A Day in the Life of a Home Health Aide

Hi there and welcome to our career training series. I’m Nick and I’m one of the team members here at myCNAjobs.

Every day working as a caregiver can be a little bit different, but I’m here today to give you a peek into what a day in the life of a caregiver looks like.

• Getting to know your clients:
  • Each client you work with will be a little different. When you meet a client for the first time, ask questions about them. What do they like? What are their interests? Try to learn about their lives. This will help you break the ice and get to know them on a personal level so you can build a relationship.
• Activities of Daily Living - or ADLs
  • Activities of daily living, or ADLs as they’re often called, are everyday tasks that your clients need help with. They may be things you and I would take for granted like cooking, light housekeeping, laundry, bathing, or other similar tasks. Sometimes a client needs help getting to and from appointments or the store, and sometimes they just want some companionship during the day.
• Shift times
  • When working as a caregiver, different clients will have different care needs. This means the length of your shifts will change, too. Some clients may only need a little help for an hour a day with things like preparing meals or bathing. Some clients require more care and may have 8-10 hour shifts, sometimes more. There are also live in cases available, where you stay with a client for several days at a time to ensure the best care is given.
• Being reliable
  • As a caregiver taking care of those in need, many people will rely on you. Your clients, your care manager, and even your fellow caregivers are all counting on you to be there. In some cases, clients can’t do vital things like eat or bathe without your help, so it’s important to be on time. If you ever have to miss a shift because of an emergency or sickness, you’ll need to call in ahead of time to let someone know. With people depending on you, being reliable is a big part of the job.
• And finally, satisfaction!
  • Being a caregiver is a great opportunity to find satisfaction in your work. Bringing smiles to the faces of those in need is a great feeling. Getting to go home at the end of a long day’s work and feeling like you made a difference - that’s the best part of being a caregiver!

I hope this video was helpful in seeing what it’s like to live a day as a caregiver. You can search for caregiver jobs near you by going to www.myCNAjobs.com. Or if it’s easier, you can give us a call to talk directly to a recruiter at 312-275-3959.