We all want to be great caregivers, but with different clients and different situations, it can be difficult to determine which is the best action to take. Follow these tips, and you’ll be well on your way to being the best caregiver you can be.
Understand the family’s expectations.
Home care is a very personal business. People are trusting you to care for the most important person in their life. That means that families always have high expectations. When families and clients are unhappy with care, the reason is usually some kind of miscommunication.
For example, if your client has an accident in the bed, what will you do? Put clean sheets on the bed? Help your client clean up? Put the soiled sheets in the laundry room? Put the sheets in the washer? Dry and fold them? What else? If a family expects all of these things, and you miss one of them, their expectations will not be met.
So it is up to you, as a caregiver, to ask the client and their family what their expectations are. It is also just as important for you to voice your feelings and preferences to the family. When your expectations meet the family’s expectations, you are much more likely to succeed as a caregiver.
Families need to see their parent looking happy.
When a person hires a caregiver, they are usually having a really hard time with that decision. They feel frustrated, guilty, and nervous. They are hiring you to give them peace of mind.
This means that the most important moment – to them – is the moment that they walk into Mom’s house at the end of your shift, or after you leave. They will be checking to see if they are happy with how the house looks, and more importantly – how Mom looks. If it looks like she has been sitting in the same spot all day with the TV on, that daughter will feel even more guilty than she did before, and you can bet she’ll quickly find a different caregiver or cancel home care altogether.
The same applies for your conversations with the family. One of the worst things you can do it to bombard the family with negative events or observations from your shift. Always try to speak positively about your client, and about your shift with them.
Don’t let them say: “She/he just plays on their phone.”
In recent years, this has become the most common complaint that families have about caregivers. Clients and families hate to see a caregiver looking at their phone. When you enter a caregiving shift, your job is to dedicate your time to caring for your client. You should never be looking at your phone, whether you’re texting, playing games, or checking social media.
If you are bored, chances are good that your client is bored, too. Try to engage with them in some way. Find something that your client enjoys, or ask if there is something else you can help with.
The client doesn’t have to be right. (Don’t correct them).
When you work as a caregiver, you will sometimes encounter a client that is experiencing some memory loss, or trouble getting their thoughts straight. When this happens, remember that your job is to care for them and keep them safe. Your job is not to correct them. If they think that they are in a different day, year, or place, that’s okay. You should focus on getting them to talk, and helping them solve any problems they are struggling with. That’s it.Join them where they are.
If it’s 1950, and her “daughter is missing,” talk through that with her. Join her in 1950, and ask about what her daughter looks like, where she likes to go, or what she likes to do. Turn her distress into a conversation. That is always better than arguing with her about how old her daughter is or what year it is.
Strive to be the best caregiver.
The caregiving industry is very competitive, and if you want to get the best shifts, pay, and clients, you need to stand out as the best caregiver. Always try to go above and beyond what your client asks for. In this business, the most important thing is to give quality, genuine care to the people you serve. If you give great care, you will always be in high demand.
Set a goal for yourself to get great feedback from the family you work with! Families love to compliment Care Companions that have a great attitude, keep their loved ones busy, communicate well, and never miss a shift or show up late. Those are the Care Companions who will always be successful!
Originally written by,
Christy Rockfeller
Source:
http://www.caregivers.com/blog/2015/10/how-to-be-a-good-caregiver/