Many caregivers from the United States and abroad apply for live in caregiver jobs. A live in caregiver lives in the home of the person or people the caregiver is caring for. The caregiver may be helping a disabled person, helping to care for children, or helping an elderly person.
Someone who wishes to obtain a live in caregiver job can look for advertisements for people who need caregivers. If an individual hires a caregiver directly, it is a private caregiver job. The individual may be the person in need of care or may be hiring for help caring for a family member.
Other caregiver jobs are available through agencies. An agency takes applications from people who want to work as caregivers. The home health care agency may not accept everyone who applies. The agency may have its own requirements related to work experience in the health care field or education.
In some cases, the agency matches the live in caregiver with a family who asks the agency for a caregiver. Some agencies allow the families to select a live in caregiver from a group of caregiver applicants. The family typically pays the agency for the caregiver. The caregiver then gets paid from the agency.
Some agencies offer different levels of medical services. An agency may specialize in nurses instead of caregivers who are not licensed nurses. Many agencies offer services of only non-medical caregivers who help the individual with self-care but do not administer any medication or help with life-sustaining medical apparatuses like ventilators.
A person who wants to become a live in caregiver may want to look for an agency that hires non-medical caregivers or caregivers with the credentials that the person has. Even if the agency is not advertising job openings, many welcome resumes at all times.
If a person is hired by an individual or agency to be a live in caregiver, the caregiver should read carefully any contracts that are presented for their signature. Caregiver contracts often describe the caregiver duties and expectations of the job. The caregiver may want to ask questions about the contents of the contract if parts of the contract are unclear.
A live in caregiver does not work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The scheduled time varies among jobs. Some agencies allow the families to set the schedules within the standard time allotted each week. For example, if the caregiver is to work five and a half days and no more than ten hours a day, the family has the flexibility to schedule more time on days when help is most needed.
A live in caregiver may be giving care to more than one person. In many cases, the caregiver is paid per hour worked and not per person receiving care. For example, a live in caregiver working for a family with one child and providing care for that child may be paid the same as a caregiver caring for three children. Before accepting the position, the caregiver should be aware of how the payment is calculated and how many hours of work is expected per week.