Learn 11 Unique Skills You Need to Become a Caregiver
5. Time Management
Even if you work for a caregiver agency, you’re mostly in charge of organizing your time and ensuring that everything gets done in a shift. As a result, you must be able to prioritize activities, work efficiently, and avoid becoming bogged down in excessively time-consuming duties when time is limited.
6. Organization
Are you sure you know where everything in your breastfeeding bag is? What about pharmaceuticals in your client’s home?
Caregivers must have a place for everything and everything in its place, as the phrase goes, especially in the terrible event of an emergency. When time is of the essence, you want to be able to get your hands on exactly what you require.
7. Cleanliness
During their visits, many caregivers assist with light cleanings, such as laundry or mopping, especially if the client is elderly. (However, heavy-duty duties such as moving furniture, cleaning carpets, or mowing the lawn are not within the scope of service.)
Even if you don’t keep your own house as tidy as you’d want, you’ll need to be able to clean your patient’s house until it’s spotless. This guideline also extends to personal hygiene, as you will most likely need to assist your client with bathing and dressing.
8. Patience
Most home health customers are struggling with one or more difficulties, such as substantial mental and/or physical diseases, limited communication abilities, and so on. Clients can be illogical or critical (or both), necessitate cleanup after mishaps, and otherwise cause some frustration. Caregivers must maintain calm in these situations; therefore, having a near-unflappable disposition is critical for successful patient care.
9. Flexibility
Because a patient’s condition might change on a daily basis, so can your job as a caretaker. There are no two shifts or home visits alike, and caregivers must be adaptable in order to handle these variations gracefully. This adaptability extends to schedule, as caregivers rarely work standard business hours (after all, patients aren’t restricted to Monday through Friday, 9 to 5).
10. Initiative
Caregivers frequently work alone in the patient’s home. Obviously, they’ll have doctor and nurse orders to follow in terms of wound care, medications, and so on, but non-medical care differs from other medical settings in that you don’t have a doctor checking off on your every action. As a result, carers must feel at ease being proactive, making informed judgments, and acting in an emergency.
11. Physical Strength & Stamina
Caregivers are required to execute a number of physical duties, such as carrying groceries, vacuuming, and lifting patients. Caregivers, no matter what they do, are frequently on their feet for extended periods of time, sometimes for the whole of their shift, which is why having comfortable shoes is critical!
Maintaining your own and your client’s health requires a foundation level of physical strength and stamina. Not everyone can or should become a caretaker, but if you have these 11 attributes, you might be a good fit.
