We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Esmeralda Bahena a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Esmeralda thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was your school or training experience like? Share an anecdote or two that you feel illustrate important aspects or the overall nature of your schooling/training experience.

A caregiver is someone who typically works with adults that have special needs and frequently requires attendance from a medical professional. This includes the elderly, those in hospice care and people with other impactful medical conditions. Those looking for caregivers might seek out honesty, thoughtfulness and compassionate care when selecting someone to offer medical services to their loved one or a patient in their care. For this reason, a caregiver interview might include questions that test your knowledge of healthcare principles, but will also likely present questions geared at learning more about you and your values. After all, if hired, you’ll likely be spending considerable time with patients, and possibly even in someone’s home, so it’s important to make sure you’re both a fit because of your skills and your overall demeanor.
Caregivers work in home health care, but also in clinics, hospitals, nonprofit shelters, group homes and other agencies that provide adult care.

Esmeralda, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

There’s a nuanced difference between what qualities someone embodies and what skills they may have. Instead, imagine the question is asking about what “attributes” make you a good caregiver.

This goes back to a common job search practice of understanding your skills versus your attributes. Qualities or attributes are intrinsic personality traits, and they speak to your overall demeanor and behaviors. While skills—both hard and soft—can be learned, developed and worked on until competency is reached, attributes are qualities you exude. Some examples of qualities that might be useful in a caregiver profession

include:
Positivity
Engagement
Motivation
Honesty
Reliability
Flexibility
Patience
Kindness

“I believe my most useful qualities in this role are patience and kindness. In my role as a caregiver in a group home for the elderly, I was frequently the only attending caregiver on my floor overnight. I had one gentleman who would always buzz me to attend to him, but because he was experiencing memory loss and dementia, when I arrived he would forget he just buzzed me for the same thing. I always showed him kindness and patience, and as a result, he requested me as his caregiver when he left the group home to live with a family member. They hired me for in-home care..

I’ve worked in many healthcare roles. I started my career as a medical assistant .During that time, I worked primarily in home health, traveling from client to client. I feel most comfortable in home health care, since that’s where I started my career journey, and it brings me a lot of joy and fulfillment knowing I’m doing good things as I see people through some of their most difficult years and life transitions.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

In healthcare, it’s significant to be kind, caring, considerate and empathetic. As a caregiver, your demeanor can be pivotal to your success in the role. That’s one of the reasons why you may come across quite a few behavioral questions during the interview process. Allow yourself to show emotions like caring and concern during the interview process. In this instance, it is to your benefit to display the depth of your emotional intelligence by remaining calm and encouraging, being friendly, understanding and asking a lot of questions that show concern for the client.

If you could go back, would you choose the same profession, specialty, etc.?

I would say yes … As a caregiver I have receive as much in return from those I have care for as they give in the form of lasting relationships, gratitude, and lessons learned. Additionally, gain valuable experience. Working as a caregiver is an excellent way to expand your medical knowledge while doing something you love.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @EzzyBahgue
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ezme.bahgue
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/esmeralda-bahena-901a021b3

Image Credits
Ezmebahgue