Pitfalls of Working as an Independent CNA or HHA Caregiver
If you are a professional caregiver with a Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA) or Home Health Aide (HHA) certification, you have the option of working for a home care agency, working for a family as an employee, or becoming self-employed as an independent caregiver employed directly by the family. At first glance, being an independent CNA or HHA caregiver is an attractive option, especially for those who are entrepreneurial – it allows you to be your own boss, choose your clients, set your schedule, and even earn more money. But in reality, being an independent caregiver is not so easy. Here are some challenges and pitfalls:
- Setting Up Your Business
To work as an independent contractor, you should set up a business entity. That includes registering a business name, getting a business checking account, and setting up a bookkeeping system. You are also responsible for paying taxes, business liability insurance, payroll, and worker’s compensation.
All independent contractors are responsible for preparing their taxes, which includes Social Security withholdings and Medicare tax. The federal government considers a self-employed individual the employer and employee. Independent workers are solely responsible for accurately and timely recording and submitting their taxes. Independent contractors must also cover their own medical and retirement benefits as well.
The costs of running a business take away from your earnings but may be offset by benefits from business deductions and tax advantages. All this administrative work will also consume much of your time and be very stressful simply because it falls outside your expertise. You may outsource the administrative work, but this will incur additional costs to your business.
- Finding Clients
Finding new clients is difficult, time-consuming, and potentially risky depending on where these clients are sourced. Local classifieds or social media may produce untrustworthy or illegitimate clients that may fail to pay for services rendered. Even if you register at a reputable online job service such as care.com, or you have relationships with institutions that provide referrals, you would need to position your services to target the type of clients you wish to have, prepare your own marketing materials, and screen potential clients. The market for in-home care services is very competitive, and doing all this on your own not only takes a lot of time but is also not easy to produce desired outcomes.
- Lack of Support
Working independently means that you will not get support when you need help handling challenging issues. You may be caught in difficult situations with your client that you cannot solve on your own. The home care environment is emotionally fraught with the requirements of providing close intimate, personalized care for individuals. These emotional pressures can be strenuous and, over time, induce burnout. The support of coworkers, office staff, and case managers who understand the trials and tribulations of home care services is invaluable in reducing this stress.
- Lack of Growth Opportunities
Suppose you work as an independent CNA or HHA caregiver. In that case, you will miss opportunities that home care agencies often provide to acquire training, learn new skills, or advance your career through bridge programs to become Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) or Registered Nurses (RNs).
Advantages of Working for a Home Care Agency
For CNA or HHA caregivers, there are numerous advantages and benefits when working through a home care agency, many of which eliminate the pitfalls of being an independent caregiver.
A home care agency has many clients and can provide you with consistent work in most cases. You don’t have to find your own clients. The agency screens clients and matches them with your abilities, temperament, and preferences. You are more likely to get the kind of cna or hha jobs you like, decide how far you would like to travel for a case, and meet your schedule desires.
When services are no longer needed with a client, your home care agency can assign you to another case, so you aren’t out of work while you find another client. The agency can also assign another caregiver to cover for you when you are sick or need to take time off, thus helping to preserve your client and giving you the freedom to take care of your personal needs.
When you work for a home care agency, you work with a team to serve the client. The agency provides continuous moral and technical support through its case managers and office staff. Case managers also help to resolve difficulties you may have with your client.
A home care agency pays you promptly, fairly, and reliably according to your employment agreement, whether the client has paid or not. You also don’t have to deal with payroll and other industry obligations. Agency caregivers also may receive higher hourly wages than independent caregivers contracted to a facility.
Most home care agencies provide orientation, mentoring, coaching, and ongoing training to help you advance your skillset. They also keep up with the current trends and requirements of home care services. Many agencies also offer additional specialty training such as dementia care or fall prevention. Agency caregivers have the opportunity to advance their careers by developing experience and knowledge that can only be acquired by working through a myriad of care environments and situations. These opportunities lead to natural progressions in skill and increase the rate at which a CNA or HHA progresses in their career.
Start Your Agency Career Today
As a CNA or HHA, choosing to work through a home care agency is far more stable, less stressful, and more beneficial long-term than being an independent caregiver. You save the hassle of finding clients, managing your work schedules, performing administrative tasks like payroll and bookkeeping, and saving business costs such as liability insurance and taxes. Agencies take care of all of this and much more. Begin your path to success and start your career at a home care agency today.
About Visting Angels Newton/Canton
At Visiting Angels Newton/Canton, we offer flexible schedules, health insurance, generous sick time, holiday pay (time-and-a-half), caregiver recognition bonuses, mileage reimbursement, and a supportive and caring office team. We provide financial bonuses for new caregiver and client referrals.
Visiting Angels Newton/Canton offers a complete orientation, opportunities to expand skills through Visiting Angels University, training programs through a partnership with a local community college, and specialized sensitivity, dementia, and palliative care training by our RN case manager and CDP certified case managers.
Many of our Caregivers have been with us for several years and will refer us to colleagues and friends. We prioritize supporting our caregivers with events, educational opportunities, and awards with bonuses. We have been honored to receive the Boston Globe’s Top Places to Work award for five years and one of the 10 best places to work in Massachusetts in 2021 based on diversity and inclusion. Home Care Pulse has awarded us, Employer of Choice, for seven years through positive reviews from our caregivers and staff.
Contact us at 617-795-2727 and ask for our Staffing Coordinator or CLICK HERE to begin the application process. Learn how you can earn your Visiting Angels wings and join an award-winning team today!
Visiting Angels Newton/Canton MA has been providing high-caliber in-home care services for seniors and people with disabilities for over eighteen years. Countless families have benefited from our at-home care, senior companion support, respite care, live-in and 24/7 assistance, dementia and Alzheimer’s care, transitional aid, and private duty care services in Natick, Wellesley, Dedham, Needham, Stoughton, Brookline, Canton, Watertown, Jamaica Plain, Newton, Norwood, Roslindale, Upper Back Bay, Westwood, and neighboring communities.