Miami Herald Highlights Need for More Caregivers

Caregiverlist profiled the high growth in senior home care agencies since the "Great Recession" started in the U.S.A. with a 40% growth in new senior home care companies opening since 2008.  Along with the growth in senior care companies comes a need for more qualified professional senior caregivers.

The Miami Herald newspaper today profiles the need for more trained caregivers in the Miami area as the Boomer population ages.  One of the challengs for the senior care industry is keeping up with staffing simply because the majority of seniors do not plan ahead for senior caregiving needs.

Medicare also does not pay for long-term senior caregiving services.  This means that after a sudden medical emergency such as a stroke or a hip-replacement, the senior and their family will quickly need to decide on caregiving services.

Senior caregiving also involves a wide variety of schedules.  Caregivers are needed for part-time, full-time and 24-hour live-in positions.  Live-in caregivers do not actually move in with the senior but simply stay a few days in a row and then return to their own home.

Professoinal senior caregivers may begin their career with only personal experience and the ability to pass a professional background check.  Caregivers may receive online caregiver training certification (Caregiverlist's 10-hour online caregiver training course meets the basic training requirements provided by most senior care companies) and then obtain more advanced training for age-related illnesses.  Some states, such as Florida, have developed their own training guidelines and have more specific background check requirements.  

Anyone with a caring personality can apply for a professional senior caregiving job in their area on Caregiverlist and refer-a-friend for a chance to win a $50 gift certificate, t-shirts, training and more.  Remember, professional senior caregiving companies provide benefits such as payroll taxes that allow caregivers to collect Social Security insurance benefits when they retire along with worker's compensation insurance and unemployment insurance. In addition, professional senior care plans and ongoing supervision, support and training are provided.  The Care Manager manages the care and the family, to allow the caregiver to deliver quality caregiving to the senior.

The next level of training for professional senior caregivers is to become a Certified Nursing Aide which is a standard certification training in every state of the U.S.A.  Only approved schools can offer the C.N.A. courses and a state exam must then be passed to receive the official C.N.A. certificate.  You may review C.N.A. school admission requirements and find a nursing aide school in your area in Caregiverlist's C.N.A. School Directory and also take a sample C.N.A. test to learn more about the skills taught.