Tips for Starting Your Caregiving Career
As more of the nation’s population ages, there is an increased need for professional at-home caregivers to help seniors age safely and comfortably in their homes. If you’re a compassionate, patient, dependable, and hard-working individual with the skills to provide quality care to seniors in Mobile, consider these tips as you prepare to enter a new workforce.
Understand the Role of a Caregiver
The first step to finding success in your career as a caregiver is to understand your role with your client. As an at-home caregiver, your primary goal is to help your client stay independent by assisting them with non-medical tasks around the house. These tasks can include light housekeeping, meal preparation, and medication reminders. You can also help transport clients to run errands, such as a trip to the grocery store or accompanying them to a doctor’s appointment.
Some clients may need more hands-on assistance. These clients may ask for help showering, using the bathroom, or dressing. Other clients may have specific needs related to their health. Clients with dementia may require more patience and empathy, or clients receiving end-of-life care might want emotional support.
Understanding your role as a caregiver is essential, but it’s also vital to understand what is not part of your role. Caregivers are not CNAs or nurses. As a caregiver, you cannot perform any medical tasks. Medical tasks include changing bandages, administering medication, or monitoring blood sugar. If a client needs assistance with medical jobs, you can help them contact someone authorized to complete those tasks.
Learn Skills to Improve Your Caregiving
When you begin work with a home care agency such as Visiting Angels, you’ll receive job training before caring for a client. The job training will give you many tools to help your client feel safe and comfortable aging in place. However, you can do plenty of additional work beyond your official job training to improve your caregiving skills.
You can look into job-specific training, such as courses or webinars on caring for someone with dementia. You can also find online or in-person courses to help with more general skills, such as communication, leadership, or problem-solving.
Connect with Other Caregivers
Caregiving is a rewarding career, but it also comes with challenging days. Connecting with other caregivers is an excellent way to help you navigate tough situations. Other caregivers know firsthand what it’s like to work with clients who might need additional support. If you’re having difficulty with a client, don’t hesitate to contact your coworkers. Caregivers with more experience often have advice and tips for navigating different situations. You can also reach out to your care coordinator or other members of the Visiting Angels staff for guidance on anything caregiver-related.
Getting Started with Visiting Angels
If you haven’t started your journey as a caregiver yet, but you think you have the right skill set to work with Visiting Angels, our Mobile team would love to connect. We’re hiring part-time and full-time caregivers to work with seniors in Mobile and the surrounding communities. If you’d like to learn more about working with Visiting Angels, call us at 251.345.4100 or complete this online form.