Today we bring you an interview with Tippula Mangan, representing Cork in the Carer of the Year Award. As you may know, one carer represents each of the 17 Comfort Keepers Home Care offices and from those seventeen, four will be the regional finalists and the overall winner will be announced on 13th November.
Tippula has been working with Comfort Keepers for nearly nine years and when I asked her what she enjoys most about her work, she gave me three reasons:
- I love working with different people all the time, working with people on a one-to-one basis and giving them individual time.
- Every day is different, no two days are never the same.
- I like the focus, the need to be organised, it gives a great sense of satisfaction.
Tippula works part-time and also does cover work so she can be quite busy. She starts at 9am and generally works until 2pm. She then has a few hours break until she sees some clients in the evening. She’s able to be flexible and enjoys the fact that her work can be so flexible.
When I asked Tippula how she felt when she heard she was representing Cork, she replied “I was shocked, I really thought they were joking. All carers have to be honest, reliable, respectful, sensitive and of course, caring and I’m really honoured that my office think I’m worthy of representing them.”
A typical appointment with a client starts with greeting them and having a quick chat. “I often realise after a minute or two that I nearly forgot to log in” she laughs. The tasks vary from cooking, doing laundry, some cleaning, helping them take a shower, doing some ironing, to having time to sit down and have a cup of tea and a chat. “You have to be regimental and organised” she adds “or it would be really hard to fit it all in”.
We wish Tippula well in the rest of the judging process.
