Care Assistant Qualities

When you work in care you will go home each and every day with a smile on your face, knowing that you have made a real difference to someone’s life.

At Bluebird Care Wakefield and Kirklees, we offer fully paid in-house training to all our employees. This means previous experience within the care industry is not essential. We believe there are some distinct qualities that enable someone to be a fantastic care assistant – qualities that can’t be trained.

Read on to find out what we – as an award-winning home care company – think are the most desirable care assistant qualities.

Compassion

The first rule of caring – you should always be compassionate. When working with elderly and vulnerable adults, it pays greatly to be able to empathise with their struggles and concerns. It is very important that you learn to recognise signals your customers are putting out about their health, mind, or feelings. If you are a naturally compassionate person, you may find it a lot easier to identify these concerns before they get out of hand. Not only will your compassion help you determine the comfort of your customer, but it will allow you to approach them in a gentle and understanding manner.

Bluebird provided an outstanding service for my father while he was living on his own at some distance from all his family. We are very grateful to all the staff for their hard work and dedication in often challenging circumstances, and their willingness to go above and beyond what would be expected of a care company to make sure my father was cared for and well looked after. As a family we could not have coped without their untiring and proactive support.

Reliability

Your customers need to be able to rely on you.

Whilst caring for them, you will be your customers only point of contact. This means you will be responsible for their healthcare needs as well as their comfort. If your customer feels that you are reliable, they will be a lot more relaxed while you complete their care. This will make it more enjoyable for your customer as well as a much easier task for you. If you were in a vulnerable position, you wouldn’t want to be cared for by someone you felt you couldn’t rely on – neither do your customers.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you all for the effort and attention that you exercised to ensure my mother was safe and comfortable. Certainly, this often went beyond what had been originally contracted. If there was a problem you always made contact and immediately made me aware of any care concerns that had manifested. This was much appreciated.

Patience

As a care assistant, it is important that you have a lot of patience. Most of the time, your customers will rely on you both physically and emotionally. This is why it will aid you well if you are able to manage your customers difficulties – such as slow movements and mental capacity – with great care and patience. A customer should never have to feel like a burden. It is your job to make sure this doesn’t happen, by being very patient and understanding with them.

The carers who look after my husband are professional, they treat him with respect and have the patience and sensitivity needed to help him. They are pleasant and cheerful. I looked after my husband's personal care for many years but am happy to leave him in their hands.

Trustworthy

From the moment you step into their home, your customer puts their trust in you. They trust that you will take care of them, respect their home, and make them feel comfortable. Trust is a crucial element of any type of care, but it is especially significant within home care. This is because customers not only trust you with their health, but they also trust you with their home – possibly even their family members and pets. You should always make it easy for your customer to put their faith in you and your care practices completely. This makes for a much nicer environment for both your customer and you.

Such a lovely team of carers with a strong presence of good management. They never fail to go that last mile to make my friend feel comfortable and secure in their own home. We wished we'd called them sooner.

Caring

This may seem like an obvious one, but it is the most important quality a care assistant can have. You have to care about your customers: about their health, their happiness, and their comfort at all times. When inviting you into their home, your customer should believe that you genuinely care about their wellbeing. If they don’t, you won’t be able to do your job effectively and your customer will become anxious and uncomfortable.

My family and I would like to say a big thank you to all the staff at Bluebird Care for looking after Mrs E P, with loving care and attention! Everybody has been very obliging to all our needs and Auntie’s needs – nothing was ever too much trouble for you all.

Friendly

It’s always nice to see a friendly face, especially when you don’t have visitors very often, which is the case for a lot of our customers. This is why it is important that, as a care assistant, you are friendly and approachable. The friendlier you are without dampening your professionalism, the more likely you are to bond with your customer.

Both myself and the rest of my family have been amazed at the level of support that most of your employees are providing, including their promptness, attention to the clients personal care needs, professionalism and friendliness.

Fun

Although it is your job to provide care to your customers, it is also nice if your customer knows they can also have a little bit of fun with you. For instance, you could have a few jokes with your customer while cooking their dinner. This way, your customer will feel confident in your abilities and in your character. Your customers should look forward to your visits, and it should be one of your priorities to put a big smile on their face!

Laura I find is nice, kind and a caring person who is good at helping me for my needs. I also enjoy her weekly visit very much.

Do you think you encompass these must-have care assistant qualities? If the answer is yes, we want to hear from you!

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