Iliana Sabutu has worked at Enliven’s Kandahar Court for eight years – the longest job she’s ever had.
“I came here with zero knowledge about aged care,” Iliana remembers. “Enliven is very supportive of me working to upskill.”
She says she has a lot of passion for her role and loves the opportunity to give back to the elders she cares for.
Iliana began working at the specialised dementia home in Masterton as a health care assistant and now works as a verifier.
“I orientate the new health care assistants at Kandahar Court,” she explains. “I also make sure they have all their papers together before they are sent to the Enliven assessor.”
She says the verifier role has taught her a lot about training people from different backgrounds and cultures.
Iliana has supported new staff who come to Enliven with no prior experience in aged care or have never worked as health care assistants before.
She has worked with them to achieve some of the qualifications offered by Enliven for health care assistants, including the New Zealand Diploma in Health & Wellbeing levels 2 and 3.
“Even if people have no knowledge in aged care, you can apply for a job with Enliven,” she says. “They think about the training provided and you can be well guided by your team.”
Iliana herself is also working towards achieving Level 5 of the diploma – Applied Practice in the context of Employment Support.
“If you are well trained it means you can better serve the residents,” she notes.
