Senior Caregiving Jobs: Career Path

30. September 2010 0 (0)
Senior care jobs provide fulfillment beyond the paycheck for individuals interested in spending time with older adults and assisting with their activities of daily living and care needs.

Senior care career paths include beginning as a senior companion caregiver, becoming certified as non-medical caregiver and then as a certified nursing aide or certified home health aide (offered in just a few states, such as New Jersey).  Nursing aides may then decide to become a L.P.N. (licensed practical nurse) or R.N. (registered nurse).

Senior caregivers can also opt for the social services career track in senior care and become a social worker, counselor or geriatric care manager.

Learn about the caregiver job description and training for senior caregivers and apply for a senior care position in your area to begin a career in an industry which is predicted to be one of the top employers for the next decade.

Caregiver Training - Caring for the Caregiver

29. September 2010 0 Caregiver Jobs, Caregiving Issues (1)
Caregiverlist's Caring for the Caregiver Days will launch in Chicago, Illinois on October 14, 2010.

The Illinois School of Health Careers will host this event, with free caregiver training workshops, food, seminars and information on applying for caregiver certification programs.

Join us to meet other caregivers, learn about caregiving as a career or to sharpen your caregiving skills.

Learn more and RSVP for Chicago's Care for the Caregiver day.

Choosing the Right Senior Care

29. September 2010 0 Senior Caregiving, Caregiver Jobs, Caregiving Issues (0)
The National Private Duty Association presented a webinar on making informed senior home care decisions.  The NPDA and Caregiverlist advocate using senior home care agencies which meet the licensing requirements in their state and provide the quality standards which include actively managing caregivers while hiring them as employees, complete with all payroll benefits and the insurance protections for senior clients.

Learn about how to make the right choice for you and your family:

https://cc.readytalk.com/play?id=42ubr8

 

Professional Caregiver Training

27. September 2010 0 Caregiver Jobs, Caregiving Issues (1)
Caregiving for seniors requires a variety of skills, along with the ability to deal with caregiving stress. By learning the skills used by professional caregivers, you can deliver a better experience for both your senior clients and yourself.

aQuire Training Solutions provides testing modules for professional and family caregivers and are approved for providing online training for nursing aide skills in the state of Oregon.  Their tests are customized into short modules and include a 10-hour training program for non-medical, companion caregivers.

Training for caregivers includes:

  • Daily care skills with basic activities like bathing and dressing
  • Designing activities for individuals with dementia 
  • Understanding common diseases affecting the elderly population, including Alzheimer's disease, COPD, cancer, CHF, diabetes, Parkinson's, stroke and more.
These are just a few of the training modules provided by aQuire.

Learn about all of aQuire's caregiver training in our Caregiver Career Center, as Caregiverlist continues to "Care for the Caregiver".

Caregiver Job Opportunities

14. September 2010 0 Caregiver Jobs, Caregiving Issues (1)
Senior caregivers may start with only personal experience in caregiving, or they may be required to have full certification as a nursing aide or home health aide for some assignments.  Only a few states, such as New Jersey, have a designation for training as a home health aide.  Other states may require the individual senior care companies to provide training prior to staffing a new caregiver.

If you are considering becoming a professional caregiver, you may learn about the basic training requirements, build a resume and apply for a job for companion caregiving near you.

You may also want to review a caregiver job description and find out about nursing aide program admission requirements and costs in your area.

You may also learn more about becoming a caregiver at the upcoming Caregiverlist Care for the Caregiver Day in Chicago.
Hosted by the Illinois School of Health Careers, we will offer free training seminars on transfering from bed to chair and back, communicating with patients with memory loss and managing the emotional aspects of caregiving and processing grief.

Chicago Caregiverlist Care for the Caregiver Day
Date:  October 14, 2010
Time:  10 a.m. - 5 p.m. (open house format - stop by for free food, massages and free training)
Location:  11 East Adams Street at State Street, downtown Chicago, Illinois

Delivering Happiness by Caregiving

6. September 2010 0 Senior Caregiving, Caregiver Jobs, Caregiving Issues (4)
Happiness delivered on a Happiness Bus?  This weekend, Tony Hsieh, the CEO of Zappos.com, visited Chicago in his "Delivering Happiness Bus" as part of the promotion for his book, titled "Delivering Happiness, A Path to Profits, Passion, and Purpose".

Tony sold a company in his early twenties for many millions and then began the search for what would make him happy.  He discovered the research on the science of happiness had already been done.

This research shows there are 3 types of happiness:
  • Pleasure (Rock-star high)
  • Passion (Flow and engagement- like going for a long run or knitting or anything you lose yourself in)
  • Higher Purpose (Being part of something bigger than yourself)
The longest-lasting type of happiness is the "higher purpose" type.  Then you layer on top the passion and the pleasure.

This seems to explain why so many people pursue caregiving as a career.  Is the pay the highest?  No.  Do your client's always appreciate what you do for them? No.  Do you go home at the end of the day feeling fulfilled because you have helped someone? Yes!

Caregiving delivers a higher purpose.  Applying for a job as even a part-time caregiver makes a positive difference for those who are going to school or need extra income and being a full-time caregiver, for those who have passion for helping others............delivers happiness!

What makes you happy?

Caregiver Stress: Jet Blue Flight Attendant

2. September 2010 0 Senior Caregiving, Caregiver Jobs, Caregiving Issues (0)
Although aging brings the gift of wisdom and other benefits (a monthly paycheck from the government), it also delivers challenges.  Your friends die, age-related illnesses come along and your daily routine may require the help of a caregiver.

Caregivers know that their job involves more than just assisting with physical care.  The recent incident on JetBlue airlines gave a public face to the stress that caregiving can cause.  The flight attendant on JetBlue is a caregiver for his elderly parents.  His mother is ill and his father recently died of ALS (Lous Gehrig's disease).  This lead to his becoming fed up with a passenger, grabbing a beer and sliding out the emergency exit.

Senior caregivers can definitely relate to the need to get away from it all or to want to say "take this job and shove it".  That is part of the reason turnover for nursing aides at nursing homes, hospitals and assisted living centers is 75% or higher.  Hands-on senior care is not easy and brings the battle of dealing with the emotional roller coaster seniors may be riding on.

Caregiver stress causes additional challenges for family members caring for a senior and a support team makes a huge difference     By reaching out to a senior home care agency for assistance, you gain the added value of professionals who have been trained in managing the emotional aspects of caregiving.

Caregivers can also find a way to vent by sharing their caregiving experience with others and learning training techniques for the emotional aspects of caregiving.

As the need for senior caregivers continues to grow, gaining experience as a professional caregiver can assist with skills needed for becoming a certified nursing aide or home health aide.

And if it all becomes too much on some days, grabbing a beer is okay - maybe just don't jump out of an airplane full of passengers at the same time.
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