jenkins.
In many cases, his work consists of moving through the city of Wagga Wagga non-stop. “I drive from one place to the next. I’m not just in one place, I’m in all different places, doing different jobs.”
As the Coronavirus pandemic made it to Australia earlier this year, new protocols and changes were put in place. According to the New South Wales government website, restrictions in traveling were put into place in the state, unless it was for essential work/reasons. In many cases, many citizens have to obtain an entry permit if they are planning to cross borders between states. Though Jenkins hasn’t taken any decision in traveling other than what work permits, he goes the extra mile to keep himself safe.
“It’s made me more aware. We’ve always had our safety precautions and everything but since this pandemic has came through, we have to be really careful.”
Carrying gloves, using hand sanitizer and washing hands 50 to 60 times a day became a normal routine for the young caregiver. At the beginning of the pandemic, it wasn’t easy for Jenkins, especially when clientele were starting to cancel the services in fear of contracting the deadly virus. “I was pretty terrified just to go to work but I knew I had to go,” he said.
Social distancing and keeping everything, including his home, as clean as possible is a routine and rule that Jenkins has been doing since the very beginning. In Australia, the social distancing rule is to stay 1.5 meters (4.9 feet) away from the person in front of you. “In between visiting clients, I keep my distance and sanitize as much as possible.”
Jenkins also explains how visiting places, such as Melbourne, isn’t in his list of traveling places due to the high cases in the city. Whenever he needs to go out, he only goes for necessities, like grocery shopping. Even though some things are slowly starting to open up in the city, such as small gatherings and local dine-in places are beginning to open their doors to the public, he still avoids going out and meeting people due to the risk of getting infected.
Mentally, Jenkins explains that the toll of not being able to see family and the many people he cares about made it tough at times.
Before the pandemic, he would often spend his time with family or at his community church where he would visit for a sense of peace after working long hours at work.
As soon as the pandemic made its arrival, he was placed in a situation where he felt quite isolated. “Mentally, it has taken a toll. I’m over this, especially when I couldn’t go out and see people. That was a hard thing.” The hardest part out of everything was not being able to see his parents. According to him, he would often try to visit his parents at least once a week, but due to the pandemic, he was limited in seeing them. “That was tough but I was able to get through it.”
Jenkins’ father, Colin, said his son’s health is a main concern. “I was scared for him. No one really knew what to expect and it was a scary situation. All I hoped for was for Sam to be safe from everything was going on,” Colin Jenkins said.
Colin does yard work and on his free time, goes fishing with his family. The pandemic consisted changes, like not being able to see his family for a bit. “I’m worried for every one of my children. Thankfully we were able to communicate by phone but it wasn’t the same. I’m just thankful that we all have our good health and even though we aren’t able to see each other as often, our health is what matters the most.”
Though the times have become tough, Sam Jenkins’ job includes days where interesting stories always occur, including a story of one of his clients, who seems confused about the seriousness of the Coronavirus situation. “He keeps telling me, ‘Why can’t they see it? It must not be true if you can’t see it.’ And I said, that’s the thing. We can’t see it but it’s here. It’s knocking people over.”
He goes into detail on how on some days, there are situations where he would have a good laugh with his clients, especially those who love to make jokes. Sitting down, one-on-one with the client would lead to many light-hearted conversations where Jenkins fondly remembers. “It is hard when the mind is completely gone,” says Jenkins’ as he talks about how one minute his clients are happy and the next they are sad or frustrated by simple situations.
Even when the situation does get bad, Jenkins feels fortunate to be working and having a job in which he can help those in need.
“I was hunting for jobs for two or three weeks after I earned my certificate and I was lucky enough to get the job through Calvary. It isn’t an easy job to get into, especially when it involves a global pandemic. It’s very scary, trying to keep people safe and everything but I’m fortunate in having work to keep me going.”
