It takes a special type of person to take on Caring for the elderly. I have done jobs that has necessitated, me spending a considerable time in elderly care homes, I certainly understand the reference to 'the' aroma! I also have often found them depressing places. They can be more positive, but those places are very few and far between, and I suspect staff are better paid and trained than most establishments, and incur higher than average fees! I have worked in care for much of my working life, but never in elderly care. When working with younger people with disability, addiction or in need of a home, you always feel you can improve their life choices if you can make positive changes to their problems. Of course the same can be said for elderly care, however the changes might be less dramatic, and you are always battling against father time, and while it is admirable to make the last years of a persons life more comfortable, you are overseeing a gradual decline! As I said, not an easy job, and I have to doff my cap to those who do it, don't think I could!
And as posters have said, the pay is crap, its an undervalued job.