Should I call the agency? She paid careful attention to Mom sitting across from her in an attentive manner, she took Mom to an ice creme social in the facility, is polite and a very sweet person. I don't want her to get in trouble. This might be her first day with the agency. I think they should teach her what her responsibilities are. They might have a standard recommended way of cleaning a LO up after elimination. Mother has not had dirty panties like she had when I got home yesterday in the 2 and 3/4 years I have been with her constantly. Advice. Does anyone think I should talk to the young woman first? Mother could come down with a UTI if left like that. I had to shower Mom to get her clean and she did not want another shower, She had one just the day before and was tired. Mom and I usually get along. We settled with washing her off in bed and showering her today. We usually get along. This was difficult. Advice would be appreciated.
Finding the right match is very important. I know my Dad had over a dozen different caregivers during a week span, and he was able to narrow down two that he liked the best. Thus I could get both of the caregivers on a regular schedule.
I've hired companions for my disabled son for a lot of years. My experience is that some people will say they'll do it cause they need the job, don't really know what it's about, think it won't occur very often etc. But when it comes down to it - they just can't cope with it. And that's just not fair to the person they're caring for. I've also had some that will do it cause they want to keep the job but they do such a terrible job - you wonder why they bothered at all.
I am very clear and upfront day one about the bathrooming and accident clean up - my expectations of what I consider "clean" to be. I suggest you do the same in a straight forward manner so she's clear in her understanding. If it happens again any time soon - let her go and get a new caregiver. Some people just aren't cut out for this level of care - and in my experience- they don't adjust. Ever.
In fact, this is the main reason that families finally put their loved one into a facility - incontinence, especially fecal. They can cope with almost anything else but feces.
This caregiver may have not understood what her responsibilities were, specifically bathroom accidents and clean-up. Also, if the woman is unable to communicate her own toileting needs, the caregiver may not realize that there was a problem that needed to be taken care of.
However - they are well aware of their responsibilities as a caregiver.
BTW - anyone with any experience in dealing with bathroom accidents can clearly tell when an accident is old or fresh. Just by looking and feeling - with gloves of course- a dirty Depends I can pinpoint the timing of an accident.
When a new caregiver is hired make a list of their duties and the times you expect them to be acomplished. There can be a discussion on the first day and the tsks revisited about a week later.
I was going to write what Veronica did - have a list of duties you expect to be done. What I'm doing now is e-mailing a work scope to potential agencies before I even meet with them. If they don't have people who can do some of the chores, I need to know now. And in fact, some of the tasks would require training, which I can do.