Job seekers can discover fast openings in most areas throughout the nation as companions for retirees. No medical coaching is required, although most candidates must have a driver’s license and their very own transportation.
“Proper now, there’s a disaster for caregivers. The demand is so excessive. All of us want them,” stated Elaine Poker-Yount, director of care administration for the Visiting Angels franchise in Mesa, Ariz. “It’s not simply us. There’s robust demand for all caregiver positions.”
Visiting Angels has greater than 600 franchises in 50 states using caregivers who assist seniors with transportation, straightforward meal preparation, mild housekeeping, different actions of each day dwelling and principally being a buddy.
Some Visiting Angels franchises in addition to many different senior care program employers across the nation are additionally hiring dwelling well being aides or private care aides. They have a tendency to assist with further duties resembling tooth brushing, bathing and toileting.
These Caregiver Jobs Are in Demand
Residence Well being Aides
Sometimes, these aides want a highschool diploma or equal and should full formal coaching and cross an examination. This profession typically doesn’t require you to have your individual transportation whereas being a companion does often require driving.
Residence well being aides earned a median annual wage of $27,080 or about $13 per hour in 2020, in response to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It expects the general employment of those caregiver jobs to develop 33% within the subsequent eight years as Child Boomers age.
BizInsure, a market for enterprise insurance coverage, stories that many dwelling well being aide coaching applications final simply two weeks. Coaching applications price between $200 and $1,000. As a result of there’s such a scarcity of individuals to fill caregiver jobs, some employers pays for brand spanking new hires to get their caregiver certification.
Most group schools provide coaching and examination prep for these caregiver jobs.
The course and examination are extra about figuring out the best way to take care of individuals than medical coaching.
Companions
Many job seekers who aren’t up for bathing and toileting help have already got expertise that may be put to good use as a full-time or part-time companion.
“We search for somebody with empathy, not sympathy. Somebody who can stroll in another person’s sneakers and see the world from their standpoint,” Poker-Yount stated. “We search for that respect piece, that they actually wish to make a distinction in someone’s life.”
Search here to see if Visiting Angels is filling caregiver jobs in your zip code.
As a result of every Visiting Angels franchise has a distinct proprietor, there is no such thing as a set pay scale. Many provide aggressive pay of two or extra {dollars} per hour above the state’s minimal wage. Workers with extra expertise could also be compensated greater than that, Poker-Yount stated. Some provide advantages. You possibly can work full time as a companion or as little as one four-hour shift per week normally.
Every state’s licensing or affiliation necessities for caregiver jobs are totally different, although it’s not unusual for companions to bear felony background checks and supply references. Some applications additionally require CPR coaching.
Who Sometimes Works as a Caregiver?
Some caregivers are college students going by medical faculty or working to change into a bodily therapist, however many are caring individuals with no particular educational or medical coaching desirous to work half time or full time.
Poker-Yount doesn’t require job candidates to have prior care working with seniors in knowledgeable setting. She does search for workers who’ve cared for a member of the family at a while of their life for six months or extra.
“Any individual who took care of a bit of sister who had Down syndrome, or cared for somebody with mental improvement difficulties or who took care of their partner makes a beautiful companion,” she stated. “We’ve discovered household caregiving is the very best expertise for offering well-rounded care.”
Poker-Yount is licensed to coach companions to take care of shoppers with dementia.
“Not all people is snug caregiving in a dementia world, whether or not as a result of they lived in it or as a result of they haven’t had expertise and it daunts them,” she stated. “When the caregiver has zero to little dementia expertise and will get a consumer (with dementia) they develop with them. They change into phenomenal. It’s child steps alongside the best way.”
Employers ensure that the caregiver is snug with the older grownup and in order that the consumer and caregiver are a very good match and it’s a very good work setting.
Katherine Snow Smith is a workers author for The PNW.