A Mobile caregiver is a person who works at multiple facilities and units within those facilities. This type of position is also known as a flex, system float, resource, or travel care-giving. Mobile caregivers typically move around to different units within the same facility or between multiple facilities to meet the needs of patients, and the staffing needs of the health system.  The term “Mobile caregiver” is used to refer to a variety of positions, all of which involve providing care to patients who are in need. These positions include:

- Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs)

- Direct Caregivers (unlicensed)

- Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs)

- Registered Nurses (RNs)

The Challenge of Being a Mobile Caregiver

Communication, cooperation, and patient care delivery must all be done differently to be a successful Mobile caregiver. The change in mindset, and new set of skills needed to be a successful mobile caregiver can be challenging. For example, during my  work week at CarePRN, I frequently hear tale after tale from former staff caregivers who are transitioning into the  role of a mobile caregiver at CarePRN, who have had bad experiences at facilities where they are working as a mobile caregiver. These bad experiences usually stem from the fact that the newly minted mobile caregiver is failing to recognize that the same skill set they used to be a competent staff caregiver does not always apply when performing the work of a mobile caregiver. Many times staff caregivers do not realize that being staff at a facility comes with unspoken privileges. These privileges are earned by that staff caregiver's willingness  to invest time at that facility. This investment of time via giving up control of their work schedules builds loyalty with the leadership, and their coworkers. The staff caregivers also learn the care-giving styles of each other as well. 

On the contrary, the mobile caregiver does not automatically get these privileges when they show up to work at a new facility for the first time. This is because the mobile caregiver is viewed as an outsider by the existing staff of the facility they are working at.  Being a successful mobile caregiver can be boiled down to being intentional about changing how the staff of a facility views the mobile caregiver showing up to help out.  The mobile caregiver must be intentional about changing their status from one of an outsider to one of a trusted team member that can be counted on by the staff when it comes to the work of delivering healthcare to the facilities residents. 

So how can we be intentional about changing the minds of the staff caregivers when we are working at a new facility as a mobile caregiver? Well I want to share with you the four states “of beings” I focus on when I’m working at a new facility. By focusing on these four things I have noticed that they have led to having a positive impact on how the staff views me which translates into how they treat me. Furthermore, it helps me create an overall positive experience for myself most of the time. After all, the only thing we have control over during a shift or in life is ourselves and how we react to the situations we find ourselves in. Trying to control anything else is a sure fire way to create unnecessary strife and anxiety in our lives. 

Number One: Being Visible

Before we go any further I want to address again that the old way of thinking that going into work, and just being there to do your job and not make “friends” is the worst approach as a mobile caregiver.  This approach will almost certainly deliver a bad experience for the mobile caregiver and the staff. Many times we can tell mobile caregivers who take this approach because they will isolate themselves away from the rest of the staff by sitting alone. This is completely understandable from the perspective of the mobile caregiver when they feel like the staff doesn’t want them there or sees them as an outsider. Feeling like an outsider and not part of the crew is what we have to actively work against as mobile caregivers. The first way we can accomplish this is by resisting the urge to isolate from the staff and sit alone. Being visible and sitting where the staff sits during the shift goes a long way to shifting how the staff views of you as a mobile caregiver. Sitting with the staff helps to shift their perception of you as an outsider to be part of the crew by allowing them to ask you questions to get to know you. Sitting with the staff also creates opportunities for you to get to know the staff and for you to offer help with patient care. Being visible by sitting and getting to know the staff is the first step in not being viewed as an outsider as a mobile caregiver but part of the crew.

  Number Two: Being Helpful

As a mobile caregiver you start off as the outsider automatically. If you give into that feeling of being an outsider and begin to isolate yourself by sitting alone this will only add to the view of the staff caregivers that you are indeed an outsider. Being viewed as an outsider by the staff,and not as part of the crew is the quickest way to run into trouble regardless of how good you are as a caregiver. So Rule number two, being helpful, is something you can actively do to help change this view of you as a mobile caregiver. One thing I always do when someone asks for help with pulling someone up, toileting, or cleaning up a patient, and if I'm not busy, I always make it a point to volunteer. This allows me one on one time with that staff member which presents the opportunity to get to know them better. It also makes that staff member more likely to help me next time I need help performing patient care as well. Helping the staff is the best way I have found to ensure I would get help when I needed it whenever I was working. Over time, the simple act of being helpful changes the view staff caregivers have of me as an outsider and now I am perceived as part of the crew. Cultivating this view amongst the staff also meant that whenever I did something wrong or messed up they were way more likely to be forgiving of mistakes ensuring that I was much less likely to have any sort of trouble arise with my superiors. My other approach was to get to know the staff I was working with by being approachable.

Number Three: Being Approachable

Being  approachable is a very important part of cultivating relationships with the staff members I found myself working with as a mobile caregiver. When I’m working as a mobile caregiver I always try to ask open ended questions and answer any questions staff had of me. Many times staff want to know what it's like working as a mobile caregiver and what the pro’s and con’s are.  By participating in answering these questions it made me seem more approachable to the staff which would inevitably start to shift the staff's perception of me as an outsider. Simply focusing on being approachable during a shift has always served me well in cultivating great relationships during my shift with the staff members of whatever unit I was working on during my shift. One surefire way to appear approachable to others is by being positive despite what is happening around you during a shift. 

Number Four: Being Positive

Being positive despite what happening during your shift can be one of the most challenging things you can do. Choosing how we respond to bad things that might be happening during our shift is one of the only things that is truly in our control. We can not decide when a patient will become hypotensive or if a patient decides to jump out of bed to use the bathroom ending in a fall. All we can decide when things like this are happening is how we respond. If we decide to respond in a negative way to a negative event during our shift that negative event becomes much much harder to deal with then if we decide to consciously keep a good attitude despite what is happening around us. Controlling  how we  respond to ever changing situations is not a new idea but is actually the main point of the stoicism philosophy which comes from the ancient Greeks. 

Stoicism states that we should only focus on controlling things that are within our control. Things that are within our control are mainly how we respond to different situations we are presented with as we move throughout our day. Exercising control over our responses or what response will I choose, and bending those responses towards choosing a positive response has made a big impact in my career as a mobile caregiver. By re-framing negative events or interactions during my shift as a chance to demonstrate my skills as a caregiver has changed how I work.  By focusing on what is within my control, and what is not has helped me deal with burnout and compassion fatigue as well. By being mindful of my responses to staff, negative situations during my shifts, and my patients has been very challenging. But being mindful of my responses has led to me being able to endure very hard shifts with staff members I just only met. By being mindful in trying to have a positive response, staff members see me as a caregiver who is not easily rattled, and someone they want to work with when the going gets tough. This has been one of the best ways I have been able to cultivate good working relationships with staff members I have just met, and has led to me having good experiences as a mobile caregiver. Being mindful about trying to have a positive response has also allowed me to make new friends anywhere I go. At the end of the day as a mobile caregiver our goal should be to make friends with the staff we are working with and provide them with support during our time with them.