Hi, it’s me, Christine, again.
Hope everybody’s doing OK. As for me, my new career as a caregiver is looking up!
Just want to fill you in real fast in case you missed my first post. Last time, I was talking about how much I was “over” working as a manager in fast-food, and how I just received my CNA (Certified Nurse Assistant) credential in Ohio. But then I hit a wall – what’s next? I was looking for a new career path that will allow me to set my own schedule, so I can spend more time with my kids, Lucas, 6, and Mia, 22 months, to give my mom and sisters some relief from always babysitting for me. If I can, I’d love to even choose how much money I can make per hour – I mean, within reason!
Anyway, I googled “part-time nursing assistant jobs” and came across this website, www.caregiverusa.com. After looking the site over a little bit, I decided to sign up!
So, first I should talk to you about the important business aspects of joining CaregiverUSA (CGUSA) before I get to the really good part – getting hired. You should understand that, basically, CGUSA is empowering you to run your own business. That’s right, members are “caregiver entrepreneurs” so to speak, in that I can set my own hours, manage my own time, and establish my own pricing.
I told you last time I filled out the short, “easy-peasy” online application and cut-and-pasted my resume inside it. I sent it off and immediately got an email confirmation from CGUSA that it was received.
Next, I’m told they need to perform a free background check on me. That’s OK. I want to be part of respected caregiver network that has a reputation for making sure its workers are good, honest people.
Of course, I passed the background check. (They didn’t count a couple parking tickets, hahaha!)
Next, they asked me to review my calendar and block out times I am available to work (and the times I’m absolutely not).
As I said in my last post, I’m currently working full-time as a manager at a fast-food restaurant, but it’s too many hours and I am flaming out under the stress. The convenience and ability to choose when and how often I can work is great for my situation.
After being encouraged to add photos and other personal information to my online CGUSA caregiver profile so it would be easy for careseekers to find me, I was ready to launch my CNA career. I'm starting out as a “companion”.
So this is what is happening now. I was not active on the data base very long at all when this woman named Mary Jane contacted me. She says her father, John, 72, has Alzheimer’s and her mother, Anna, 65, has high blood pressure, diabetes, and is having a really hard time dealing with her own issues while trying to care for John. Mary Jane has five siblings, but everybody lives in different states. Mary Jane is the closest to John and Anna, however, living about two hours away by car, so the burden of looking in on her parents has fallen to her.
Poor Mary Jane! I’m guessing she’s about 45-years-old. She said she has a demanding, full-time job as a senior manager at a Fortune 500 Company; a husband, three kids ranging from ages 3 to 8, and two dogs. Every Friday, for the last three months, she leaves work and does all this driving in rush hour traffic to John and Anna’s house. While there, she does the housework and cooks five days worth of meals for her parents. She stays with them till Sunday morning, crack of dawn, when she drives back home to go to church with her family. Mary Jane is trying to help her parents while she is drowning herself. She’s even thinking of quitting her job if things don’t improve. (And I thought I had it rough!)
She wants to know if I can come over to her parents’ house (about 12 minutes away from me by car in medium traffic – yay!) and help out with housecleaning, cooking, and maybe running some errands so that she (and her mom) can get a little bit of a break from the constant needs of her dad.
Sure, I can do that!
Mary Jane already knew from the online calendar that I am available from 10 am to 2 pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There was like no drama over money, because I set my price at $18 an hour, and it showed up on my profile before she even contacted me. Not bad for starting out in a new career! It's starting to feel like a fulfilling caregiving career.
I just told my husband Daniel the great news, and he is excited for me, and for our family! I’ll let you know how it’s going after taking care of John a few weeks.
Gotta go!
Read Christine's previous blog post here!
More articles about our Caregivers here...
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