6 integral duties every caregiver must perform

6 integral duties every caregiver must perform

Caregivers become an indispensable part of their patient’s lives since they look after them and ensure that they lead a normal life even with their health issues. Caregivers provide assistance to the elderly, differently-abled, the ailing, and even their family members when the need arises. They ensure that the individual goes about the day without experiencing any distress since they supervise and perform every small and big task.

A caregiver’s work is very challenging since each day needs a different task to be completed. However, there are certain duties that are integral to a caregiver’s profession, and they have to abide by these. Here are some vital duties that caregivers are expected to perform.

  • Preparing a care plan
    One of the first duties of caregivers is to prepare a care plan after gauging the patient’s strength and weaknesses. This is imperative since it provides them with an understanding of the patient’s requirements before the caregiving routine begins. This will help the caregivers in determining how much hours of care the individual needs.
  • Monitoring medications
    Caregivers need to monitor the medication the individual takes; they have to ensure that they take the right medications at the right time and get a refill if these medications are over.
  • Assistance with basic needs
    Since the patients are people who need assistance with their daily activities, caregivers are supposed to help them with the same. This might include helping them bathe, eat, dress, and administering medications.
  • Cooking and housekeeping
    Caregivers are expected to help the patients with their household chores like cooking, doing the laundry, going grocery shopping, and cleaning the house. Each of these tasks is a part of caregivers’ duties.
  • Medical assistance
    Many times, the patients require physical therapy or injections, and caregivers are expected to administer these. It is a caregiver’s duty to assist patients with physical therapy, feeding tubes, injections, and other medical processes. Also, caregivers are supposed to discuss the care plan with the doctors and care managers and should be equipped with a crisis or medical emergency.
  • Appointments and transportation
    It is the caregiver’s duty to ensure that the patient makes the weekly or monthly scheduled visit to the doctor. Moreover, it is the caregiver’s responsibility of arranging transport for taking the patient to the doctor, or simply for an outing.