The chances of you being drawn to working with children or the elderly would be higher. Identifying the kind of people and requirements you feel most passionately about would result in serving the people. Let us delve into a few popular caregiver jobs near me. Choose the one suitable for your specific needs. These career paths would be suitable for you to explore your natural caregiving tendencies.
1. Play therapist
If you love being with children, consider the job of a play therapist. A registered play therapist would be a psychotherapist having a master’s degree in the mental health arena along with additional training, supervision, and experience in the area of play therapy. It would be pertinent to mention here that play therapists would select specific toys and play items for engaging with children in their play. It would help them understand what a child is going through and beyond their mental, emotional, and social struggles inclusive of grief, trauma, and anxiety. If the job is appealing, begin by achieving your master’s degree in social work, counseling, and family or marriage therapy. You would require to be fully licensed in the state you reside and work in. Usually, it takes three years in most regions. You could acquire play therapy training, supervision, and experience while you work towards obtaining the license.
2. Nurse
Rest assured that being a nurse is a promising career for you. This journey as a natural caregiver would be a great one, provided you were medically inclined. You could acquire the degree of caregiving nurse at any age. However, it would be pertinent that you should start early for a promising career in the arena. Presently, you could achieve credentials as an RN or BSN online as several traditional universities and hospital-based options have been made available for your perusal. There is even the option of taking online medical courses such as PALS which can help you advance in your nursing career. The arena of nursing has been relatively common, as you could gain experience working in a hospital setting as and when you complete your training. You could move on to settings that are more specialized along with populations as and when you desire. Despite the setting where you could use your nursing skills, there is a common underlying basis of opportunity for extending your caregiving nature to several people in need.
3. Child life specialist
A child life specialist is a special healthcare worker specifically employed by the hospital for serving the pediatric unit. They would work with children and their families for relieving the discomfort during hospital visits along with providing education for children having some kind of health issues. To become a child life specialist, you would be required to fulfill some requirements, as in any career path. You would require a bachelor’s degree in any arena along with specialized child life training, internship, and an exam for receiving certification. The job of a child life specialist would be to use playful interventions for assisting children and families before and after surgeries or medical treatment in various hospital settings. Child life services would be recommended and offered to different degrees in the pediatric unit and community hospitals, emergency departments, ambulatory clinics, palliative care programs, and camps for children dealing with chronic illness. The job would also be required to assist children in rehabilitation settings, physicians, and dental offices.
4. Occupational therapist
As in the arena of physical therapy, an occupational therapist would help patients from a more holistic perspective emphasizing people for improving their activities for routine living. It would be inclusive of functioning and motor skills. Pediatric occupational therapists would assist children in building skills required for developing age, functionality, and independence. Injuries, physical impairment, and sensory integration challenges could hamper the ability of the child to achieve common tasks. It would also hamper him to move normally through different stages of cognitive or social development. You would require a master’s degree in occupational therapy along with some experience in fieldwork apart from undertaking the exam to be an occupational therapist. If the child suffers from challenges in integrating sensory input, consider looking for an occupational therapist. They would be your best bet for handling the children in the best possible way. Regardless of working with children or adults as an occupational therapist, you would have a wonderful experience in utilizing your natural caregiving tendencies in the best way possible. You would be able to make a significant difference in the lives of other people.
5. Geriatric care manager
Such a career path would be about caring for elderly adults and entails working with families of older people. Their educational and supportive service would guide the families to make an informed decision. It would result in quality care and ideal life for the ones they love. A geriatric care manager would relieve the stress and worries of a family caregiver. You would require a master’s degree in the mental health area or health care area. It would also require you to have additional training in the geriatric field along with undertaking a certification examination. This caregiver job enabled you to become a leader and coach for the entire family system. You would help them take appropriate care of the elderly members of the family. It is a highly rewarding career. There have been several careers for caregivers made available for you to explore in the market. You could look to your community for various opportunities to volunteer for the ones in need, provided you wish to serve without having to go back for further schooling. Regardless of how you make the most of your natural caregiving tendencies, you would be at risk of fatigue or burning out due to compassion. Therefore, it would be imperative for you to attend to your care as well. It would be in your best interest to find balance in your life and work to avoid mental and emotional depletion.
