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What Makes a Good Caregiver Great?

Posted by Matt Johnson on Thu, Mar 18, 2010 @ 02:16 PM
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As a family caregiver, you know that there are certain things that make good caregivers great.  Those special skills are hard to define, but you know them when you see them.

Senior Care Skills

How do you describe a person with tremendous compassion and respectfulness?  What is it, exactly, that divides good senior care givers from great ones?   

We wanted to find out from our very best caregivers what made them so successful. 

So, we asked them.  

Yesterday, we announced the completion of the Caregiver Dream Team Study.  Today, we're publishing the first of our findings.  

The first question we asked was, "What skills make a great caregiver?"  The word cloud above is a visual representation of their responses.  Below, are the unedited responses from a sampling of our very best caregivers.   

So, what is that thing that makes a good caregiver great?  

  • The Client is #1, truthful, loyal, on time
  • Patience, quality of work, dependability, good reporting
  • Communication, pleasant, patient
  • Good listener, observant, caring
  • Don't bring personal problems to client's environment, don't be bossy, adjust your approach to the client
  • Tolerant, patient, humble, able to work with tough clients
  • Really care about your job, good listener, involve them in their care, teamwork
  • Ready to learn, customize your care, client is your priority, use all your heart
  • Passion for adult care, patient, good listening skills, cooperative, treat your client as if they are your own family
  • Patience, love your work, kind, rapport with client, CNA skills
  • Love your neighbors as yourself, need to love to work for older individuals, show clients your compassion
  • Patience, heart for the work, and humanity in general
  • Passion, client comes first, treat them as you would your own family
  • Comes from your heart, love for the elderly, listen, don't argue, do it their way and learn, don't take anything personally
  • Show them that you care, let them know you are there for them, show them love
  • Patience, nurturing ability, listen, anticipate their needs, simplify/make things easier
  • Loving heart, treat them as you would your parent, don't get offended, allow them privacy, listen to what they want
  • It's not about the money, loving/servant heart, patience, like the work, problem solvers
  • Love your job, patience, be nice and courteous, put their needs before your own
What do you think makes a good caregiver great?  Were you surprised by any of our caregivers' responses?
 

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COMMENTS

This is very insightful. How often does HealthBridge do surveys like this?

posted @ Thursday, March 18, 2010 4:04 PM by Jane Virdalle

This is our first one. It took about 2.5 months to thoroughly interview such a large group of our caregivers. We plan to do this 1-2 times a year going forward. 
 
Thanks for reading and commenting!

posted @ Thursday, March 18, 2010 4:06 PM by Matt Johnson

It is obvious that they love their work.

posted @ Thursday, March 18, 2010 4:07 PM by Stella

You're right, Stella. They do love their work. One of the most enjoyable things about this study was learning how and why they loved their work.

posted @ Thursday, March 18, 2010 4:09 PM by Matt Johnson

Seems patience is the main theme. I think I would agree.

posted @ Thursday, March 18, 2010 8:21 PM by Mike

You're right, Mike. Patience is a main theme. The really great caregivers understand that, to create peace of mind, you must start with patience.

posted @ Thursday, March 18, 2010 8:26 PM by Matt Johnson

I like the very first one...client is #1, truthful, loyal and on time!!!

posted @ Friday, March 19, 2010 8:38 AM by Greg Henderson

Me too, Greg. If you follow the blog, you know I'm a bit of a stickler for being on time :)

posted @ Friday, March 19, 2010 10:24 AM by Matt Johnson

We prayed for a good caregiver. God sent us an angel.

posted @ Friday, April 02, 2010 11:50 AM by Arthur Lang

What a thoughtful comment, Mr. Lang! I'll make sure to share that with your caregiver. Thanks for reading and commenting!

posted @ Friday, April 02, 2010 7:31 PM by Matt Johnson

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