Radiant Voices: Luz, Caregiver

Meet Luz, Caregiver | RadiantCareers.com

As a part of a series on the people who choose to work in senior living, we are sharing our full interviews with those senior living employees that have been featured on the RadiantVoices Instagram feed. Follow along on Instagram to see more stories from Senior Living team members.

Meet Luz!

Luz is a caregiver at Emerald Gardens Assisted & Memory Care in Woodburn, Oregon. She has been caregiving for ten years.

My Senior Living Story - Caregiver

What made you look into caregiving as a career?

"I just like dealing with the elderly. I have a passion for them. I guess I never had a grandpa or grandma, so that made me choose this route."

Do you have a moment in the last ten years that you realized that caregiving is for sure something you want to do?

"Yeah! I actually did a couple of years ago. You know you get to a point where you get frustrated at times and I said, 'Do I really want to keep doing this? Or do I really don't want to keep doing this?' and I came to... I really DO want to keep doing this. And, everything changed in me."

Do you have a favorite resident from over the years?"I do. I was pregnant with my youngest son. She just loved it that I was pregnant. She cared for me, and up to the day she died, she still remembered my son's name. I still remember her every day."

Luz, you've been caregiving for ten years now, so you have a lot of great advice to share. If someone were looking for a job and were considering caregiving, what traits do you think they need to have?

"First of all, have patience! Have passion for these elderly people. And, be with a great attitude. There are days that you have to fake it. There are days when things happen out there, but you come in here and you have to be with a positive attitude. You cannot be without a positive attitude because it'll ruin their day, and you don't want that."