CAREGIVER: How To Define Caregiver

If you provide help to another person in need, you are a Caregiver. Caregivers help individuals achieve the daily life tasks and functions that are necessary for day to day life. These task and/or functions for a number of reasons, have become inaccessible to them. Many who receive care are those who have aged beyond their own ability to independently self-care and are best served with the assistance of a caregiver. Some of the most common recipients of care are individuals dealing with: The Challenges that elderly start experiencing with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs), with Recovery from a surgical procedure or hospitalization, Chronic illness and terminal illness (hospice caregiver), Dementia and/or Alzheimer’s Disease, Cancer, and Debilitating injuries, etc.

When the role of caregiver falls on family members who work (and maybe even have children and additional family to care for), this burden can become very challenging. Caregiver burnout is a very real phenomenon for family and friends taking it all on themselves. A Professional Caregiver is a very popular option that can provide the support needed to supplement the compassion and care many seek to provide for their family members, friends, and/or loved ones.

Characteristics of a Caregiver

Families should feel comfortable with their family caregivers. Knowing the qualities to look for in a caregiver can go a long way in helping to ensure that your loved one gets the best care possible and knowing that your loved one is in good and capable hands.

Empathy and Patience

A good caregiver has empathy and the ability to put themselves in the shoes of the people they care for. The ability to do this allows the caregivers to fully understand the needs of their clients and will tailor the care they provide around their understanding to ensure high quality, person-centered support, while always being patient and understanding that it’s what you achieve that’s important, not how long it takes you to achieve it.

Being Positive and Encouraging

A good caregiver will understand the importance of positivity and how it plays a huge part in someone’s well-being. A good caregiver will always greet the people they care for with a smile and a positive attitude. They will encourage the people they care for to do what they can and will support where needed to ensure them that they are living as independently as possible or that there mental health and wellbeing is being attended to if required.

Reliable and Respectful of Choices

Good caregivers are dedicated to being on time and understand that being late can affect the routine of the people they care for. Good caregivers will often go above and beyond what is expected to ensure their clients are comfortable, safe and that all needs are met. Good caregivers will respect and empower your decisions and not assume you are unable to make them.

Being Observant with Excellent Communication Skills

Good caregivers save countless lives with their observation skills. There have been many occasions whereby caregivers have noticed signs and symptoms, which may lead to health conditions being recognized early for the ones they care for. To be observant can also help with identifying issues, while also ensuring their client eats, drinks and sleeps enough. Good care givers will be able to communicate any health concerns effectively with third parties and will always reassure you. Being easy to talk to and a good listener is extremely important in providing the best care. Good carers will encourage conversation and will enjoy listening to the stories about your life, family and friends helping to build trusting relationships.

The ability to remain calm in stressful situations

Caring can be truly wonderful, allowing you to hear a customer’s stories, aid them in getting out and about, and generally making their life as full as it can be. It’s not always that way, however, and how you handle the challenges can really tell you if you have the qualities of a good healthcare assistant. Anyone can have a bad day, and carers are certainly not infallible! However, our longest-serving and most experienced care workers will tell you that grace under pressure is certainly possible. If you naturally have the patience to deal with people when they’re in a bad mood, there’s a good chance you have the care assistant qualities needed to manage a customer with dementia who’s having a bad day. It’s a fantastic foundation for a career in care, and our Bluebird training will help you deal with the finer details of the job’s daily challenges.

The ability to accept criticism and work well under pressure

This point is, in many ways, a continuation of the one above it. Care is a career in which you’re always learning, and sometimes that means making mistakes and accepting feedback around it. That can be particularly tricky to do in high-pressure situations where someone’s health is on the line, but being open to that and learning to do it with grace and a genuine smile on your face is one of the key qualities of a 0good healthcare assistant.

The ability to be thorough and pay attention to detail

On any given day, our carers might have to respond to adjustments on a customer’s care plan; log a time when their customer went off baseline; administer specific dosages of medication; and note the (sometimes innocuous) things a customer says which could reveal their mood and happiness levels are worryingly low. It can be a lot to take in, but having the qualities above, together with a thorough attention to detail, can make all the difference. That’s why it’s one of the core skills and qualities of a care worker.

Customer service skills

This might be one of the qualities of a care worker you think goes without saying. After all, caring is a customer-facing role. But seeing a customer take a turn for the worse can certainly test your ability to stay calm, composed and professional. Basically, If you can do that and treat them with care, respect and compassion, while being knowledgeable, helpful and meeting their needs, you have a crucial care assistant quality that families are currently crying out for.