Learning About Professional Caregiving
By 2030, one in five Americans will be of retirement age. With this increase in age among the American population, there’s an expected increase in the demand for professional caregivers, making it a stable and lucrative career option for many individuals.
But before you decide to jump into a professional caregiving career, it’s essential to understand what a professional caregiver is and the skills and qualities necessary for success.
What Professional Caregivers Do
A professional caregiver is a trained individual who assists another individual, primarily seniors, with daily tasks. These tasks can range from household chores and transportation to assistance with mobility and grooming.
Some caregivers work with clients in a senior community or nursing home. Visiting Angels is a locally owned and operated home care agency. Our caregivers work with clients at the client’s homes to help them remain safe and independent. Our caregivers' tasks include housekeeping, meal preparations, medication reminders, showering, and toileting.
What Professional Caregivers Don’t Do
Professional caregivers are highly skilled individuals who provide invaluable client services. However, caregivers are not medical professionals and may not offer medical services. Medical services include administering medications, changing IVs, and dressing wounds.
That’s not to say your clients won’t have medical needs. Many clients require medical services, and as a caregiver, you can ensure the proper medical professional performs those services. Sometimes, providing adequate care means driving a client to a doctor's appointment or helping a client schedule a doctor’s visit.
Qualities And Skills Of Successful Caregivers
Mastering the technical skills of caregiving is essential to the job, but it’s not the only thing you’ll need to develop for a successful caregiving career. If you’re considering transitioning to a caregiving career, you’ll want strong communication, critical thinking, and time management skills.
- Communication is essential for building trust among clients and their families. It’s also an important aspect of building relationships with clients and coworkers.
- Critical thinking is your ability to come up with creative solutions to problems. It’s also about your ability to evaluate, reason, and reflect on situations.
- Time management is about the dependability of showing up to your client’s home on time and ensuring you’re promptly helping them with all necessary tasks.
Beyond skills, there are also certain qualities you should possess if you’re seeking a successful caregiving career. While it’s possible to develop and strengthen these qualities, they should be an innate part of who you are:
- Compassion: Caregiving is about showing compassion to others and making them feel safe, comfortable, and respected.
- Empathy: Aging comes with difficult moments, and your ability to empathize with clients enables you to build trust and respect among yourselves.
- Dependability: Clients rely on their caregivers, and they should feel confident that their caregiver is dependable, will show up when needed, and will perform all tasks to the best of their abilities.
Starting A Professional Caregiving Career
If you have the skills and qualities of a successful caregiver, the team at Visiting Angels Flagstaff would love to connect. We’re looking for qualified individuals to fill part-time and full-time positions working with seniors throughout Flagstaff, Payson, ShowLow, and the surrounding areas. As a professional caregiver with Visiting Angels, you’ll enjoy competitive pay, paid training, time off, bonus opportunities, and plenty of one-on-one interactions with clients.
Check out our career opportunities, submit your application, or message us with any questions.