Care Manager Sunayana ‘Sunny’ Nepal says she has the best of both worlds.
The registered nurse is in a role that she loves – and her son, little ShivOm is in childcare at The Herd Intergenerational Centre, which is under the same roof as Uniting AgeWell Andrew Kerr Care Community where she works.
Residents interact with the children at the newly opened centre. They come for scheduled visits to the centre and read stories to the little ones, play games and do art. And every day a baby buggy comes over to the facility, bringing the children for visits.
“The atmosphere among the residents has lifted so much,” says Sunny. “There’s such a feeling of joy in the air, there’s this buzz of excitement. The residents are uplifted, busy and purposeful. They are loving spending time with the children. You can see it in their smiles and hear it in their chatter. It’s wonderful!”
And the children, including ShivOm, are enjoying it too.
“ShivOm loves to climb up on wheelchairs to sit on residents’ laps,” says Sunny. “And all the attention that is being lavished on him means he is blossoming. I can already see a huge improvement in his speech. He says ‘ball’ and ‘cat’ now.”
Sunny is also delighted that the 20-month old took part in the official opening ceremony of The Herd recently, where he and a little friend from the centre played a role in cutting the ribbon.
“It was a very proud moment,” says Sunny.
There’s another reason why Sunny is loving this new arrangement. It’s convenient and makes drop-offs and pick-ups a dream, which is handy as she lives in Lynhurst.
She’s also delighted that the little boy shares her love and respect for older people. That’s what drew her to aged care in the first place.
Sunny, who hails from Nepal, has been at Uniting AgeWell for 12 years, although she has only been at Andrew Kerr Care Community for the last four months. Prior to that she was based at Uniting AgeWell Strathdon Community in Forest Hill.
She has another tie to Uniting AgeWell – her mother-in-law works at Strathdon Community too. So it’s quite a family affair!
Sunny left her homeland and moved to Australia with her husband for a better life and a better career. And she has certainly done that. In spades. She started off working as a personal care worker before studying a Diploma of Nursing followed by a Bachelor of Nursing and then being promoted to the role of Care Advisor.
“Uniting AgeWell supports me to succeed,” says Sunny. “I certainly feel very supported.”
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