Well I started a live in 4 day’s ago. With a client. Her mind is pretty alert. I’m just here for safety pretty much. The client had a fall and before client could go back to living home there had to be a live in caregiver. The agency I’m with I just started pretty much and they do have a set rule for caregivers must be able to at least have 5 hours of sleep not interrupted. The first night this client was up and down all night every hour after midnight. I got maybe an hour of sleep. Where the bedroom I’m in.. I can barely hear her at all with the walker. And on top of that she doesn’t call out!! I told her over and over that she’s going to need to call out loud. She said she’s not going to call out at all because she said I need my rest. I’m pretty much wondering how do I even be able to let myself sleep risking barely hearing the walker from a far or wondering which night she will fall. I told the company they suggested a monitor. I told them what pretty much good that will be? The people I had in the past they would call out on them. I just heard someone moving around they could be just rolling over in their sleep. I slept last night from maybe 12am-5am and I have to be up at 6. There was multiple trips to the bathroom and when I say multiple one night 9 the least is 5. (This is a usual thing according to the family) (no uti). I’m starting to feel exhausted. I’ve done live in before but if that client got up more than 3x to notify agency… I don’t even know what could be done. I’ve told the office they pretty much said the monitor and to try to talk to the client. I did. I can’t force the client nor will I. What can even be done ?? Anyone had this happen !??? And the client likes to be to herself so I can’t specifically sit In her bedroom with her. Her rules. And in the day she doesn’t call out letting me know she’s going to walk to the bathroom. …… to me it kinda sounds like it needs to be three 8 hour rotating shifts than just a live in…
Your client isn’t sleeping, so you aren’t sleeping. You sound very caring. You have done all you can.
I like the suggestion about rotating caregivers. Speak with the agency. Stand your ground and let them discuss it with the family.
Best wishes to you. I hope this works out for you.
Care agencies couldn't care less about their caregivers. Their only concern is making sure that money keeps flowing. They don't bother themselves to make sure that a caregiver is prepared for an assignment or even competent to be on it. Or if the environment they're sending them into is safe. Or if the client themselves is safe for the caregiver to be around. They put a person in a house, collect the money, and that's where their responsibility ends. There is usually zero agency support when you're on the job.
The last agency I worked for used to mandate all field caregivers to go to a workshop once a month at the office. To talk to us about how much they appreciate us and how they create a better and more productive team.
When it was my turn, I spoke plainly and honestly. I told the supervisor the best way to make us feel appreciated is to pay a wage that isn't an insult. I likened the administration's treatment of the in-home caregivers to Roman gladiators. We have no idea what we're facing on an assignment until we get there and we're on our own. Could be a guy with a net and a trident, could be two lions and an alligator. You never know. If a caregiver gets hurt or can't handle the position they get a "thumbs down" and they drag the next one in to take their place.
Then I left and never worked for an agency again. I was probably going to get fired anyway because I was trying to unionize us.
I ignored the rules about not giving extra. Mom’s caregiver was a single mom. Her little girl loved pizza. I gave her money to buy pizza for their dinner. I bought her a few toys and art supplies.
That's what I always did on jobs. I went private care years ago. On cases where 24 hour care became necessary, I used my own people. CNA's that I know from being in homecare for so many years.
I will not ever do live-in and I don't recommend anyone else do it either. Not unless it's a respite care situation that's only for a few days.
Get out of this position. It's not worth it. Don't get convinced into trying a baby monitor or any other device so you can hear what's going on with her. It's all total bullsh*t.
No one can go indefinitely without getting a night's sleep. A human being must get into a deep enough sleep that REM sleep happens. That cannot happen if they are forcing themselves to stay in a light, twilight napping sleep because they have to be prepared to hear a baby monitor. Terrible things will happen to a person who tries to do this for any length of time because at some point you will crash.
Like when you're behind the wheel of the car. Or you will sleep so deeply that your client will take a fall and you will hear nothing.
Please for your sake, stop doing this.
Take several 15 min power naps throughout the day. That helped me.
I agree that monitors are not as fantastic as your agency seems to think. I had a client monitor in my bedroom when I was doing live-in care. In spite of that, my client got up, very quietly as usual, one night and had a fall resulting in a broken wrist and multiple abrasions. The details of her fall have never been established since she had no memory of it whatsoever. I was asleep and didn’t hear a sound. Monitors won’t always wake you and they won’t keep the client from falling. All you can hope for from the monitor is to get to the client when/if you hear the client fall.
The only answer I know is to sleep in the same room with her but she won’t allow you to do that.
You need to alert the family again. Since she had a recent fall, that sometimes causes other behaviors that were not present before. That happened with my client. After her broken wrist, her down-hill decline went into full swing and she is now in a nursing home. It’s heartbreaking and trust me, you don’t want that to happen on your watch, you’ll feel guilty for a long time even though you aren’t to blame.
I agree with rotating shifts if you aren’t able to get some uninterrupted sleep but I have a feeling she’s just not settled back in after her return to her home. That might change given some time.