Caregivers
Our team of trained and experienced caregivers are the most important part of Astera Care. You trust them to come into your home, so our job is to make sure you get exactly the right people to care for you.
Your personal nurse and care manager will assign the caregivers who can administer the level of care appropriate for your health, needs and situation. They can be scheduled from as little as 4 hours per day to around-the-clock care.
Quality and safety
Not only to we ensure that your caregivers have the right training and competence, but we also make sure that you are a good fit for each other. We do our professional best to find caregivers that you are comfortable with.
In order to ensure the highest quality of complete care, we have implemented the following caregiver standards:
- Our caregivers are bonded, insured and licensed.
- Our caregivers are supervised regularly by Registered Nurses.
- Our caregivers are oriented, thoroughly trained.
- We conduct a complete criminal background check prior to hiring each caregiver.
- We personally check references on all prospective employees.
- We offer employment advancement incentives to promote exceptional service.
- We treat our caregivers with the utmost respect and pay them accordingly.
Astera Care has the following levels of caregivers on staff:
- Certified Nursing Assistants (CNA)
- Personal Care Attendants (PCA)
- Certified Home Health Aides (HHA)
- Nursing Assistants (NA)
- Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVN)
Private vs agency caregivers
When you rely on Astera Care to cover you care needs:
1. We manage our entire staff and are responsible for the hiring, firing and disciplinary actions.
2. We find substitutes in a timely manner if the current caregiver is sick or unable to work.
3. Astera Care provides additional services such as on call 24/7 for administrative needs.
4. We are responsible for the worker compensation, payroll tax and all caregiver benefits.
5. We do the paper work. We will bill your private or long term insurance, which may cover your costs.
6. Astera Care will match caregivers to the specific needs of our clients by providing tailored matches.
7. We provide counseling to ensure a smooth transition throughout the care-giving process to maintain quality service and control.
Your role when you hire caregivers yourself:
1. You are responsible for educating and familiarizing yourself with the industry.
2. Although you can hire who you think best fits the job, the paper work is overwhelming. Since you are an employer, you have to verify the caregiver’s legal status (make sure your caregiver is a legal immigrant). Have her/him fill out all of the necessary federal and state paperwork.
3. You will likely be required to pay their social security and Medicare taxes and some unemployment taxes too.
4. If you pay the caregiver more than $1000 a quarter, you will also likely need to pay their unemployment, worker compensation and short-term disability insurance.
5. You also will have to protect your assets against employee related injuries.
6. Does your potential employee have a criminal background?
We can work with your private caregivers
There are many questions you will want answered before you hire anyone to work for you. You will need to review your homeowner insurance and/or auto insurance policies to ensure proper coverage.
Bottom line: Before you hire privately – do your research and be prepared.
If you do chose to hire privately or if you wish to increase the quality of your current privately hired caregivers, Astera Care can manage your care program. We will work with the solutions our clients find most fitting. That can be a combination of both our and other caregivers. The most important aspect is that the total care is right for you, and our Care Managers ensure just that.
