Career Guides
Plain-language guides for caregiver, CNA, home health and hospice careers: the daily work, training and certifications, pay, and the next step up.
What does a caregiver do? See the duties, requirements, pay and career path for in-home senior caregivers, with May 2025 BLS pay data and job outlook.
A CNA (certified nursing assistant) gives hands-on personal care under nurse supervision. Learn what the role involves, titles, training, registry and pay.
What is a personal care aide? PCA duties, work settings, training requirements, pay and career path, plus personal care aide jobs.
What does a companion caregiver do? The non-medical duties, who hires, what you need to start, and the BLS pay data for the aide group that includes companions.
A live-in caregiver lives in the client's home and provides non-medical care. See the duties, how hours and sleep agreements work, and how live-in pay is set.
What a private caregiver is, how private work differs from agency jobs, employee vs self-employed status, finding clients, contracts and pay.
Yes, programs can pay you to care for a relative. See which Medicaid and VA programs pay family caregivers, who qualifies and how to apply.
What a respite caregiver does, where respite shifts happen, who hires, what you need to start, and how respite work pays, with BLS pay and outlook data.
What a memory care caregiver does on shift, the training and skills the job needs, how it differs from in-home dementia care, and what it pays.
A home health aide (HHA) gives hands-on personal care in clients' homes, usually under nurse supervision. See duties, employers, training, scope and pay.
A hospice aide gives end-of-life personal care for a hospice provider. See the duties, settings, training routes and pay, and browse open hospice aide jobs.
Medication aides (CMA, QMA, CMT, QMAP) pass routine medications under state-set rules. Duties, state limits, titles, pay and how CNAs add the credential.
Resident care aides give hands-on care in assisted living and memory care. Learn the role, its titles, duties, whether you need a CNA, and pay from BLS data.
What a home health nurse does on home visits, how RN and LPN roles differ, who hires, what schedules look like, and how the career path moves up.
What does a hospice nurse do? How hospice nursing works: RN and LPN roles, case manager, on-call, admissions and inpatient jobs, hiring and career growth.
What a hospice social worker does, who hires them, what the job pays, and what the work takes emotionally — a career guide for MSW and BSW social workers.
A hospice chaplain is the spiritual care counselor on the hospice team. Learn what they do, who hires them, and where the career leads, with BLS pay data.
What a director of nursing does in home health, hospice, assisted living and nursing homes, how nurses move into the DON seat, and what the role pays.
What a home care scheduler does, the skills and software the job needs, who hires, and how to move from office work or caregiving into scheduling.
What a home care coordinator does in home care, home health and hospice — intake, scheduling, family liaison — plus the skills, employers and career path.
What a home care administrator does, the titles the role goes by, how to move into it from inside an agency, and how the pay works.
What a home health or hospice administrator does, the federal qualification rule, and how nurses and managers move into the role. Duties, pay and challenges.
What an assisted living administrator does, how the title compares with executive director, pay and outlook from BLS, the career path in, and the challenges.
What a nursing home administrator does, the licensing path, the job's challenges, and the career outlook for long term care leadership roles.
What an activities director does in nursing homes and senior living, the federal rule behind the role, related titles, pay data and how to qualify.
What a memory care director does, the path into the role from inside senior living, and the dementia training and credentials in the field.