Preparing to be your senior’s caregiver might leave you feeling as if you’re just not ready. But most of what you need to know as a caregiver are honestly skills that you’ll learn as you go about the business of caregiving. Here are just a few of the skills you’ll master.
More Patience than You Ever Expected
Caregiving is definitely going to test your patience. You’ll find that you’re more impatient when you’re not managing your stress as well, so that may become a benchmark for you. Other parts of caregiving will also test your ability to remain patient. There are even going to be times when your patience with your senior is on the line. You’ll get through it, but you’ll need to use everything you’ve learned.
The Chance to Organize Everything
There’s a lot to organize as a caregiver. Beyond the things you’ll need to organize and rearrange just in order to keep yourself on target, you may find that you’re organizing other things. There’s going to be paperwork, for instance, and you’ll need to be able to access it at a moment’s notice. Then there are your senior’s belongings, which may need to be reorganized to meet her changing needs.
The Ability to Solve Problems on the Fly
There’s a lot of caregiving that is really just about solving problems as they come at you. There might even be times when you’re convinced you can’t solve even one more problem or make one more decision. The key is to make the best decisions you can with the information that you have available to you. That’s really all that you can do.
Improved Skills for Communicating with Others
You’re going to find yourself communicating with a lot of other people when you become a caregiver. There will be plenty of doctors, medical personnel, and other associated people you’ll need to get information from and communicate information to. That’s a lot more than you’ve probably had to do in the past, so you’re going to get really proficient in communicating exactly what you mean and asking for clarification.
A Propensity to Seek the Silver Linings
You might not be as good at this now as you want to be, but caregiving really can teach you to seek out the silver linings in various situations. As long as you’re not ignoring reality there’s nothing wrong with looking for the bright side. Sometimes the bright side of a bad situation can keep you going.
You may have had a version of some of these skills before becoming a caregiver, but they’ll become sharply honed as you care for your senior.
More Patience than You Ever Expected
Caregiving is definitely going to test your patience. You’ll find that you’re more impatient when you’re not managing your stress as well, so that may become a benchmark for you. Other parts of caregiving will also test your ability to remain patient. There are even going to be times when your patience with your senior is on the line. You’ll get through it, but you’ll need to use everything you’ve learned.
The Chance to Organize Everything
There’s a lot to organize as a caregiver. Beyond the things you’ll need to organize and rearrange just in order to keep yourself on target, you may find that you’re organizing other things. There’s going to be paperwork, for instance, and you’ll need to be able to access it at a moment’s notice. Then there are your senior’s belongings, which may need to be reorganized to meet her changing needs.
The Ability to Solve Problems on the Fly
There’s a lot of caregiving that is really just about solving problems as they come at you. There might even be times when you’re convinced you can’t solve even one more problem or make one more decision. The key is to make the best decisions you can with the information that you have available to you. That’s really all that you can do.
Improved Skills for Communicating with Others
You’re going to find yourself communicating with a lot of other people when you become a caregiver. There will be plenty of doctors, medical personnel, and other associated people you’ll need to get information from and communicate information to. That’s a lot more than you’ve probably had to do in the past, so you’re going to get really proficient in communicating exactly what you mean and asking for clarification.
A Propensity to Seek the Silver Linings
You might not be as good at this now as you want to be, but caregiving really can teach you to seek out the silver linings in various situations. As long as you’re not ignoring reality there’s nothing wrong with looking for the bright side. Sometimes the bright side of a bad situation can keep you going.
You may have had a version of some of these skills before becoming a caregiver, but they’ll become sharply honed as you care for your senior.
IF YOU OR AN AGING LOVED ONE ARE CONSIDERING CAREGIVERS IN WESTCHESTER, IL, PLEASE CONTACT THE CARING STAFF AT BRIGHTSTAR CARE LA GRANGE. CALL TODAY: 708-551-2500.