Visiting Angels is a franchise so every location is run differently. If you like working in a small office environment then this is the job for you. You can ensure that your owner is on top of all legislation and that you will lead the industry. The owner supports furthered education with in-office projects and objectives.
A typical day includes no down time. The days are swift because clients and caregivers always need attention so it's go go go. Typical calls include caregivers calling out sick and clients adding/cancelling last minute. Just when you think you've caught up, you're assigned another task to add to your job duties and the challenge begins again. If you like being challenged and solving real-world puzzles, take this job. You will never be bored. MUST HAVE strong critical thinking skills.
I have learned a lot about the industry and CA Licensing. Professionalism is a MUST especially in appearance and email content. You will learn about the burdens of caring for a loved one and know how to help your own parents when you get to that chapter. You eyes will be opened to how underpaid caregivers are and how working with low-income individuals effects the industry. The real challenge is keeping them on staff with no pay and very little incentive.
Management can be dicy. There are too many hands in the pot and confusion as to whom you should report to. The office staff doesn't have a high turn over but there is little to no training programs for on-boarding
ProsHelping Seniors, Empowering Caregivers, Full Time, Objective Challenges
ConsOn Call Phone, High Caregiver Turn-Over, No potential Managerial Growth
Visitng Angels routinely prioritizes clients at the expense of the caregivers. The pay is lousy especially for the work that you do. You can make more working in a fast food restaurant for much less work. The pay is absolutely not sustainable to live on. If you’re looking for a paid volunteer position and don’t need the money to live on, this would be a good fit. Besides the low pay, you aren’t reimbursed for gas or mileage even if a client is an hour away for a 2 hour job. I would pay more in gas then I’d make at those jobs. Also, no medical or other benefits are available. Nor is there an opportunity for advancement. I asked when I was hired if they offer bonuses and was told, “Your bonus is that you get to keep your job.” In hindsight, I should have walked right there as this was indicative of how they treat caregivers... as if we were expendable and unimportant.
Also, your duties include “light housekeeping”. BE WARNED, this is defined by the client not the company. If your client wants you to hand scrub the inside and outside of 6 toilets because she fired her maid and wants you to do double duty, then that’s what you’re expected to do. I have stripped the sheets off beds in multiple rooms (not just the client’s bed), washed, dried, IRONED and then remade all beds with them. I’ve shampooed carpets in the entire house, done outside work and crawled through attic and crawl spaces. None of which I should’ve had to do for $9.00/hr.
Visiting Angels also does not prior
Visiting Angels was an flexible, and great for a first job. But beneath the facade you will discover an employer who is concerned about themselves.
I will describe my typical day for the individual I cared for the most. Some of the typical duties were preparing meals, light house cleaning (dishes, floors, bathroom, laundry), medication reminders, assistance with bathing, and overall companionship.
While working with this client I learned patience, and what it means to love your neighbor. Having to care for individuals with different abilities can be challenging. I thought of this person as a family member. I brought my schooling (seminary student) into my work and knew that God had brought us together for a reason. I was grateful for the experience, not matter how frustrating it was at times.
As far as workplace culture, I can't really say too much on that. Whenever you work for a company like this, you're rarely in the office because you're at the clients home. That being said, most communication is done via text or call. I began working just three month before the pandemic. Because of the industry, I was deemed an "essential worker." We all know how difficult the unknown was/still is. Without going too much into detail, I must mention that it was difficult to get them to offer us PPE in March/April 2020. It took me having to contact the owner about my safety several times for masks, gloves, and sanitizer to become available. Eventually it was, but it shouldn't have been that hard.
The company gives away hams for Christmas and Easter, and turkeys for Thanksgiving. A company sends out cards for them. All of this is n
Workplace that exudes respect for staff and those to whom care is provided.
I am a Registered Nurse who conducts intake health assessments, either in a client's home or in the facility from which they will be discharged, for newly assigned cases scheduled for Passport Program services .
I have learned how important it is to assess and evaluate a patient in their home setting. This is a place where they feel the most secure, the safest. If they are having difficulty coping in this environment, especially post-discharge, then there needs to be interventions specific for their needs put into place. These interventions will help deter costs by allowing clients to remain in their home versus a skilled nursing facility.
My co-corkers are genuinely concerned for the clients we serve. As this is a business, there is always the consideration of the 'bottom line." I was pleased to see that all of the staff views the clients as a top priority. The company has a feeling of family, as just the mention of most clients and the staff is able to quickly recall specific needs of the client.
The hardest part of the job is trying to interrupt clients to get the information necessary for my database, while still allowing them time to express themselves. Sometimes the clients I see just need some time to vent their frustrations, concerns, or fears about their situation, and as I may be their first opportunity to do this, I sometimes find it emotionally taxing to stop them in the middle of a conversation to divert back to my questions for them.
The most enjoyable part
Prosone-on one time with clients
Consi wish i could do more for some clients but this is usually outside of my specific job description
I started this job because of my passion to help elder people, when I interviewed I was clear on my availability to travel and I was reassured that their were plenty of clients in the area. The first thing that should have alerted me of this company not being what was advertised, after orientation I was brought in to get my first client and the coordinator was very pushy trying to pawn off a client which was over an hour away from and also needed care I wasn't trained in so even after I explained that she continued to try to push me into taking and then asking to lie to the family about my experience, which is flat out wrong I wasn't about to do this, if I took that job untrained I could have injured myself and client. But after that I got a couple of clients near by but then the coordinators would blow up my phone or email trying to convince me to drive hours out of my area for shifts and I couldn't do it then they stopped giving any new clients so I was stuck with just two days a week which I made hardly anything and then I became quite ill first with very bad strep throat I called in and all they did was try to get me to work anyways when clearly in the handbook no caregiver who is sick should not work with elderly clients which would help prevent them from
Becoming sick and having worked complications.
Months after that I ended having severe anxiety attacks and was hospitalized. I was in no shape to talk to anybody so my sister called them to explain the situation but
Management is out for MONEY not client care. They like warm bodies that work hard for minimal pay.
Forget about what you are told in orientation because management DOES NOT CARE. You’ll be asked to work during hours you told them you weren’t available. You’ll be sent on assignments where you are expected to do things you aren’t prepared for, and DEFINITELY you are not allowed to call in sick EVER. Management constantly threatens you that you will be fired. I was sent to a facility to care for an obese bedridden client, even though we agreed that I would not be sent to these type of assignments! I didn’t have a lot of experience with bedridden clients. Management provided no extra training and refused to replace you once they sent you to an assignment. The family would have to call the agency and demand another caregiver!
I was sent 45-60 minutes drive away from home for PEANUTS, and there’s no commuter compensation, and found out there were assignments within a bicycle ride from my house!
I was constantly treated like dirt, and management DOES NOT have your back! Client family decided that they didn’t need me, after I was told I had to fill in last minute, and management was like “oh well, now you have the day off!” REALLY? Because, obviously, my time is of no value to you unless I’m making the company Money!
We were forced to sign off on healthcare that no one could afford. I was told to fill out a second form because I wasn’t allowed to state that I couldn’t afford the $600/month plan. Ridiculous.
I wasted my time with this company.
My only compensat
ProsExperience with caregiving. You had access to CEU classes.
ConsNo health insurance, LOW PAY, constantly threatened if you didn’t take whatever assignments they threw at you, no management support when there were issues, no training for any assignments outside the scope of your experience, you are not allowed to call in sick EVER
A typical day well, Visiting Angels is an employment agency for nursing personnel. With that said, you compete for jobs. It is based on your availability, and where you wish to travel too. You can have as many clients as you want or as little work as you want. The schedule is based on client requirements. I would say that you learn to deal with different people, because as you know no one is the same. And it was important to take notes so that you could please the client.
Management, well the owner was the manager. He used to have a saying, if you said no, too many times then you would not call be called for clients. You knew how well you were doing by how busy you were. Co-workers, I did not see them too often.
The hardest part of the job was not being prepared for the situations that you were walking into. I remember that I arrived at a home and the client’s family member wanted me to remove my shoes. Well if I had know that she did not want us to wear shoes that we were wearing to the house I would have brought my booties. They are shoe covers that you see in hospitals. The other thing that I found difficult was when I had no time to get to the next client’s home, without be late. I do not like rushing out, then rushing in. Because I felt it was not professional to the clients.
The most enjoyable part of my job was helping my clients. I received the most caring award. I wanted my clients to know that I care, that we were there for them. I did whatever that was in the sc
Prosflexible schedule
Conswhen the client failed to pay the office, you were not paid either
Schedule is inconsistent and always changing. Management is not great, some of them are rude when you say a client isn’t a good fit, and they play favoritism. I had a client that would use the service when their family went out of town and I decided they weren’t a good fit for me after working with them a few times a month. When I told somebody in scheduling that it wasn’t a good fit for me that person became snappy. They run off a point system so the less you have the better. Every time you decline a client that would fit into your schedule, you get a point, regardless of your reasoning. My interview was very chaotic and unorganized, the person that was supposed to interview me was too busy and sent in 2 inexperienced people to interview me. I was not told that I was officially hired at all during the interview and left feeling confused about my employment status even after asking multiple times because they answered it in a round about way. If you are wanting to request time off you have to go to the office location to fill out paperwork, nothing besides clocking in/out is online. There is no way to check how much PTO or sick time you have unless you call or go into the office. Every time you get a new client you have to drive over to the office location to pick up the binder for that client and to drop it off when they terminate their service. Compensation for travel is not good at all and you are driving all over the place if you have multiple clients a day. You also don’
ProsA good starter job, pay is decent if you get good hours
ConsNo set breaks, overall management is not great, travel compensation is almost nonexistent, varying schedule
Nice office staff/clients, great entry to healthcare career, low pay, part-time hours/long commutes to start, chauffering, lifting, takes self-control
Great entry to healthcare career. Nice owner/office personnel/clients. Some co-workers are complacent/controlling. Long commutes for short hours when new. Alot of chauffering at your own expense (including extra auto insurance coverage required by law). Barely over minimum wage to start. Have to push for raise after six months, not automatic. Flexible schedule. Days/hours vary week-to-week, basically on call until permanently assigned to a client. If client goes into hospital/LTC/dies, or you don't hit-it-off well-enough, you start over until reassigned. Some clients want strictly sitters/companions, some are slave-drivers, most are in-between. Sometimes alot of stairs/lifting/assistance involved. Day sleepers become night prowlers. Some with dementia will be out the door if you bat your eyes, and some will wander off if not watched constantly. Some get "Sundowners" and suddenly start baiting you and become very arguementive/angry. Some get confused/frustrated and try to leave and can become combative (One lady trief to hit a caregiver in the head w/an iron skillet, and a man would get angry and spit in the caregiver's face!) You have to be able to rise above it, stay calm, and remember to not take their actions personally. In their world they're lonely, depressed, confused, scared, and desperately just trying to survive. It's nothing against you. Once calm, in their heart, they really appreciate, and even love you, for just being there with them, and they know you're trying
ProsVariety/Flexibility/Career JumpStart/Bonding
ConsLow Pay/No Benefits/Long Commutes/Part-time to Start/No Over-time Pay/Schedule Mishaps
Too demanding with no respect for employee's personal time.
Had I known then what I know now I would not have taken a job with this company, for many reasons. The endless unrealistic expectations and demands not only while in the office all day, but 24/ 7 when doing on-call duty with the company. The amount of time they put you on call is excessive, every other week ALL WEEK, and there is 100% NO respect for work life balance or boundaries when it comes to when the job demands should end and your personal life should be aloud to exist with out interruption. I had to block the ph #s of the sales people and my boss from my personal ph because I'd get calls on it while not on call and not carrying the on call ph! Had to nip that in the bud. No sleep, no rest, no relaxing, just endlessly slaving away, putting out fires and solving non stop problems/ complications for days on end 24/ 7, for little to no money (once you calculate the many, many hrs worked and then what you're paid), but this part of the job is not clearly outlined during the interview. Another fact: there are never enough motivated care givers on staff to cover the service hour quotas demanded by the boss. No good. I'd say this job can be tolerated short term if a person has to have a pay check but not a long term thing to put much investment in to. Not unless you're a hopeless glutton for punishment and you like to donate your time and labor at home for free to line someone else's pocket, because that's where it all leads to and what they expect the employees to do to keep
ProsYou do meet some nice and caring people. Mostly some of the care givers.
ConsIt's just never enough with this company, burn out happens pretty quickly, unreasonable work load with little to no pay off in the end, lies to get people in the door during interview, no respect for your personal time.
Questions And Answers about Visiting Angels
What is the best part of working at Visiting Angels?
Asked Dec 1, 2019
They are very kind! And keep you up to date on new clients! Pay rates are also a plus for me! Very dedicated team!
Answered May 12, 2022
I enjoy working with the elderly.
Answered May 12, 2022
If you were to leave Visiting Angels, what would be the reason?
Asked Mar 19, 2017
You tell the staff your sick and shouldn't be around clients for their safety and all they say is "you wear a mask you'll be fine." However, its up to the clientele as to whether masks are required, and being an independent contractor they cant force you to wear one anyway. But when you leave the registry for your health and are ready to come back they wont even look at you.
Answered Mar 11, 2022
Lousy wages. Mean clients. No perks or benefits
Answered Jan 12, 2022
What would you suggest Visiting Angels management do to prevent others from leaving?
Asked Mar 22, 2017
Better gas reimbursements
492 miles= $67
Not good. Stinks.
Answered Jul 15, 2021
Absolutely, better pay. They need to change all staff from the front office. Make sure all employees are not related. Better atmosphere and team work. The patients and the family members ,they can feel if is bad atmosphere. And we are here to help and provide better life and respect each other. Viva La Familia
Answered Dec 2, 2020
What is the interview process like at Visiting Angels?
Asked Jul 5, 2016
Professional, well spoken, great attitudes and great leadership
Answered Feb 16, 2022
Online app then a sit down
Answered Feb 13, 2022
What is a typical day like for you at Visiting Angels?
Asked Mar 17, 2020
Busy scatttered
Answered Jun 21, 2021
You can ether have a full assist client. Or a companion client. You get paid the same weather you have experience or not.
