Elder Care in Tillamook, Oregon

I am 45 years old, married and mother of 3 girls, ages 23, 21 and 17. For the last 10 months, I have lived in the Medford area, but I'm planning to relocate to the Tillamook area to be closer to my youngest daughter just as soon as I can find work there. I am very caring and compassionate, optimistic and encouraging. I have a gentle and calm demeanor and am patient and level headed in high stress situations. I also have a strong ability to communicate effectively and clearly, and I'm really good at helping people to feel safe and comfortable in uneasy or tense situations. I have a lot of knowledge of medical terminology and want to keep learning. Most of all, I enjoy helping people and making them feel loved and cared about. I graduated with honors from Brown Mackie College in 2013 with a diploma in Medical Assisting and worked in Tillamook at a small family practice office from August 2013 until April 2014, and then had to take a 3 year leave of absence to deal with some health issues. Thankfully, those issues have been dealt with and are no longer affecting my ability to work, so I am ready to move forward in my search for a job. In April of 2017, I took my certification exam for Medical Assisting and passed with a 93%, so I am now licensed as a Certified Medical Assistant (CMA). As a medical assistant, some of my responsibilities included: rooming patients, taking/recording vital signs/patient histories, allergies and medications, checking blood sugar, drawing blood, making referral appointments, and more. During the last 7 months, as I have been searching for work as a Medical Assistant, my sister, who has been a private caregiver for over 2 years, said I should give care giving a try. So I began working as an elder caregiver in February 2017, and I have fallen in love with it! My favorite part of it is building personal relationships with people, as well as helping them to be able to live as independently as possible for as long as possible. Eventually, my hope is to be able to have the best of both worlds; to do care giving part time and medical assisting part time. Please allow me to explain the kind of care that I provide currently: I am not employed by any agencies, retirement communities, or assisted living facilities. I am a private Personal Care Assistant. I prefer to remain self employed, but I am willing to consider working for an agency depending on the wages and what hours/duties would be required of me. I have one client who is 93, legally blind and has some dementia that I assist for 3-4 hours three days a week, and another client who is 84 and has some dementia that I assist for 2 hours two days a week. I am more of a companion and personal assistant who will come along side of someone to help them remain as self sufficient and independent as possible. Services that I provide include companionship, light housekeeping/cooking, laundry, change sheets/make bed, assistance with activities of daily living (bathing, dressing, hair, nails, compression stockings, some medication administration), take and record blood pressure, accompany/transport to doctors' appointments and other activities (I have my own car), grocery/clothes shopping for or with client, schedule appointments and keep a calendar for reminders. I realize there are some services that I haven't had experience with as a caregiver, such as injections and dressing wounds, but I learned a lot of that in medical assisting school and had experience doing it under a doctor's supervision at the family practice I worked at for 8 months. I am also First Aid/CPR/AED certified and am willing to receive any additional training that may be necessary. Services I DO NOT provide: Because of my small frame and previous back/neck surgeries, I CANNOT lift heavy items/boxes, furniture, or transport people between bed and wheelchair. I do LIGHT housekeeping, but I'm not a housekeeper. My current fee is $20 per hour here in Medford, but that may be negotiable, depending on the type of care that is needed. I'm available to start as soon as September, as I already have a place to live in Tillamook. Please do not hesitate to call or email me with any questions.