Meet our power couple from Orange, Steph and Gareth Danis.
Having worked for decades as critical care nurses, they’ve found a beautiful new way of life in community aged care.
“We both made the career move just under a year ago,” says Gareth. “I joined BaptistCare first as a Clinical Care Facilitator (Registered Nurse), and Steph joined as a Care Facilitator just a few months later. To say it’s been life-changing is an understatement.”
A new pace of life
After decades of fast-paced shift work, the couple say that working in community aged care has offered them a new way of life that affords them more time with family and one another.
“We’d always used to tag in and out of shifts,” says Steph. “We can actually sit down together as a family for dinner now, and the kids get both of us instead of just one parent most of the time.”
Regular working hours also mean more time to pursue hobbies and passions outside of work.
Gareth, for example, is a gifted woodworker, practising traditional carpentry and resin-making.
Steph is also an avid gardener and animal lover. Along with their ten and eight year old sons, the couple’s family also includes two dogs, two cats, and even an axolotl!
Transferrable skills
Steph and Gareth both say that moving into elderly care facilitation incorporates a surprising amount of transferrable nursing skills.
“Having had all those years of nursing experience means we can quickly recognise what type of care our clients might need and can organise the relevant services,” explains Gareth.
But there are some key differences to the roles, too.
The couple says working in home care allows them to provide more individualised care, slowing down and building relationships with their clients instead of hurrying them out of the door - or the bed - as is so often the case in hospitals.
“In the emergency department, you get patients through the crisis as fast as possible, and then they move on,” says Steph. “But home care allows you to slow down, build relationships, and witness someone’s life transform over time.”
“It’s about preventative care and reablement,” explains Gareth. “You start to see how a holistic, coordinated approach to older persons’ care is so important.
“Taking that time with clients means you get to hear the most amazing stories, too. They are genuinely life-inspiring and a real asset to draw upon.”
Partners in life and work
Asked how they manage their relationship as both partners and colleagues, the couple shrugged it off.
“It’s nothing new for us,” says Steph with a smile. “We worked together in the acute sector for many years, so it’s kind of our normal.”
“We have different clients too,” adds Gareth. “So, in fact, we don’t interact all that much at work. But it’s nice to have someone to share the experience with all the same.”
The couple say that for them, it was a no-brainer to move together to BaptistCare.
“We could tell from the start that it was a special organisation,” says Steph. The culture here is wonderful—the managers actually care about the well-being of their teams, and there is a lot of flexibility and trust.”
“Someone’s always bringing in food, too, which is the real clincher!” laughs Gareth.
Gareth and Steph’s tips for healthy ageing!
Steph says for her, it’s something she learned from her own grandparents.
“It’s crucial to make important choices about your future while you are still able,” she says. “So often, older people put the hard decisions off until it’s too late, and other people end up making them for them.”
“It usually centres around living arrangements but making these decisions earlier might mean you are able to stay independent for far longer.”
Gareth's tip for healthy ageing is simple: Keep having fun and find things that make you laugh.
“You can’t downplay the power of a good laugh, and finding joy in the small everyday things is what makes life worth living.”
