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HOME CAREGIVERS

Home caregivers help a client with activities of daily living such as:

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  • Bathing

  • Dressing

  • Basic grooming and hygiene

  • Transfers

  • Ambulation assist

  • Fall prevention and monitoring

  • Light housekeeping

  • Laundry

  • Cooking

  • Shopping

  • Companionship

  • Escorts to appointments

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Additional tasks that can be performed following proper assessment and approval by our clinical case manager:

  • Medication reminders

  • Oral suctioning

  • Catheter bag changes

  • Ostomy bag changes

  • Skin care to unbroken areas

  • Feeding a client that is able to sit upright and swallow independently

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Our company is accredited through The Joint Commission, a national organization that ensures that home health agencies meet and maintain high standards of care and safety.

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What a caregiver CANNOT do:

  • Injections

  • Wound care

  • Tube feeding or intravenous nutrition

  • Respiratory care including postural drainage, cupping or adjusting oxygen flow

  • Toenail trimming

  • Insertion, removal or flushing of a catheter

  • Enemas or suppositories

  • Nasal, tracheal or endotracheal suctioning

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Caregivers may not perform any type of injections, which can make managing a client's insulin difficult. However, the caregiver may be able to assist in a limited fashion if the client is able to direct their own care. The case manager will evaluate the situation fully and make recommendations. It can be helpful to discuss insulin management with a physician to explore options.

For clients who need help filling their pill boxes, this service can be arranged by the case manager for a separate fee. Please call for more details.

HOW TO FIND THE PERFECT CAREGIVER

Finding that perfect caregiver can be a challenge in the best of times, much less during a period of stressful change and confronting new limitations. Keeping the primary goal in mind at all times is essential:

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To remain active and independent in your own home

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It sounds simple, but as our bodies age it can become a very difficult task. The best approach to finding a good caregiver is to focus on two separate goals:

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1) Satisfying the basic needs.

The skills of the caregiver must match the needs of the client at all times. Suppose a client needs help in the morning with bathing, grooming, toileting, dressing, taking medications, making breakfast and some light cleaning and laundry. The first priority is to insure that the client receives these physical services in a safe, efficient, professional and dependable manner. Often referred to as Activities of Daily Living (ADL), assistance and cuing with ADL's allows a client to remain independent in their own home. At Care in the Home, our clinical case manager performs a full needs assessment before services begin and keeps a detailed care plan updated throughout the course of service.

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2) Finding the personality fit.

Once the basic physical needs are met, the fine-tuning is in finding a caregiver that "clicks" with the client. Meeting with the client and family before service begins helps our case manager get a sense of what personality traits in a caregiver would be the best fit with the personality of the client. When a client and caregiver click, it is wonderful but it can take some trial and error before that fit is achieved and it may never be as perfect as we would like. Much depends on timing and which caregivers are available when a client is searching. Having patience and always keeping an eye on the primary goal of independence and safety in the home is essential in this part of the process.

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In addition, it is important to realize that a search for a caregiver is actually a search for a team of caregivers because caregivers get sick, need vacation and must live their own complex and challenging lives like anyone else. Experiencing good service from two, three or more caregivers can develop a trust for the team of caregivers that a company employs. A client can then feel confident that any replacement sent will be competent and wonderful in their own way. That might actually be the best kind of perfect.​

 

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WHO ARE OUR CAREGIVERS?

Our goal is to actively recruit, train and retain the best caregivers in the industry by providing quality support, competitive wages and good benefits. We want our caregivers to know they are valued and able to succeed in any assignment given.

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Conditions of employment for all caregivers:

  • Two years minimum experience

  • Proficient with the English language

  • Full past employment and reference checks

  • Criminal fingerprint background checks

  • National and state sexual predator checks

  • Drug screening

  • CPR Certification

  • TB tests annually

  • Certified Nursing Assistant license preferred

  • I-9 employment eligibility

  • Twelve hours continuing education per year

 

All caregivers are required to speak English and communication needs are closely evaluated for every client. However, our caregivers do come from a variety of cultures and therefore have a variety of accents. No matter if they are from Eastern Europe or Brooklyn, it can sometimes take a brief period of adjustment.

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