5 Essential Skills You Need To Build A Successful Senior Living Career

Updated on January 23, 2022

A successful senior living career isn’t for the faint of heart. In fact, it takes a special person to do this job and possess a specific set of skills.

Are you someone that’s passionate about helping aging adults get the most out of their daily lives by assisting them in performing different assisted living activities? To be a carer, here are some of the skills you need to make a difference in people’s lives.

1. Compassion

As we age and need help performing activities, it can be embarrassing and cause high stress. But, if you’re applying for caring jobs, you must understand how to show compassion to assisted living residents.

Understanding that asking for help and the conditions they’re living with are challenging to overcome is a way of showing compassion. This compassion will help you connect with your residents emotionally and take the care you provide them with to the next level.

2. An Eye for Observation

When you work in this assisted living community, not only do you have to help the residents, you also have to help the medical staff as well. You will spend every day with the residents meaning you’ll notice changes in their personality and health that need to be reported.

For example, if you notice a resident is losing weight quickly, it could be a sign they’re not getting enough nutrition to help them maintain their weight. This can be reported to their nurse to create a plan to help the resident get what they need.

3. Time Management

To be a carer, you’ve got to be able to manage your time wisely. You’ll typically be responsible for completing several tasks throughout the day without being prompted.

It’s essential to know how to manage your time because residents count on your to get these tasks done during your shift to help them out. Prioritize each task you must complete for the day and allow enough time to each one to ensure they get done.

4. Patience & Flexibility

Do you ever find yourself becoming frustrated when you have to ask someone the same question multiple times? Get used to it because having a successful career in senior living means being flexible and doing your job with a tremendous amount of patience.

You never know what condition a resident will be in from day to day; therefore, you need to be able to work around it. You also need to be patient during days when residents are a bit on edge and could lash out at you even when you’ve done nothing wrong.

5. Great Communication

As a carer, you’ll work with others that need to know what’s going on with a resident as they begin their shifts. Before each shift change, you’ll need to communicate changes you observed that could help them better perform their jobs.

If you don’t have excellent communication skills, not only is your career going to be much more difficult you’re also prohibiting others from doing their job the best they can.

Skills for a Successful Senior Living Career

Having a senior living career can be rewarding, especially if you possess the right skillset. You should be patient and always be able to show compassion to the people you’re taking care of.

Want to know more about this topic or others? Don’t forget to check out the other posts in this section.

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