How was your shift?
Get it off your chest.
Care workers, nurses, home care workers, staff and volunteers. Put down what you're carrying before you go home.
Which best describes you?
This changes a few questions and which support lines come first. You can change it any time.
Everything you enter stays on this phone. Nothing is sent to your employer, your manager or anyone else. Unladen Care is a prototype. It is not a medical or emergency service and is not connected to any aged care provider or government agency. · Give feedback
Take a moment.
Step away if you can. Tell the person in charge or your coordinator you need a few minutes. That's allowed.
Breathe with this
What you might be feeling
- Shaky, sick, or a racing heart
- Numb, or oddly calm
- Tearful, angry, or both
- Going over what you could have done differently
These are normal reactions. They usually settle over hours or days.
If someone hurt or threatened you
It isn't part of the job and it isn't your fault. Tell the person in charge, or your volunteer coordinator if you're a volunteer. Report it through your organisation's incident system, even if it seems minor. Get checked if you were hurt. You can also contact police.
Ground yourself
Look around. Name them, out loud or in your head.
Call someone now
Add your coordinator, EAP or a colleague in so they're here when you need them.
Not sure who to tell?
If you don't feel safe telling the person in charge or your manager, there are other people you can go to. Or write down what happened, just for you, while it's fresh.
What helps after
Handover to yourself
A few minutes at the end of a shift or visit. Notice what you're carrying, then leave what you can at the door.
Please talk to someone now
You said you've had thoughts of harming yourself or not wanting to be here. Please call one of these now. If you're in immediate danger, call 000.
Light load
This phone isn't letting the page save. Your result shows here but won't be kept.
About the aggression
Report it through your organisation's incident system if you haven't yet, even if it seems minor. Reports build the picture that gets care plans reviewed and staffing changed. Staff hurt at work can make a workers compensation claim.
Looking after your dog
Your dog showed signs the visit was hard. Give them a rest day, keep the next visit short, and talk to your program's assessor if the signs keep showing.
Your safety at work
You said you didn't feel fully safe on this shift. That matters. Tell the person in charge or your manager, and report it through your incident system. If you work alone, ask about lone-worker check-ins.
Getting home safely
You said you've got very little energy left. If you're driving, a 15 to 20 minute nap before you leave can help, or get a lift if you can. Text someone when you're home.
What might help
People you can call
This isn't a medical assessment. It's a way to notice how you're going over time.
How it's been going
Last 14 days
Handovers
This phone isn't letting the page save, so handovers won't be kept.
Privacy & your data
Add a PIN, download what you've entered, or delete everything from this phone.
Caring work takes something out of you
What to watch for, and what helps. Tap a heading to open it.
After a resident or client dies
In aged care, death is part of the work, and it still hurts. Grief can build up over many losses, even when each one seems small.
Today
- Pause before your next task if you can.
- Many homes hold a farewell or guard of honour. It can help to be part of it.
- It's OK to cry, or to feel nothing much at all.
Over time
- Notice if losses are piling up.
- Talk to someone about the residents who mattered most to you.
- Volunteers: ask your coordinator to let you know when someone you visit dies.
Responsive behaviours and aggression
Aggression from someone living with dementia is often distress, pain or confusion, not something personal. It can still hurt, and it isn't your fault.
Today
- Get checked if you were hurt.
- Report it through your organisation's incident system, even if it seems minor.
- Debrief with a colleague or the person in charge.
Over the next days
- Ask whether the care plan or behaviour support needs reviewing.
- Staff hurt at work can make a workers compensation claim.
When you can't give the care you want
Rushing, short shifts and not enough staff can mean leaving someone before you're ready. The gap between the care you want to give and what's possible is sometimes called moral distress.
- It's a sign of a system under strain, not of you failing.
- Raise staffing concerns with your manager, your WHS rep or your union.
- Notice the small moments you do give. They count.
When something has to be reported
Under the Serious Incident Response Scheme, aged care providers must report serious incidents such as abuse, neglect and unexplained injuries. Being the one who saw it is heavy.
- Make sure the person is safe first. Call 000 if needed.
- Report it to your manager or the person in charge.
- You can also contact the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission on 1800 951 822.
- Worried about elder abuse outside the service? The Elder Abuse phone line is 1800 353 374.
- Write down what you saw, with the date and time, while it's fresh.
Working alone in home care
- Make sure someone knows where you are and when you should finish.
- Trust your gut. If you feel unsafe, leave if you can and call your coordinator, or 000 in an emergency.
- Ask your provider about lone-worker check-ins.
- Afterwards, debrief with someone, even by phone.
Difficult conversations with families
Families are often grieving, guilty or worried, and it can come out at staff.
- It's usually not about you.
- You don't have to take abuse. Step away and get the person in charge.
- Note what happened and debrief afterwards.
After a mistake or near miss
A medication error, a fall or a missed handover happens to most workers at some point. Feeling terrible about it shows you care.
- Make sure the person is safe, then report it.
- Tell someone you trust. You don't have to go through it alone.
- Ask for support through any review. If you're worried about a formal process, talk to your union first.
Bullying, harassment or conflict
You don't have to put up with it, and you don't have to sort it out alone.
- Write down what happened, with dates, while it's fresh.
- If your manager is involved, talk to someone outside your reporting line.
- For sexual harassment, 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732) is there 24/7.
Signs you're carrying too much
- Dreading going in
- Feeling numb or detached from residents
- Short-tempered at home
- Sleep changes, or replaying shifts at night
- Pulling back from people
This is sometimes called compassion fatigue. It's a normal response to caring work, not a weakness.
Getting home safely
After a long or night shift, tiredness can affect your driving as much as alcohol.
- If you're struggling to keep your eyes open, don't drive. A 15 to 20 minute nap before you leave helps.
- After a hard shift, text someone when you get home.
Volunteers and visitors
You may get close to the people you visit, and you're not always told when they become unwell or die. Ask your coordinator what support is available. It's OK to step back if a visit is taking too much.
Therapy and pet visiting teams
Your animal feels the room too. Watch for yawning, lip licking, turning away, panting when it isn't hot, a tucked tail or shaking off. Keep visits short, end early if your animal is uncomfortable, and leave rest days between visits.
When to get more help
If your load has been heavy for two weeks or more, you dread going in, or it's affecting sleep or home life, talk to your GP or EAP. A GP can set up a Mental Health Treatment Plan for Medicare-subsidised sessions with a psychologist.
People to call
Save the ones that apply to you. They stay on this phone and show up on the Help now screen.
Support lines
You don't have to go through your manager
Sometimes the person you'd normally tell is part of the problem, or it just doesn't feel safe. Here are other ways to get support. You choose what to do, and when.
From your organisation
Your aged care provider can add its own EAP, peer support, pastoral care and wellbeing numbers here.
Someone outside your reporting line
- Employee Assistance Program (EAP). Free, confidential counselling. Your manager isn't told that you called. Many cover volunteers too, so ask your coordinator.
- A peer supporter or wellbeing contact. Someone outside your reporting line.
- Your union. For example the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association (which also covers assistants in nursing), the Health Services Union or the United Workers Union. They give confidential advice and can come to meetings with you.
- Your work health and safety representative. For safety issues, including staffing, aggression and bullying.
- Volunteers and visitors: your volunteer coordinator or the program that placed you.
- Your GP. Outside work altogether, and can refer you on.
Text or chat instead of calling
For when talking out loud isn't possible, or feels like too much.
For particular situations
If you've seen abuse or neglect in aged care, you can report it to the Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. Whistleblower protections apply to people who report in good faith.
Spiritual and religious support
Many aged care homes have a pastoral care or chaplaincy team, and it's there for staff and volunteers as well as residents. Chaplains and pastoral carers support people of any faith or none. Their role is to listen, not to persuade.
You can also ask for someone from your own faith or cultural community. Some people find strength in prayer, ritual or their faith community after a hard shift. Others find it in nature, music or quiet. Whatever gives you meaning counts.
Words to start with
The first sentence is often the hardest. You could say:
"I'm not ready to make a complaint. I just need to talk this through."
"Can this stay between us? Is there anything you'd have to pass on?"
"I can't give residents the care they need, and I don't know who to tell."
"I'm a volunteer. Who can I talk to about this?"
What happens if I tell someone?
- Counsellors, peer supporters and helplines keep what you say private. The main exception is if someone is at serious risk of harm. If you're unsure, ask at the start.
- A union can give you confidential advice before you decide anything.
- A report of a serious incident has to be passed on under the Serious Incident Response Scheme, and you may be asked for your account. You can ask for support through it.
- Your private record in this app stays on your phone unless you choose to share it.
Not ready to tell anyone?
That's OK. You can write down what happened, just for yourself, and decide later.
Numbers and services are for New South Wales and Australia-wide. Check with your organisation for its own services.
Write down what happened
It stays on this phone. It isn't a report, and nothing is sent anywhere. If you later decide to raise something, notes written at the time are easier to rely on than memory.
My entries
Entries can't be edited, so each one shows when it was written. To add something, write a new entry.
No entries yet.
If you decide to share it, you can download it or send it to yourself.
Your phone, your data
PIN lock
Ask for a PIN when the app opens, and after it has been in the background for a minute.
PIN is on.
The PIN stops someone else opening the app on your phone. It doesn't encrypt what's stored, so keep your phone locked too. If you forget it, you can delete everything and start again.
Hide the screen
Tap the eye button at the top of any screen to cover the app straight away, for example in the staff room or on the bus home. Tap to come back, or enter your PIN if you've set one.
Download my data
Download everything you've entered (handovers, private record and contacts) as a text file. You could keep a copy, or show it to your GP or counsellor.
Delete everything
Deletes your handovers, private record, role, contacts and PIN from this phone.
Delete everything from this phone? This can't be undone.
About Unladen Care
Unladen Care is a prototype made by Co-Synthesist Pty Ltd, Newcastle NSW. It isn't a medical or emergency service, and it isn't connected to any aged care provider or government agency. The questions haven't been clinically validated yet.
What's stored: your role, handovers, private record, saved contacts and settings, only in this phone's browser. Nothing is sent to anyone. There are no accounts, analytics or trackers.
Feedback: the feedback form is the only part of Unladen Care that sends anything, and only when you press Send. It doesn't include anything else from the app.
Keep in mind: if you clear your browser data or remove the app, what you've entered goes too. Download a copy first if you want to keep it.
Version 0.3 prototype · September 2026