Competent Caregiving Can Provide A Safe, Compassionate, In Home Caregiver That You Are Looking For For Your Loved One Living in Orange County

Selecting the right caregiver for your loved one living in Orange County is important. Whether someone you love is recovering from an injury or operation, facing a terminal diagnosis or living with a serious illness, having properly trained caregivers gives you peace of mind.

When faced with selecting an Orange County caregiver, your mind may be racing. Below are a few tips for helping select the right care for your loved one.

Understand The Difference Between Caregiving And Nursing

Home caregiving provides important services for patients. However, caregivers are not certified medical professionals. A caregiver can offer important services, but will not be able to assist with complicated medical treatments.

Caregivers are there to help patients with vital tasks that keep them in the home and out of hospitals or nursing homes. Remaining at home is an important factor in reducing anxiety and improving healing. Caregivers assist patients with eating, bathing, dressing, toileting and grooming tasks. Caregivers can help with meal preparation, light housekeeping, grocery shopping, medication reminders and driving to medical appointments. Perhaps most importantly, caregivers provide companionship and offer family members vitally needed respite care.

Create A Job Description

You will have specific expectations about the tasks you want done by a caregiver. Writing out those needs in advance is helpful in several ways. For one, it provides a guide for conversations and interviews with potential agencies or caregivers. Secondly, it can be used as a resource once a caregiver is in place to ensure that agreed-upon tasks and duties are completed to your expectations.

Provide Details

It’s important that potential caregivers understand your loved one’s background, beliefs and personality. Some find it helpful to share a list of daily activities and a typical schedule with potential caregivers. This helps you and a caregiver candidate to discuss what the best course of action is in day-to-day activities.

Ask Good Questions

During interviews, you may become overwhelmed. Having a set of questions prepared ahead of time gives you a helpful guide and lets you assess in-home caregiving candidates using the same criteria. Here are some potential questions to consider:

  • What have been the conditions of previous patients with whom you’ve worked?
  • What duties have you performed for patients?
  • Are you uncomfortable with any of the items listed in the job description?
  • Tell me about a time you’ve been faced with a patient’s medical emergency?

Be sure to ask for references and ask those references whether they would rehire the caregiver. Ask references about what a caregiver did well and what did not go well. If working with an agency, ask to see a copy of any background check conducted on a potential employee.

Be Patient

Relationships take time to develop. The inclusion of a caregiver in your loved one’s routine will require adjustment on everyone’s part. Give your family member and caregiver time to establish a rapport, build trust and understand each other. In the end, your loved one will receive better care.

At Competent Caregiving, we provide Orange County patients and their families with compassionate, well-trained and attentive caregivers. Our caregivers undergo rigorous FBI criminal background checks, drug and alcohol screening, and driving history verification. For more information about how Competent Caregiving can provided needed services to you and your family, contact us today at 800.755.4818.

Competent Caregiving services cities throughout Orange County, including, Aliso Viejo, Anaheim, Anaheim Hills, Brea, Buena Park, Costa Mesa, Cypress, Dana Point, Fountain Valley, Fullerton, Garden Grove, Huntington Beach, Irvine, La Habra, La Palma, Laguna Beach, Laguna Hills, Laguna Niguel, Laguna Woods, Lake Forest, Los Alamitos, Mission Viejo, Newport Beach, Newport Coast, Orange, Placentia, Rancho Santa Margarita, San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Ana, Seal Beach, Stanton, Tustin, Villa Park, Westminster, and Yorba Linda.