Am I Ready To Become A Professional Caregiver?

Professional caregiving jobs are rising as America's senior population continues to grow. But before pursuing a career as a professional caregiver, ask yourself a few questions to assess whether this job is best for you.

Do I Understand The Role Of A Professional Caregiver?

There is some confusion and misconceptions about what a professional caregiver is and what they do. A professional caregiver is a trained individual who provides nonmedical assistance to another person. Caregivers working with Visiting Angels provide in-home care, where they help clients with daily activities in their homes. These activities can vary depending on the client, but they may include household and personal tasks like cleaning, cooking, medication reminders, and dressing.

One important distinction of professional caregivers is that they don’t provide any medical assistance, even in the presence of a licensed medical professional. Medical assistance includes tending to wounds, changing IVs or catheters, and administering medicines.

Do I Have The Necessary Skills?

Like any career, professional caregiving requires a specific skill set to provide quality care to clients. Through the Visiting Angels paid training program, you can learn technical skills, like assisting someone in the bathroom or helping someone move. However, having strong communication, time management, and organizational skills are essential for a successful caregiving career.

Communication: Strong communication helps you build trust with your clients. It also lets you keep your coworkers and clients’ families updated on how they are doing.
Time management: It’s essential to arrive at client’s homes on time for every shift. Time management is also about ensuring you complete daily tasks promptly.
Organization: Keeping yourself and your client organized helps everything run smoothly and contributes to your clients' highest quality of care.

Do I Have The Necessary Qualities?

Having the technical skill set for professional caregiving is one thing, but you also want to ensure you have the right personal qualities to lead a successful career.

Kindness and compassion: If you’ve ever worked in a customer-facing role, you know how important kindness and compassion are in building trusting relationships with clients. Kindness and compassion show clients you care for them and what’s best for their well-being.
Dependability: Clients depend on their caregivers for basic things, like using the bathroom and eating a healthy meal. Clients should feel comfortable knowing you’ll be there for them when they need it and help them with whatever you can to ensure their comfort and safety.
Self-starter: Caregivers need to feel comfortable being in charge of themselves. There is no manager on site when you are at clients’ homes, so it’s essential to be a self-starter and manage yourself. Being a self-starter also means taking the initiative and anticipating your client’s needs.

Next Steps With Visiting Angels

Visiting Angels of Southwest Colorado is looking to hire hard-working, self-sufficient, dependable individuals to work with seniors throughout Southwest Colorado and the surrounding communities. We’re hiring for part-time and full-time shifts with flexible scheduling, paid training, and competitive wages.

We'd love to receive your online application if you have the skills and qualities necessary to lead a successful caregiving career.