Alleviate Suffering

This is the core caregiver skill - healing. When you are caregiver hiring, each candidate should be able to display the necessary practical and sometimes medical skills needed to make your patient physically feel better. Many patients will need assistance walking to the bathroom. A good caregiver will know to use a transfer belt or at least NOT to grasp the patient by the shoulder ready to pull the shoulder out of socket when catching the falling patient. Make sure the candidate can demonstrate how to take blood pressure and temperature. See how the caregiver puts on gloves. Experienced caregivers know how to grasp the gloves by the heel and pull them on quickly. Have them demonstrate washing their hands. All these small items add up to not transferring disease to your frail loved one. Depending upon your patient's needs, don't just ask them about their skills. Have them do it while you are watching. Changing a bandage on a surgical incision that is healing for example. The good caregiver should be proactive in telling you what medical supplies will be helpful for the patient. Ask them to give you their list based on your description of the patient's ailments. If they have the proper experience, they will reel of a list of needed supplies quickly without hesitation. Lastly, don't forget the benefits of massage. See if your caregiver can give a soothing massage. Notice their touch. Is it a healing touch? Note how your patient responds.

Home Sweet Home

The primary reason you are caregiver hiring is that you have chosen to provide assistance to your loved one at home instead of placing them in a skilled nursing facility or nursing home. It is your intention to leverage the atmosphere of being at home to facilitate the quality of life of your patient. So make sure your caregiver candidate can demonstrate homemaker skills. Some caregivers will transform your house into a hospital. This is not necessary in most instances. The benefits of feeling at ease and comfortable in your own home far outweigh the need to have the most efficient medical facility setup at home. The quality caregiver will understand the nuance of facilitating comfort with pillows for example. Pets are great companions. Determine if your caregiver is allergic to your patient's best friend. See how they get along. Have them demonstrate washing dishes and folding towels. The experienced candidate will perform quickly and quietly. See if they can demonstrate changing the thermostat on the wall or changing the TV channel. Watch them sweep the floor or do a load of laundry. Notice if they are comfortable with homemaking or awkward. Can they sketch or knit for example. Can they play the piano in your living room? Maintain the home as a home NOT as a hospital. Your caregiver will play a key role in accomplishing this while providing quality care if you choose them carefully.

Caregiver as a Servant

While this category is covered last in many ways this is fundamentally the most important of the Caregiver Hiring Cornerstones. In many countries the family cares for a loved one at home facilitated by several servants tasked with the patient's care. In such countries there is typically an inequitable distribution of wealth with a poor class or classes of people in society who work for slave wages. As a result, the grandmother of the family may actually have 5 servants taking care of her every need. We don't have such a culture, however it is important to understand for the patient's well being that the caregiver is a servant to the patient not the boss of the patient. This is not a common understanding. Typically, the caregiver will assume a parent type role instructing the patient what to do and when. This can damage the patients assertive capabilities especially dementia patients. They can become totally dependent upon the instructions the caregiver dolls out. They in effect loose their will to be the boss. They stop initiating. A key technique to mitigate the risk of this happening to your loved one is providing a servant to them. The caregiver is paid to serve. When witnessing the candidate you are considering hiring, note how they respond to requests from your patient. Do they simply ignore requests and perform only listed tasks. Do they pretend to respond to the patient but really do nothing? Service is a state of mind. Determine and insure that the caregiver you will entrust your loved one's care has a servant mind set and reinforces your patient's role as the boss of the servant.

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