Services for Professional Caregivers

Who is a professional caregiver?

Over 14 million Americans, mostly women, work in healthcare and long-term care. They diagnose, treat and care for millions, across the lifespan and around the clock. Nearly 3 million registered nurses, the largest group of professionals in health care, work mostly in hospitals (60%)1. These are approximately the same numbers of care professionals2, direct care workers who are aides in hospitals (17%), nursing homes (41%) or home health settings (42%)2. The aging of both our population and healthcare workforce makes the health, recruitment and retention of professional caregivers a critical issue for individuals, organizations and our nation.

What can Partners on the Path do for you?

Because our founder has been a registered nurse since 1973, we know the litany of challenges you face. Although gratifying, being a compassionate, caring and competent professional is difficult. Over time it can take a toll, deplete your resources and undermine your professional quality of life. Let us help you with the on-line, in-print or in-class resources we developed especially for professional caregivers like you.

  • 1. Self-assessment: The Professional Quality of Life Scale, known as ProQOL, the most widely used measure of both positive and negative effects of working with people who have experienced extremely stressful events. Used with permission on our site, Pro-QOL gives you feedback on the degree to which professional caregiving work has created satisfaction, burnout and trauma within you.
  • 2. Self-care guidance: The 7C’s of Self-Care is our research-based, trademarked approach to caring for yourself as you care for others. These insightful, practical, no-cost guidelines are available on our website, in text and continuing education course formats.
  • 3. Self-care activities: Questionnaires, checklists, discussion guides and self-reflection questions to help you evaluate your work life and ease your stress.
  • 4. Caregiver resources: A vetted list of valuable resources available on-line and in-print from popular or professional sources.
  • 5. Caregiver communities: On-line connections with supportive experts and other professional caregivers who understand and want to help.
  • 6. Why and how to care for family caregivers: On-line continuing education course and links to all Partners on the Path resources for family caregivers.

Endnotes

1 Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor, Career Guide to Industries, 2010-11 Edition, Healthcare, on the Internet at http://www.bls.gov/oco/cg/cgs035.htm (Visited March 25, 2010)

2 Kristin Smith and Reagan Baughman. Caring for America’s aging population: a profile of the direct-care workforce. Monthly Labor Review, September 2007.