Whether you have an elderly parent at home, a disabled loved one, or you’re recuperating from surgery, a homecare professional is a must-have for basic assistance. They’ll offer medical care, support in daily routines, and even companionship!
However, choosing the right professional with fitting skills is the most significant and difficult step. So, seek the following qualities in your homecare experts!
1. Empathy and Compassion
The greatest quality in a homecare professional is empathy. They must be able to put themselves in the shoes of the person needing assistance and understand their emotional or physical feelings.
This quality ensures that they can offer personalised care and meet an individual’s both physical and emotional needs.
Since the care receiver feels vulnerable for depending on them, another important quality is compassion. This ensures that the individual feels understood, respected, valued, and supported.
If you’re looking for quality homecare professionals for yourself or a loved one, seek a reputable homecare service recruitment agency. They’ll connect you with a range of loyal experts with all essential certifications and qualities and ensure personalised care only!
2. Effective Communication Skills
Annually, around 500,000 people get harmed by Australian hospitals, and 90% of these are due to communication issues!
This can be possible in at-home healthcare scenarios as well. So, a caregiver’s next most important quality is good communication skills.
They must listen to the care receiver’s concerns, needs, and preferences attentively. They must communicate with the care receiver, their family members, and healthcare professionals.
This might include anything regarding care routine and methods, health status updates, the need for new medicines, and emergencies.
They must be well aware of non-verbal cues, such as a patient in discomfort or pain but can’t communicate it. With effective communication, they’ll ensure everyone’s well-informed about any updates and prepared for potential emergencies.
3. Technical Skills
This one depends on the care receiver’s specific needs. A homecare professional must have some common technical skills if your patient needs some medical help.
For instance, they must be trained in injection and medicine administration, medical equipment (oxygen tank, feeding tube, or catheter) operations, vital sign monitoring, or wound or post-surgery care and support.
Select experts with specialised training and certifications in respective fields to handle such situations.
4. Adaptability
Every individual care receiver’s needs are unique. For instance, a young individual who met with an accident and is using a wheelchair will need assistance for mobility, learning to use their wheelchair independently, and rehabilitation.
A person who underwent surgery will need major help regarding mobility. If their recovery isn’t smooth, their need for assistance will increase. On the other hand, a senior individual needs more help with behavioural issues.
So, choose a homecare expert who can adapt to the changing needs of the patients.
5. Problem-Solving Skills
A patient’s health isn’t predictable. While everyone hopes patients will get well soon, the reality is unexpected deterioration or problems may arise at any moment.
So, your chosen caregiver must have great problem-solving skills. This might include dealing with unexpected health concerns, changing caregiving methods to make patients comfortable, or managing any sudden logistical concern.
They must be able to find quick solutions, make favourable decisions, and get things under control ASAP.
6. Patience
Caregiving is a physically and emotionally draining job. For instance, they might have to deal with the difficult attitude of a fussy senior who can’t accept that they need assistance. Or they might have to repeat instructions to an individual with poor memory.
Some clients might suffer from cognitive impairments and struggle to understand instructions.
It demands professionals who can manage their frustrations silently and show grace and patience to everyone. They must reassure the individual with great care and a calm tone and repeat everything as necessary without a drop of frustration.
7. Trustworthiness and Reliability
The caregiver will have complete access to an individual’s personal data, medicines, and their entire home and family members. So, they must be trustworthy and honest, which helps build trust with everyone.
They must also be reliable when it comes to patient care. For instance, they must stick to their word, whether it’s their arrival time or duty days.
They must not take unexpected leaves too often as that might build stress on the care receiver and their family members or even compromise their safety.
Conclusion
With the right home care professional, you’ll ensure great comfort for the care receiver. So, convey the most significant qualities that matter to you to a recruitment agency, and they’ll find the perfect fit for you!
