Are you looking to switch jobs or start a new career? Do you want to make meaningful connections, work from a home environment and help your community? Then becoming a certified caregiver may be a great career move for you!
At Sunrise Services, we train and certify caregivers and help them connect with clients. With caregiving jobs on the rise across the country, it’s a great time to dive into this career and start changing people’s lives.
What Is a Certified Caregiver?
A certified caregiver is someone who is trained and certified to take care of patients of any age or disability who face challenges in performing the activities of daily living.
Becoming a caregiver requires different steps in every state. To be a certified caregiver in Washington State, you must complete a 75-hour course that is approved by DSHS and pass the home care aide knowledge and skills certification examinations.
What a Certified Caregiver Does
Certified caregivers often perform a variety of different tasks depending on their patients’ needs. In many cases, a caregiver will need to assist their clients with daily household chores, such as vacuuming, washing dishes, doing laundry, dusting, and organizing. They will often need to do grocery shopping and cook meals depending on their client’s dietary restrictions.
Along with regular household chores and tasks, caregivers usually help their patients with daily hygiene and cleansing, such as bathing, toileting, grooming and dressing. They can also expect to arrange transportation to their client’s appointments or other activities.
More than just everyday tasks and errands, caregivers provide their clients with love and companionship and help them stay connected to their friends, family and community. This may be one of the most important tasks of all!
Why You Should Become a Certified Caregiver
For many people, caregiving can be one of the most rewarding jobs you’ll ever have.
Below are just some of the reasons why starting your certified caregiver training may be the best choice you will ever make.
Caregiver Jobs Are On the Rise
Caregiver jobs are projected to rise 33% between 2020 and 2030, which is much faster than other occupations in the United States. With tons of caregiving jobs opening on the market over the next decade, you can feel confident your skills will be in demand once you’ve completed your certified caregiver training.
Caregivers Don’t Need Extensive Education
Certified caregivers often don’t need an extensive educational background. In many cases, caregivers only need a high school diploma or equivalent education, but in some cases, even this is not a requirement to start your training.
Certified Caregivers Help People Who Genuinely Need It
If you’ve always wanted to make a difference in people’s lives, then becoming a caregiver may be a great job for you. When a client hires a caregiver, it’s because they genuinely need your help.
As a caregiver, you will play a vital role in your client’s life and help them live each day to the fullest. This can prove to be a fulfilling opportunity for both you and your client.
You Can Perfect and Share Your Recipes
Do you love to cook and want to perfect your recipes? Becoming a caregiver often means that you’ll be shopping, cooking, and feeding your clients. This gives you the chance to grow as a home chef and even swap recipes and cooking tricks with your patient.
Your Work Environment Is a Home
One of the most appealing aspects of becoming a caregiver can be the option to work from a home environment. This means you can skip the office drama, uncomfortable dress codes, and constant oversight from managers. Instead, you’ll be in the comfort of your client’s own home and performing tasks that you would normally do in your personal life.
Working from a client’s home can prove to be a much more relaxing, rewarding, and freeing environment which can help you enjoy your job even more!
Certified Caregivers Get the Chance to Meet People With Incredible Stories
If you enjoy listening to people’s stories, you’ll probably love being a caregiver. A majority of clients who need caregiving are elderly and may be full of stories and wisdom. As their companion and aid, you’ll be there to absorb all their advice and learn more about how people lived in past decades.
Your client will likely love to learn from you as well. Hearing about the younger generations’ adventures, trials and tribulations can be a source of inspiration for many elders and can keep them interested and sharp over the years.
You Can Become an Honorary Family Member
Becoming a caregiver often means you’ll become your client’s honorary family member. You’ll often find yourself forming strong and intimate bonds with your client, and maybe with their other family members as well.
Certified Caregiver Training: What’s Involved?
To become a certified caregiver in Washington State, you must complete 75 hours of basic training.
The first step is completing your orientation training, which consists of 2 hours of training on basic communication, documents and reporting, roles and responsibilities, etc.
The next step in the certified caregiver training is completing the safety training. These 3 hours of class will teach you about emergency procedures and preparedness, fire and worker safety, accident and fall prevention, and more.
Once these preliminary classes are completed, you can then move on to the basic core training, which consists of 40 hours of long-term care core competencies training. This section will have lectures, hands-on activities, and other learning activities to help you learn to perform your caregiving duties effectively. At the end of the basic core training, students will obtain information on the state certification testing process.
The last step in becoming a certified caregiver is to complete 30 hours of population-specific training. In this training area, students will learn how to work with clients with specific conditions, such as dementia, vision loss, diabetes, and heart disease.
Quiz: Should You Be a Certified Caregiver?
Caregiving isn’t for everyone. Take our quiz below and mark your answers to see if becoming a caregiver is the right choice for you!
1. Are you willing to undergo 75 hours of training?
A: Yes
B: Somewhat
C: No
2. Are you willing to help perform regular and daily household tasks?
A: Yes
B: Somewhat
C: No
3. Would you like to work from a client’s home?
A: Yes
B: Somewhat
C: No
4. Are you eager to help people who genuinely need it?
A: Yes
B: Somewhat
C: No
5. Are you willing to assist a client with their personal hygiene including bathing, grooming, toileting, and dressing?
A: Yes
B: Somewhat
C: No
6. Do you love to cook and want to share your recipes with others?
A: Yes
B: Somewhat
C: No
7. Are you a good listener?
A: Yes
B: Somewhat
C: No
8. Are you looking to start a job that will be genuinely fulfilling?
A: Yes
B: Somewhat
C: No
9. Are you able and interested in making strong, meaningful bonds with people?
A: Yes
B: Somewhat
C: No
10. Do you want to switch to a field where the market is growing exponentially?
A: Yes
B: Somewhat
C: No
Did you answer mostly A’s and a few B’s? Then you’d likely be a great caregiver! To get started on your caregiver training, check out our certified caregiver training program.
Sign Up to Become a Certified Caregiver With Sunrise
Signing up for caregiver training with Sunrise Services may be the best thing you’ve ever done for your career. The process is easy and before you know it you’ll be working with your first client.
We offer both on-site and online caregiver training programs to help you meet basic training requirements. We also offer online continuing education services so you can keep your certification up to date.