Families that need assistance with raising their children often turn to a professional nanny agency to discover the right fit for their house and family. There is no need to use shortcuts or compromise on quality when it comes to the safety of your children.
When a nanny comes into your life they become an extended part of your family and are heavily involved in your children’s daily routines. Some nannies live in the home, while other nannies are there for their designated shifts.
Regardless of what shift they have and where they live, they will be around your children when you aren’t. Finding a nanny through a professional agency is the safest and most sensible way to connect with the nanny that will be perfect for you and your family.
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What is a Nanny?
Defining a nanny is not as simple or clear-cut as one might be inclined to believe. The dictionary defines a nanny as a “…person who is employed to care for a child (or children) at the family home…” As many of us already know, caring for children can be an adventure that consists of hourly surprises that are sometimes funny, and sometimes not funny at all.
In simple terms, a nanny is a professional that cares for children at the home of the child and helps the parents (or parent) raise and teach them with guidance, nurturing and care.
The nanny can wear many hats when it comes to responsibilities and duties. They can be teachers, friends, leaders, and guardians. Most importantly, a nanny gives children a positive, warm, and caring role model that is both present and engaging.
Although a nanny is not the same as a maid, they do a lot of domestic tasks that come with the territory of caring for children. Booking appointments, driving to those appointments, keeping the calendar on track, tidying up and organizing the home, laundry, cooking, and whatever else comes up in terms of caring for the children.
A nanny can also be known as Household Manager or a Family Assistant. The nanny is there to be of assistance in any way that deems necessary in order to properly care for and protect the kids when the parents are not able to. Whether it is placing orders for the kids, running to the grocery store, dropping off dry cleaning, or overseeing other household staff the nanny is equipped with the knowledge and skills to be a faithful and trusted extension of the family.
Most nannies show up for work every day during business hours and take care of the kids while the parents work. However live-in nannies live with the family and become a part of their household.
Some of the responsibilities of the nanny can be:
- Engaging with the children
- Preparing meals
- Washing the children’s dishes
- Washing the children’s clothes
- Transportation to and from appointments
- First aid if there is a need
Without a doubt, a nanny will play an important role in the family’s life and will spend a significant amount of time with the children. Sometimes nannies will stick around for the whole season of childhood from baby to teenager.
What is a Professional Nanny?
Anyone who is deemed a professional in their industry is compensated for their efforts. Their “profession” is what they do. In order to be termed a “professional” nanny, a person must have worked as a nanny in the past and been compensated for their services. A professional nanny is someone who has made a living as a nanny.
Professional nannies will have professional experience and oftentimes, an educational background in child development, psychology, nutrition, early childhood education, and other field-related educational subjects.
In addition to an education with degrees, professional nannies will have attended and completed various workshops pertaining to child care such as training on newborn care, life-saving CPR, nutrition & cooking, water safety, and even fitness.
There are many persons in the world who will try to claim to be a nanny simply because they babysat kids when they were in ninth grade or because they have younger siblings that they watched when mom and dad went out. However, in reality, a professional nanny is someone who has made a living as a nanny, is educated, and has real-world experience.
Some of the characteristics that a professional nanny might have are:
- Long-term experience
- Education credentials
- Impeccable references
- Completed vetting portfolio including CPR
- Vaccinations
- Clear driving record
- Ability to pass a background check
In any case, a professional nanny should have experience as a nanny and be able to provide references and verification of their credentials upon request at any time.
What Does a Professional Nanny Agency Do?
A nanny agency is a business that helps families find qualified nannies, and nannies find quality families to work for. The safest, and most effective way for families to find nannies, and for nannies to find families is to allow a trusted third party to act as a liaison between the two.
Some of the things that a professional nanny agency might provide are:
- In-depth prescreening
- In-depth interviewing
- Background checks
- Professional verification
- Reference checks
- Personal screening
- Educational verification
One of the worst mistakes a family can make is to hire a nanny that is not qualified to be one. In this type of situation, there can be a lot of damage to the children and the entire household. There is a proper way to handle children in certain situations and if the nanny does not handle these situations without the utmost care a child can be permanently damaged for life.
Not all families are alike nor do they have the same opinions and beliefs. One of the many perks of hiring a nanny agency to help find the perfect nanny for a household is that an agency will take the extra time to help you prepare for the interview process and allow you to create questions for the nanny that will help you determine whether or not that particular nanny is right for you based on how they answer.
In any event, an agency will help you find a nanny with verified qualifications, attributes, and skillsets that fit your family’s needs. Someone that is fully verified, screened intensely, and interviewed so that your family is considering only the best candidates and not wasting their time digging through amateur profiles on childcare websites that are risky, and a lot of work.
The Difference Between an Agency and a Nanny
Although there are plenty of websites and apps out there that can lead you to a seemingly great directory of potential nannies, one thing to keep in mind is that people can post ads in directories and say whatever they want. Just because a person watched their sister’s kids for a couple of hours a day during summer vacation in 1983 does not make them a nanny.
Not to say bad things about all nannies that don’t work with agencies. If a professional nanny chooses to work without an agency that is their choice. However, the people that claim to be professionals, but really aren’t, pose a threat to the security and safety of the families that hire them.
While a nanny does have the ability to get all of the documentation that they need to show their criminal background and their professional background, not all of them will take the extra steps to provide these things before you begin talking to them.
A professional nanny agency that has a great work ethic and strives for being a positive solution for families will diligently screen every nanny that approaches their agency before they ever allow them to become part of the agency.
Many reputable nanny agencies will provide a web portal that allows families to browse through a list of hand-picked candidates that the agency has carefully screened and determined are possible matches. This way when families are looking for their perfect nanny all they have to do is log into the portal and browse the available applicants. This streamlined process is much easier and a more secure way to find a nanny than to test your luck on the internet with a site that may or may not screen their candidates.
Nannies and Nanny Agencies
Not only is hiring a nanny through a professional agency better for families, but it is also much more rewarding for the nannies. When a nanny is accepted into a reputable agency they are supported, treated with kindness, and put into a position that is geared toward success.
Agencies and nannies both understand that not all families are a perfect match for all nannies. This is why a skilled nanny agency will carefully screen the needs of a family with the capabilities of the potential nannies. Experience, background, likes, and personality all come into the picture when it is time to match a family with a nanny.
Respectable nanny agencies want their nannies to succeed. They will go out of their way to assist their nannies with finding the perfect families and getting the careers that they have always dreamed of having.
Conclusion
When it comes to hiring a nanny for your family, the most critical factor to consider is safety. The last thing a family wants is to invite someone into their house who will endanger them. When you work with a reputed professional nanny agency you get to put a buffer between you and the potential dangers that lurk out there in the world.
