More and more caregivers are emerging in the world today. There have been more opportunities for them with more job offers. This is because there are more people, young and old who are studying and training to be caregivers. Despite all of the demands, what do care givers really do? There are various types of caregivers who perform different jobs.

Certified Nurse’s Aids (CNA) work under the supervision of other health care professionals and are crucial in the home health care team. They are also called Home Heatlh Aides (HHA). Their work includes the assistance of the patients with activities of daily life. They both have to have required and certified training which they have had completed, and have passed practical and written exams. They need to be skilled in procedure such as personal care, toileting, nutrition, taking readings of blood pressure and other health monitoring procedures. They may also provide additional bed care such as changing of clothes, wound treatments, tube feeding, diabetic monitoring and catheter care. In some places, these are two different jobs where the CNA’s specializes in healthcare while HHA’s have training in homecare.

Registered nurses (RN) are the most competent of all the caregiving options. They must be able to do all of the jobs included in nursing. They are also in charge of looking after and supervising other team members such as certified nurse’s aids, home health aides, licensed vocational and practical nurses. They have a broader training as well as a more extensive educational background. They are required to pass a standardized national exam to obtain their license.

Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN) has the authority to perform different nursing procedures. Like the registere nurses, they must satisfy requirements and pass a standardized national exam to be granted their license. The only difference is that although they can do a wide range of nursing jobs, they would still have to work under a physician or a registered nurse. They are also referred to as License Vocational Nurses (LVN).

Homemakers are non-certified aides who provide long-term personal care by assisting or even doing light household work. They may be hired privately of by home care centers for non-medical services. Their work may include, house chores such as housekeeping, laundry, preparation of meals, personal care or even as a companion. They usually come up with a couple of services which may be needed in order to fulfil their duties. Homemakers are supervised especially when they have no professional training.

Social Workers (SW) provide holistic care of the disabled and the sick. They take of the social, environmental, psychological and mental factors which do affect their patients. They are also responsible for counselling and guidance for those who are in need of one. They support those people who are in dire need of affection.

Therapists may be physical (PT), occupational (OT) and speech (ST) help in the improving the situation of the people who have been injured. They help them recover depending on their injuries. They assist the patients to fully recover and go back to how they were before their injury. Therapy is usually given to those who want to regain their flexibility, mobility, dexterity, and even talking.

With all of these caregiving jobs present, there are different agencies in which caregivers can work for. As well as the people, when the time comes that their services are needed they will know which agencies to call.

Home care agencies are usually non-medical and basically just give home care services. Certified nursing assistants, non-certified aides and homemakers usually work in these agencies. These agencies assist the elderly in doing everyday activities which they may find had to do. These agencies do background check on who they hire. Medical and non-medical home care agencies work together, sometimes filling gaps for one another.

Home health agencies are the most known home care services there is. This provides rehabilitation as well as skilled care to patients at home. The services include skilled nursing, therapy, social work, and home health aides which is still supervised. They need to strictly follow a plan of care which is from a physician. In this type of agency, medical aspects are the focus in taking care of patients. Home health aides are usually in charge when it comes to this.

Registry, also known as staffing agency, can basically be considered as an “employment service” for nurses. They cater to both skilled and unskilled healthcare workers as long as they can do their job. These agencies may refer to several kinds of employees ranging from certified nurse aides (CNA’s), occupational therapists, nurses, homemakers, and others depending on the job needed.

In this type of service, referrals can be parallel to a private service. It gives more freedom when hiring a personal employee but with it comes a background check as well as confirmation of a received license. They provide people with trusted nursing care which is reliable.

Private hire caregivers are privately employed by those who need their services. Services include licensed nurses, registered nurses, occupational therapists, homemakers, nursing aides, and all the other caregiving services available.

Clients are responsible for finding, hiring, and supervising these independent caregivers. Request about certain services can be done depending on the caregiver hired. Payment is direct, considering taxes and security withholdings. Negotiations can be done a lot easier since there are no other factors which may affect the decisions. Agencies may cost a little due to summed up overhead costs that may be quite a hassle for most people.

Knowing a little about caregiving may give the idea of what type of service is needed. People can always research if they want more information. Agencies are available in so many areas and if the time comes that their services are needed, they are just one call away. It pays to know a little about caregiving, people want the best for their loved ones so with proper knowledge about these things, the right decisions can be made in times of need. how to find a caregiver for elderly