Growing in skill and confidence: One caregiver learns a lot from clients
Tameal is 19 and just became a caregiver a year ago. She had heard about caregiving from her grandmother and her sister, who have both worked as caregivers and enjoyed it.
But even though her family members encouraged her, Tameal had some anxiety about becoming a caregiver.
“It was kind of scary at first,” she said. “But once you get to know your clients the nerves just go away and they become family to you.”
Tameal had been especially worried about helping with bathing. She was nervous both about the social awkwardness of it, but also that the client would fall or get hurt. “That was my biggest fear, but I’m used to everything now.” she said. “I can do it all!”
Tameal, one of our caregivers from Americus, Georgia
Getting to know the client helped Tameal broadened her perspective
Tameal said that her favorite part of caregiving is visiting with the clients. Often, she asks them questions and has them tell her stories while she is sweeping or cleaning up.
“I like listening to their stories, it has given me a life lesson sometimes,” she said. “Things I didn’t know, I know now.”
Her current client is 74 years old – more than 50 years older than Tameal! The stories of her childhood are very different.
“It makes me understand how hard things used to be,” Tameal said. “I had better opportunities than they did and I see that I had it easy.” She said it has helped her to avoid complaining or getting discouraged about small problems.
Developing confidence
Even experienced caregivers sometimes feel nervous on the first day with a new client. And Tameal was also nervous about some of the typical parts of caregiving. She confesses that she wasn’t excited about cleaning someone else’s bathroom.
But when she was actually in the client’s home, she saw it differently. She was no longer thinking of it as a stranger’s dirty bathroom, but instead as a way that she could help someone who needed help. “It needed to be done,” she said. “I couldn’t leave her with a dirty bathroom.” So, she put on gloves and a mask, got her music going and just got it done!
Supportive Supervisors Make a Difference
Tameal has been praised by her branch manager and schedule supervisor for going above and beyond – even running errands for clients on her days off as a kindness. But she also had the experience of a client who just expected too much – wanting her to stay late and do cleaning projects that went beyond the light cleaning caregivers are supposed to do.
Tameal was glad that she was able to talk through these challenges with her supervisors, who helped her think about how to gently inform the client that this was more than she could do. The client wasn’t happy, but Tameal just said “I have to go by the company policies.” She said learning to stand up for herself was a good experience for her and has made her more confident in her personal life as well.