If you’re interested in becoming a caregiver, it can be difficult to know where to start. Finding the right caregiver training for beginners can be challenging – especially with all the options available both in-person and online. The good news is that whether you’re seeking to become an in-home caregiver for a loved one or are interested in pursuing a career as a professional caregiver, we’ve got you covered. This guide is designed to help you determine and obtain foundational training that will set you up for long-term success – starting with the benefits of caregiver training.
The Benefits of Caregiver Training
While it’s true that several states do not legally mandate a minimum level of caregiver training for at-home aids, that does not reduce the importance of comprehensive caregiver training. Caregiver training covers a wide variety of subjects and ensures that care professionals are prepared to perform their jobs compassionately, professionally, and efficiently. Without the proper training, caregivers are stuck having to improvise their patient care plans and standards. This can lead to inhibited overall patient care, preventable accidents, and poor outcomes.
A lack of training also limits the range of job prospects for potential caregivers. In this highly competitive industry, it’s easy to fall behind other applicants who have invested more in the relevant training. That’s why pursuing continuing education and maintaining updated relevant certifications is critical for long-term career advancement in the field of caregiving.
In other words, caregiver training is an absolute necessity for any professional who is interested in maintaining excellent standards for patient care and advancing in their career over time. Without making that investment, it will be difficult to have a long-term flourishing career in the care industry.
So what is the best caregiver training for beginners? Well, it’s no shock that it starts with the fundamentals – CPR and First Aid.
CPR and First Aid
One of the first steps all aspiring caregivers should take is to get certified in First Aid and CPR. Some states even legally mandate this training before a caregiver can become certified. That’s because CPR and First Aid training equips you to respond quickly in the event of a medical emergency before help can arrive.
First Aid training will provide you with the necessary information to treat minor wounds and non-life-threatening injuries. Often these minor injuries will heal on their own, or require a standard doctor’s visit. That being said, First Aid training is especially critical in circumstances where an injured patient may need to be taken to the hospital and will have to travel with an injury. First Aid courses will teach you how to properly manage that injury before professional medical help can be obtained, and how to identify which injuries require further medical care.
CPR training will equip you to offer aid to your patients in the event of a medical emergency requiring resuscitation. These interventions can make all the difference before first responders arrive, and greatly improve the patient’s long-term odds of recovery. If you have not yet pursued this lifesaving training, we highly encourage you to check out our Caregiver CPR and First Aid Course to get certified today. Without it, you will be ill-equipped to offer key assistance to your patients in times of crisis.
Client Privacy Laws and Standards
Beyond the legally mandated minimum training for your state, you will also need to be aware of the privacy requirements for patients. Government regulations dictate the level of privacy legally afforded to all patients by their medical teams. These regulations are designed to prevent patient information from being communicated to third parties like employers or family members without patient consent.
These regulations often extend to the information that in-home caregivers are allowed to share about their patients as well. This can apply to the patient’s name, diagnosis, address information, personal stories, and more. As a caregiver, you could be violating the law by sharing these confidential details of patient care with the wrong people. Getting training on your state’s standards and local laws is imperative to ensure you are complying with the mandated privacy standards.
Alzheimer’s and Dementia Care
Patients with Alzheimer’s or Dementia often require special care and consideration. They often need more consistent monitoring, gentle interventions, and specialized plans for administering necessary medical care. Navigating the best course of action for these patients can be intimidating, even for seasoned caregivers. That’s why it’s important to receive comprehensive Alzheimers’s and Dementia care training.
The proper training will keep you up-to-date on how to provide the highest possible standard of care to these patients. It will also give you a deeper understanding of the symptoms of both Alzheimer’s and Dementia, and how to better assist your patients to improve their overall quality of life. If you’re interested in pursuing this key training, you can check out our Dementia Care Course.
Hospice Care
Compassionate end-of-life care is one of the greatest gifts a caregiver can give their patient and their patient’s family. Ensuring hospice patients are comfortable and well cared for allows them and their families to focus on what matters most during their final months. However, navigating hospice care as a beginner caregiver can be daunting. It can be challenging to know how to respond to medical issues, when to contact the family, and how to assist patients with pain management. That’s why receiving the proper hospice training is so critical.
Comprehensive hospice training will equip you with the skills and tools necessary to ensure that your patients are safe, comfortable, and content while receiving care. It can also often include guidelines that other industry professionals follow to provide the appropriate level of emotional support to both the patient and the patient’s family. In short, hospice care is a necessary investment for any caregiver who is interested in confidently offering assistance to families during times of grieving.
Home Safety and Fall Prevention
For some patients, falls can be devastating and have long-term consequences. That is why fall prevention is such an important aspect of entry-level caregiver training. These courses will help you to identify potential hazards and mitigate them for your patient. Training of this variety can also help you learn how to install necessary hardware within the home like support bars and railings.
These resources also often go hand-in-hand with general home safety training. Home safety training can help you to spot and reduce the risk from obstacles, pets, chemicals, heat sources, uneven flooring, and so much more within the home. This is a major factor in preventing life-threatening accidents and ensuring peace of mind for the patient. If you’re interested in receiving this training you can sign up for our fall prevention and caregiver safety courses.
Lifts and Transfers
For patients with limited mobility, lifts and transfers are often a necessity. They allow patients who would otherwise need to stay in a single location (usually the bedroom) to be safely moved to different areas of the house like the bathroom or kitchen. This not only makes assisting the patient with hygiene and meals significantly easier, but it also helps to reduce boredom and feelings of repetitiveness for the patient. However, they can be dangerous or impossible for caregivers without the proper training. This can potentially lead to serious injuries for patients, caregivers, or both.
When you invest in lift and transfer training as a caregiver, you’re learning skills that will help keep you and your patient safe and comfortable. These modules explain how to lift patients of various sizes and levels of mobility to ensure that the caregiver is prepared to serve a diverse range of patients. They also cover equipment and tools that can be used to make lifts and transfers safer and easier.
Equipment Use
Equipment training allows you to learn about the latest industry advancements, as well as how to use the current tools available to you. It’s also a great way to discover new pieces of equipment that you can use to better assist your patients.
But this isn’t just caregiver training for beginners. Home care equipment is always evolving and improving. That’s why equipment training should be pursued regularly for all caregivers – no matter how long they have been in the industry. This allows everyone to stay on the same page and ensures that patient care continues to improve over time.
Cleanliness and Housekeeping
Maining a hygienic environment is one of the most important roles of a caregiver. A clean home not only boosts one’s mood but can also improve one’s overall physical health, leading to better patient outcomes over time. It also greatly reduces the risk that a patient will be exposed to harmful bacteria and viruses.
Now, you may be thinking, “I don’t need that training – I already know how to clean.” While it’s true that you may know how to clean your own home, that’s no reason to discount this type of caregiver training. Home hygiene training will allow you to learn caregiver-specific strategies to improve the overall cleanliness of the patient’s environment quickly and efficiently. It will also help you to spot problem areas in your patient’s home that require more frequent and thorough attention. Overall, it’s a great investment for caregivers who want to see be more thorough with their cleaning.
Hygiene
Many patients will need assistance with bathing, toileting, hair combing, and other personal hygiene practices. For beginner caregivers, it can be difficult to know the best way to assist with these necessary tasks while maintaining patient safety and privacy.
Patient hygiene training will allow you to learn a variety of different strategies for helping patients to complete their hygiene tasks safely. It will also help you to identify when a patient may need professional hygiene assistance like dental care, haircuts, or pedicures.
Nutrition
One of the biggest factors in improving a patient’s quality of life is diet. A nutritious diet will elevate a patient’s overall immune system, energy levels, and comfort levels. The right foods can also be used to help mitigate health issues like high blood pressure, gallbladder issues, and poor digestion. Providing enjoyable, healthful food to your patients also gives them something to look forward to and can greatly elevate their overall daily mood.
Receiving the right training in nutrition can give you key insights on what to feed your patients, and why. You’ll learn how to better support your patients with diet restrictions, and why certain foods worsen patient outcomes. It can also give you fresh ideas on how to prepare food for your patients so it’s more exciting, enticing, and enjoyable.
Abuse Prevention
Sadly, sometimes patients are victims of abuse. Oftentimes this abuse occurs in isolation at the hands of a family member or caregiver, where the patient cannot advocate for themself. As their caregiver, you have a responsibility to advocate for your patients and to educate yourself on how to protect them through abuse prevention training.
Abuse prevention training covers the warning signs for abuse, as well as how to prevent patient abuse. This is one of the most important training courses an entry-level caregiver can take to empower them to protect their patients. It will cover how to identify abuse, what local authorities should be contacted, and how to do so while preserving the safety of both the patient and yourself.
Where to Find the Best Caregiver Training for Beginners
If you’re unsure where to find quality caregiver training for beginners, you’re in the right place. We offer caregiver training for beginners and veterans alike at an affordable price. Taught by knowledgeable industry experts, these courses are perfect for educating, refreshing, and empowering caregivers across the country. Many of our courses also offer certifications, which can be used to demonstrate your qualifications. To learn more, you can check out our course roster here.
We hope that this guide was helpful to you wherever you are in your caregiving journey. If you’d like to learn more, we recommend checking out our blog to find more helpful tips, tricks, and advice to guide you along your caregiver journey.
