WHAT IS CAREGIVING: my experience so far

 Since 2019 after Canada launched her caregiver immigration pilots there has been a tremendous increase in interest in caregiving as a career. Even i myself applied to the home support worker immigration pilot in March 2020 and i wrote this blog to show people how to do it themselves, however after waiting for nearly 1 year, 6months without response from the Canadian immigrations, i decided to change my focus to the UK. I applied to a UK university, got admitted to study a Masters degree and i went off to the UK in January 2022 to start my new life with my family (i will finish the story about my Canadian Caregiver journey in another post). Whilst studying in the UK, the easiest job i could find to do was the caregiving job. It was as easy as apply today, start within 5 days (if you applied to a care agency)

A lot of people do not fully understand who a caregiver is and what type of work they do or even the types of settings where a caregiver can work. The work of a caregiver is not as easy or as difficult as you may have heard, it all depends on the type of person you are and what motivates you.

The first time i arrived at the nursing home where i was to work, i was in for a big shock, nothing had prepared me for what i encountered. There were all these elderly, frail looking people and i was afraid to touch them because i had no idea how to help them. Some of them are in so much pain from different physical health conditions, some had dementia and were at different levels of impairment of the mind, but they needed to be assisted, despite the pain, frailty or mental impairment, because not maintaining their nutritional needs or ensuring good personal hygiene will result to even more serious consequences for them, the people in charge of their care as well as the caregiver who is supposed to help them. I am the type of person who aspires to be the best in anything that i put my mind to achieve, hence, i realised that the best way for me to learn was to 'shadow' the experienced workers and learn as much as i could from them and i went ahead and did so. Many months after, with more experience and trainings, i have become a much more confident caregiver. I am currently working part time now as a senior caregiver (basically coordinating other carers on my shift, doing medication administration and administrative duties on the shift). 

Who is a Caregiver?

Caregivers go by different names, they can sometimes be called health care assistants, support workers, carers. health care aides, complex care assistant etc yet the job role is almost the same depending on the setting where the caregiver will work.

A carer or health care assistant takes care of people or patients, depending on the setting where the patient or person lives. If a person is being taken care of in a hospital or nursing home, a carer will be working under the supervision of a nurse or a senior carer. Carers can also take care of people in their own homes. 

What type of work do caregivers do

The first thing you need to know about caregiving is that you have to be comfortable with helping people and also with seeing people in their vulnerable state. A lot of the care that caregivers provide is usually around personal care and toileting, and this is basically assisting a person to change diaper/pad  after they have passed feaces or assisting them to have a shower or a bath, assisting a person to put creams on their body, or assisting them to dress up. Caregiver will also assist a person to cook their meals or to eat their meals.

What kinds of people do caregivers take care of

Caregivers basically take care of people who are unable to carry out their own activities of daily living such as using the toilet. having a shower, cooking, eating, tidying up their immediate environment, etc

Many factors can make a person  to become unable to care for themselves, some of the reason could be as a result of the effects of disease or illness that has affected their physical abilities or disease that have affected their mental ability to recognise their need to carry out their activities of daily living.

Settings where caregiving happen

People can be cared for in:

1. Their own homes

2. Residential : where people who needs substantial assistance with their activities of daily living live.

3. Nursing home: where elderly people live

4. The hospital: People can be cared for in the hospital whilst they're still recieving treatment

Hours and Pay

Caregivers generally work 12 hours day or night shifts, for example a day shift will typically start at 8am and end at 8pm, while a night shift will start at 8pm and end at 8am. There is usually a 45mins to 1hr breaks in between. 

In the UK, caregivers are paid by the hour and the rates are from £10/hour to £12/hour.

Work aids for caregiving

when you work as a caregiver, you will come across different types of cases where it is impossible for you assist a person on your own alone because they cannot move at all or they are very large. In situations such as this there are mechanical aids that caregivers work with to make moving such people easier and safer. Some common aids that you will come across are the manual hoists, standing hoists, ceiling hoists, slide sheets etc These are called moving and handling aides

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The organisation that employs you will always provide training on how to use these aids.

So, What type of soft skills do you need to be a Caregiver?

The people that caregivers work with can be injured people, people with cognitive impairments such as dementia, learning disabilities, brain injury etc These are all conditions that can affect a person's ability to walk/mobility, ability to speak, ability to swallow, ability to understand things etc hence it is important that a caregiver have patience when dealing with the people that they care for.

Another very important soft skill you need as a carer is kindness and empathy, this is the ability to be understanding of the pain or difficulties that the person you are taking care of is experiencing. This is a quality that make us all human beings.

A caregiver should also be willing to learn, you need to learn about the different health conditions that the person you care for is having. This will help you learn more about how to assist them safely. A caregiver also needs to be ready to continue to take part in training that will improve their competency in carrying out their job safely. Assisting the person you care for safely is very important because at the end of the day, the reason they need your assistance is so that they can carry out their daily activities without being at risk of falling, getting injured or dying.

Finally, caregivers need to be polite, some of the people that you care for may not have any impairment of the mental faculties, hence they will report if a carer is rude to them. Also, it is not acceptable that the person you care for to be rude to you, if you encounter such behaviour whilst work, write down what has happened in the person's care notes and then bring it to the notice of your supervisor.

Safeguarding in health and social care.

In developed countries, there are measures that the law has in place to protect people who are vulnerable. A vulnerable person is one who is likely to be harmed, abused or neglected as result of their age or medical condition that they have. As a caregiver, the person you are caring for is considered a vulnerable person. Hence, there are measures that are put in place to protect or safeguard them from abuse, neglect or harm. There are several actions that can be classified as abuse:

1. Financial abuse: this is when you take or steal money from a vulnerable person without their consent

2. Sexual abuse: when you engage in sexual activities with a vulnerable person, in most settings, a male caregiver will not be allowed to care for a female resident alone, this is to prevent sexual abuse.

3. Physical abuse: This is when you hit, push or physically assault a resident or care user

4. Psychological abuse: This is when you scream at or verbally assault the person you are caring for.

The organisation where you work will have a procedure for caregivers to report anyone that is found abusing a resident, If indicted, such an offence will result in the loss of job and at least 5 years jail time.