Do you have what it takes to be a Complex Care assistant?
Are you ready to be a Complex Care assistant?
Working in complex care can be an extremely rewarding career path for those with the right skills and personal qualities, but there are always things to consider before pursuing any job. A complex care assistant is a professional carer who possesses the training and skillset required to provide person-centred care to people with complex needs, helping them to live as independently and comfortably as possible in their own home.
Here, we are taking a closer look at what complex care is and the types of health conditions that require this, what is involved in complex care, the benefits of working in this area of care (including pay differences and progression opportunities), the skills, qualities and training needed to work in this field, the day-to-day duties you might be required to help with, and how to apply for a complex care role with Home Instead.
At Home Instead, our aim is to help people age positively and in place by bringing expert care to their home. For nearly 20 years, we have been providing the highest standard of care, and creating industry-leading training programmes for our Care Professionals that are accredited by nursing and medical professionals. Today, we are the world’s largest global home care network, supporting over 100,000 older adults with personalised, tailored care at home. Whatever questions you have about complex care work and the roles we currently have available, we can help.
What is complex care and how does it work?
Complex care involves providing comprehensive support to anyone with one or several health conditions requiring care in order to live independently in their own home. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence states that complex care needs may be the result of an illness, a disability, wider life circumstances or a combination of several of these elements, present from birth or developed later in life.
A complex care assistant usually differs from other types of carers as they must take into account the specific health needs of the person they are looking after, and provide various types of medical assistance if trained to do so. Simultaneously, complex care assistants will address the person’s physical, emotional and social wellbeing in order to carry out any other types of care needed. For example, personal care such as getting washed and dressed.
Complex carers require a deep understanding of each individual’s unique circumstances, medical conditions and personal preferences in order to provide effective person-centred care. Depending on the person’s specific needs, a carer could carry out tasks such as:
- Coordinating various healthcare professionals visiting the home to provide treatments
- Coordinating other caregivers if needed
- Monitoring health status
- Providing elements of personal care
- Organising hospital transfers if needed
- Maintaining all required paperwork, such as updating the Care Plan
- Helping the person maintain social connections
- Providing emotional support
This is a pivotal role facilitating complex care by offering personalised assistance, medical care (if appropriate), advocacy, and any other relevant daily tasks that could enhance quality of life for those facing complex health challenges.
What sort of health conditions require complex care?
Complex care is named as such because it implies a level of personalisation applied to each individual case. While more general care would be used to assist older adults with basic needs that fall in line with the typical ageing process – such as help with cooking, getting washed each day, or something else – complex care helps those with more specific medical issues, meaning their needs do not simply fall under categories like personal care, home help or companionship.
A few examples of people and situations that might require complex care include:
- Those with breathing issues that need oxygen therapy or ventilator care
- Those in pain each day that need chronic symptom management
- Those who need vital sign monitoring to stay alert to changes in their health
- Those who need full-time disability assistance (such as help bathing or walking around the home)
- Those undergoing rehabilitation after a life-changing injury, or a major emergency such as a stroke
- Those with a medical condition requiring feeding tube management
- Those who need a catheter and require daily catheter care
- Those who have had a stoma fitted and require stoma care
- Those with diabetes who need diabetes monitoring
- Those with a severe mental illness who need care to manage this
- Those with a neurological condition such as Parkinson’s who need ongoing help
- Those with palliative care needs or who are undergoing end-of-life care
- Those with a major diagnoses such as organ failure or advanced cancer
Complex care can be used for any condition to help a person who is dealing with symptoms and additional needs, and the aim is to help them achieve the best quality of life possible for their situation through personalised nursing and medical care enabling them to remain in their own home instead of being transferred to a hospital or nursing home.
What benefits does working in complex care have over regular care?
While working in more general care can also be very rewarding, helping someone on a daily basis who needs complex care comes with a number of benefits that could draw people to this career path. Here are a few of the most common reasons people enjoy this role:
Rewarding nature of the role
Complex care tends to require more hours with the same client, so there is much more time to feel that you are truly helping, and see positive outcomes from the things you do each day. This might mean helping clients to manage pain, helping them continue enjoying hobbies around their symptoms, or something else.
Research finds those in need of complex care with disabilities – including serious mental illness and intellectual disabilities – are linked to an increased risk of earlier onset of conditions associated with ageing, preventable secondary conditions, and premature mortality, so receiving great care is an important part of keeping clients in their best health. At the end of each day, working in complex care makes it easy to feel like you have made a difference in someone’s life.
Helping families
In addition to feeling you are making a difference to the person with complex needs, it can also be rewarding to feel that you are making a difference in the lives of their family members too.
Carer’s burnout is a very real experience for many families who are taking care of a loved one with complex needs, so trained complex care assistants can offer respite and long-term help that can enable the person to have a better relationship with their family and vice versa. As a complex carer, you will regularly help people navigate difficult situations when it comes to their loved one’s care.
You can read more about carer’s burnout in our article: Carer’s Burnout: Knowing You Need Respite
Financial reward
Complex care often offers a higher salary due to the specialised skills and knowledge required by the carer to address the diverse health and social care needs of the client. Due to their expertise, previous training and experience in the specific medical condition being managed, and the demanding nature of the role, complex care workers can sometimes receive additional compensation. As they continue to increase their knowledge, skills and training, there are often further opportunities to enhance their salary.
Career progression opportunities
With the additional skills needed for complex care, there are a number of career progression opportunities available. These types of roles could come with increased responsibility, higher salaries, and a number of other advancements.
At Home Instead, our Complex Care Professionals have multiple options for progressing within the company, including in roles such as Care Managers, Field Care Supervisors, Learning & Development Trainers, General Managers and more. In addition, there are many learning and training opportunities available to advance your knowledge of the health conditions you are helping to manage. Get in touch with our team to discuss the opportunities we have available.
You can also read more about this in our article: Progression Of Care Careers In Home Care
Personal growth
Working as a carer in any respect can lead to profound personal growth, however this is especially so as a complex carer where you will be gaining deeper knowledge of how a person lives with a particular medical condition. Complex carers are able to exercise empathy and understanding for their clients, and build emotional resilience to stressful situations among other examples of personal growth.
Potentially less travel
While other types of carers may need to travel between clients every day, a complex carer is more likely to be placed in a care situation where they work with fewer clients for longer periods of time, as they will have the specific expertise necessary to help those clients. This enables you to spend more time helping them, which usually means staying in fewer locations instead of travelling around.
More variety
Although complex care may mean working with fewer clients, you can still experience variety in this career. No two days are the same, and while you may have particular tasks you carry out each day for the client, often their medical condition will need to be monitored and managed according to their current symptoms, emotions, physical health and more. In order to ensure they remain comfortable, complex care often involves a nuanced understanding of the signs and symptoms of their condition, which can fluctuate daily.
Build relationships
Complex care workers often develop close relationships with clients, contributing to a sense of fulfilment and purpose in their work. Whether you are visiting throughout the day or providing live-in care to someone who needs additional help, when you provide complex care to a client (or several), you will begin to build a close professional relationship with them based on the time you spend in their company.
You also have the opportunity to build relationships with family members, other caregivers who visit the home, and more. At Home Instead, we believe care should never be rushed, which is why we ensure all our Care Professionals are scheduled for minimum one hour visits per client so there is ample time to get to know each other and carry out all tasks.
Learn new skills
Providing complex care means becoming well-versed in the needs of a particular person with a specific medical condition, and this often means learning new skills to provide the best care. This offers an opportunity for deeper engagement with diverse healthcare needs, fostering continuous learning and professional development. Care workers can pursue specialised training and certifications, enhance their qualifications and expand their career prospects.
Job satisfaction
The variation of cases involved in complex care encourages critical thinking and problem-solving skills in order to identify any symptoms causing the person’s issues, and figure out the best way to enhance their health and wellbeing. Having opportunities to apply learning in this way can boost job satisfaction.
We aim to build close relationships with our carers to understand what brings them job satisfaction. 96% of our Care Professionals are proud to work for Home Instead, and 88% see themselves working with us in 12 months’ time.
Collaboration with healthcare professionals
The interdisciplinary nature of complex care fosters collaboration between complex carers and healthcare professionals visiting the home to administer medications and other treatments. By embracing a holistic approach to care, complex carers can support medical professionals in their role and collaborate to enhance the patient’s wellbeing.
Ultimately, working in complex care allows for greater personalisation, stronger relationships with clients, and a chance to make a meaningful impact on the lives of the individuals who face these serious health challenges on a daily basis.
What qualities do you need to be a great complex carer?
To provide great care to a person with complex needs, a number of personal qualities can be beneficial to the role. These include:
- Compassion, empathy and understanding when working with people who may be in pain or upset by their situation
- Resilience and emotional stability to handle the ups and downs of the role
- A genuine desire to help others
- Patience, even in stressful and frustrating situations
- A friendly demeanour and a good sense of humour to put your client at ease
- Respect for clients and their families while in their home
- Cultural sensitivity when working with a diverse range of people
- Open-mindedness to listen to the needs of others
- Reliability when potentially being a person’s first point-of-call for their health needs
- Flexibility and adaptability to handle unexpected situations and last-minute changes
What skills do you need to be a good complex carer?
As well as personal qualities, a number of skills can help in your career as a complex carer, including:
- Strong communication skills and listening skills to gauge how the client is feeling and how you can help
- An ability to prioritise well in order to manage the person’s condition effectively and deal with the most urgent needs first
- Great critical thinking and problem-solving abilities to handle any issues that arise, and the ability to work well under pressure
- Excellent attention to detail and observation skills to identify any symptoms or health changes
- Great organisation skills to coordinate all carers and medical professionals who may need to visit the home, and an ability to work collaboratively
- An understanding of symptom management, particularly in the area of care you are working in
- A dedication to continuous learning and professional development in the area of complex care you work in
You can read more about the skills and qualities needed to be a good carer in our article: What Skills & Qualities Does A Good Carer Need?
What sort of training do you need to be a complex carer?
Becoming a carer does not typically require any initial qualifications to begin working in the field, although many care agencies will provide training if you get the job. This is not usually the case for complex carers, who need specialised training and qualifications to ensure they can properly assist with the specific needs of clients.
Training for complex care may include completing relevant courses or obtaining certifications in areas such as healthcare assistance or nursing. This could cover topics like medication management, wound care, palliative care and more, depending on what you need for the role and the agency you are working with.
Hands-on experience through internships or practical placements is also valuable in order to develop proficiency in complex care, as well as continuous professional development to stay up-to-date on the ever-evolving best practices and advancements in the field.
At Home Instead, we ensure our Complex Care Professionals are well-equipped to provide high-quality, comprehensive support. Our training offers:
- The best resources and support for carers at all stages of their career
- Workshops covering a range of topics, from general guidance on medication and manual handling, to safeguarding and basic life support
- Training on more specific complex care subjects such as Parkinson’s, diabetes, catheter care, dementia, and end-of-life care
- A mix of hands-on training and practical advice, so you get a combination of theory work, group discussions, role playing, practical competencies and more
- Virtual sessions and online modules with interactive activities and discussion opportunities
- The chance to work with external providers on training such as in-depth fire safety, PPE, and even unusual sessions like virtual reality care experiences
What are some of the typical duties a complex carer might do each day?
If you are considering a job as a complex carer, it is difficult to know exactly what you will be doing each day in the role, as this depends on factors like the specific medical and care needs of the person you are caring for, how often you are providing care, whether you are the sole complex carer or one of several, how involved the family members are, and more.
In general, on a typical day a complex carer may perform a range of duties to support their client with person-centred care, such as:
- Administering medications (if trained to do so)
- Monitoring vital signs
- Assisting with personal care tasks such as bathing and dressing
- Providing emotional support and companionship
- Helping clients take part in enjoyable activities and attend social outings
- Liaising with healthcare professionals about the status of the person’s health
- Reporting problematic symptoms or issues that could arise in future
- Coordinating appointments with healthcare professionals
- Advocating for clients’ needs
- Assisting with mobility in and outside of the home
- Helping to transfer the client to hospital if needed
- Encouraging recommended exercises to maintain physical function
- Communicating with clients’ families or caregivers to update them
- Managing wound care and monitoring for any signs of infection
- Helping to manage medical equipment such as stomas, catheters and more
- Providing emotional and logistical support to families
What is it like to be a complex carer with Home Instead?
At Home Instead, we are committed to providing our clients with person-centred care, meaning each client is heavily involved in the care planning process, able to make decisions about their care, and can feel in control of their routine and how they spend their time.
We ensure all care provided is tailored to the client’s medical needs and personal preferences. This means, for example, if continuing to cook their own daily meals is important to them, our Care Professionals will prioritise this to help them achieve this goal. Similarly, if the client would like to visit a friend once a week (and this is physically possible), our Care Professionals can help to make this happen. We do not believe in a one-size-fits-all care model, so providing person-centred care is at the heart of what we do.
“I like working for Home Instead as I feel their values for home care far exceeds other care organisations. I feel valued and part of a great friendly approachable team. My clients have been matched well to me and I have built up good relationships with my clients and their families.”
– Louise, Home Instead Care Professional
Our matching service takes great care to choose the ideal carer and client relationship, so not only will your client benefit from the specific medical and care experience you bring to the relationship, they will also feel comfortable with you, and vice versa. 95% of our Care Professionals say they feel motivated to go the extra mile for their clients, so you can feel confident you are making a difference to someone’s quality of life every day.
We have partnered with the world’s best training organisations to offer advanced professional development opportunities, so by starting your career as a complex care professional with Home Instead, you can ensure you get the very best training, and the clients you work with are matched with you with your needs and job preferences in mind.
Working with us builds the foundations of a great career in complex care that will give you the skills and confidence to continue developing.
How do I apply for a job as a complex carer with Home Instead?
To apply for a job as a complex carer, it helps to begin by researching the options in your local area, such as hospitals, nursing homes, community organisations, or care agencies. If you are looking to work with a care agency, the Home Instead team provides complex care to many clients all over the country, and we are always on the lookout for reliable, experienced, positive people who can be an asset to our team.
You will find information about the positions we have available here, or if you do not see what you are looking for, reach out to our friendly team to discuss the opportunities that may be available.
Create a tailored CV to send which includes relevant experience, certifications, training in healthcare or caregiving, and more. If we believe you would be a good fit, you may be invited to an interview, and you can find more information on the interview process in our article: A Guide To Typical Care Interview Questions
We’re an award-winning home care provider and part of a worldwide organisation devoted to providing the highest-quality relationship-led care for older people in their own homes. Learn more about joining our team today, or see if the bigger step of becoming a franchisee could be right for you.