My Dream Caregiver Job

By Janelle Lopez

This is a fictional story written by a caregiver who wants all caregivers to find supportive jobs like the one described here, instead of getting burned out over 11 years like she did.

I left my caregiver job a week ago and I’ve been recovering ever since. I didn’t notice how exhausted I was until I finally got a chance to slow down. 11 years of late nights, double shifts, and always being busy had caught up with me.

A week before I resigned, I requested 5 days off. My coordinator pulled me aside and said: “That’s quite a long break. Do you enjoy working with your client? I don’t think we’ll be able to find someone to cover all your shifts. Your client depends on you and taking time off would put their well-being and emotional state at risk. You're such an important part of the team and we’re all making sacrifices. We really need you to be here.”

I didn’t end up taking my vacation, even though I’d never taken a single vacation day until that point. But I did put in my two weeks resignation notice soon after. I realized I couldn’t work somewhere that pushed me so hard, but didn’t support me when I needed a break to recuperate.

Back on the job market, I hoped I could finally find what I’ve always strongly believed is out there: a healthy, life-affirming caregiver job.

In the morning, the weirdest message popped up on my phone: “In-Home Caregiver position, available now — Great pay, flexible schedule, paid time off, health and dental benefits.”

I thought it was spam at first, it seemed too good to be true. I almost flicked my finger to dismiss it, but I was intrigued.

That’s when I saw a big red flag: "We’ll treat you like family."

It’s not that I don’t want to be treated as family; I desperately do! But usually, the bigger the promise an agency makes, the bigger the letdown.

Now it’s six years later and I can tell you I’m so glad I followed up on that job post! All their promises actually came true.

It became my dream job.

On the first day, they paid me for my training, and the instructor was so impressed by my performance they pulled me aside and asked how many years I’d been working as a caregiver. When I told them five years, they bumped me up to the highest pay of $22/hour.

Right then, I knew I was somewhere special.

After I met my client for the first time, my new boss checked in and asked how we got along. They asked if I would rather work with someone else instead because they had clients lining up out the door. I told them, "No, this client is friendly, and we get along great." Even so, since then, my boss has checked in once a week to see how my clients and I are doing.

I usually work 8 hours a day, mostly with just one client. I’ve had this primary client for five years now, and they’re now in hospice, nearing the end of their life. It has been painful and distressing to see someone I’ve become close to have their health decline so suddenly, especially in the past two weeks.

That being said, I’m glad I’m in this profession, and I get to form a relationship with someone at such a vulnerable and important time in their life. I’ve experienced a lot of loss in my own life and getting to see someone else face it with grace helps me face my life with renewed strength. 

My agency also believes that caregivers who face extra challenges with clients deserve increased pay, so I’ve received more income as my client has developed dementia and become harder to transport and care for. This has made my day-to-day concerns easier and I’m grateful for the extra care from my agency.

Today, I drove my client to their doctor's appointment, and we took the long way. It’s fall, so we got to see the foliage turning orange and yellow, which was gorgeous. There’s this one street we drove down where all the leaves were pure yellow. It looked like the street and the sky were golden. We drove really slowly, even pulling over to let a faster car pass us.

It was such a small moment, but it made my client's eyes light up. We talked about how everything has seasons, even life, and we all experience each of them someday. I couldn’t help but think my client might not be able to enjoy small moments like this for much longer, and I felt lucky to be doing this work. Moments when life slows down for a minute are few, but so precious.

I strongly believe that life is a spiritual experience, and I am happy to help guide my clients to the end of this part of their spiritual journey. I feel lucky to be the one to be there for them, offering a safe, warm space during a time that could otherwise be tumultuous and chaotic.

When my boss realized my client’s health was declining, she invited me out to dinner. At dinner, she told me she knew my client nearing death must be weighing heavily on me. She assured me that I’ll receive three days paid time off after my client dies, so I can have the time necessary to grieve and recover my mental and emotional strength before moving on to my next client.

Curious about how the agency is able to offer such good benefits, including pay, health insurance, and paid time off, while still turning a profit, I prodded my boss:

“How do you still turn a profit while taking such good care of your caregivers?”

She explained that although it had been challenging in the beginning, it was quite simple: The agency had grown slowly.

“When we grow slowly and don’t put too much strain on office staff or caregivers, the agency can retain the best caregivers long term and avoid panicked hiring binges. The agency also only hires for full-time roles and treats caregivers as healthcare professionals, which empowers them to make difficult decisions in the moment and allows the agency to trust them to do the best with what they have.

“As a result, clients receive the best care and the agency gets lots of referrals from previous clients every week. Not only that, but our agency also tries to keep everyone on a consistent schedule with longer shifts and as few clients as possible, which allows caregivers to rely on work always being there and afford a comfortable lifestyle, reducing external financial stress.

“Lastly, since managing workers' stress is seen as one of our top priorities as a caregiving agency, backup caregivers are always on staff so they can be sent into the field at a moment's notice. This ensures that caregivers can take rest when they need it and request paid time off when they’re sick or on holiday. Because of this extra slack in our shift schedule, clients always receive the best care from well-rested caregivers.”

I thought back to how burned out I’d been at my previous agency and compared it to how I felt now. I was amazed at the difference.

“Buy why?” I asked. “Why would you do that — it doesn’t make sense if you want to prioritize profit. You won’t make as much money or grow as fast as other agencies.”

“It only makes sense,” I said, feeling tears coming to my eyes, “if you genuinely care about caregivers and their lives.”

She smiled warmly at me.

I thought more about what she said later and I realized she did understand what her agency was doing — the full scope of it. She cared about the caregivers a lot, yes. That was obvious. But she didn’t prioritize caregivers just to make them happy. She realized something bigger: the entire foundation of the industry was based on care. Caring for caregivers made it easier for them to care about their clients. And happy clients made everything about the business easier.

I went to bed and slept well that night, grateful I’d finally found somewhere to work as a caregiver that was healthy and life-affirming.