This past Friday was National Caregivers Day. While Kelley (my wife and co-owner of our Brightstar Care agency) and I speak and think about our caregivers every single day, we gave our team some extra thought due to the special occasion.
With over 150 RNs, LPNs, and Certified Home Health Aides working for/with us, we see a wide variety of personalities and backgrounds. Yet it continues to amaze us how similar these people are. To a person, they are selfless and deeply committed to providing extremely high-quality and compassionate care to all of our clients, regardless of the challenges that may exist. They are truly an incredibly special group of people.
Why do we believe this?
Consider some of the realities that caregivers often need to deal with to ensure they have the opportunity and privilege to provide care to another person in need:
- They are highly trained and must devote time and money to getting that training and even more time to maintaining that training.
- They generally work in homes or in facilities that are new to them, creating the need to “learn their way around” their new environment.
- They care for clients they have never met before. They must quickly understand not only the client’s care needs but also their personality with the goal of quickly establishing a meaningful bond.
- They engage with and support families that they also have never met. Families are somewhat stressed when a loved one needs in-home or in-facility care from Brightstar, so our aides need to work to build trust, lower that stress level, take input from various family members, and reassure them that their loved one is getting the absolute highest quality of care.
- They willingly and happily assume the responsibility of often being alone with the client in their home, even from the first day of a case when the caregiver and client are essentially strangers to one another.
- Our aides provide compassionate care but also will help cook, clean, and do other household essentials. They must be multi-talented and able to multi-task efficiently without ever ignoring the client.
- Like mail carriers, they show up for work regardless of the weather. Our caregivers understand their responsibility to the client and their loved ones and often go “above and beyond” to get their work done.
- They manage any emergency situations that may arise with extreme professionalism and compassion.
- They work long shifts and often ask what more they can do to support our clients.
- When other caregivers get sick, they fill those shifts on a moment’s notice, regardless of prior commitments or personal plans.
- They develop bonds with the client and their loved ones that often leads to them being considered “a part of the family.” This happens more than we ever imagined and faster than we ever thought possible.
So yes, our caregivers are a special group of people. While their roles are technically “jobs,” they each have a calling to provide excellent and compassionate care and support to others, and they do this at a remarkably high level every single day.
Kelley and I appreciate them more than words can ever describe!
Andy B.