caregivers

[pookie]

I recently started on a new "career path" and became a personal care assistant, with a goal toward getting a CNA certificate someday.

I'd like to hear from others who are or have been in that line of work. I currently help a young woman with CP, I lift her and assist with showers. Any hints or tips will be appreciated!

I also live with my Mom who is only 65 but she has bad hips and gets sick easily. So I see my future as full of caregiving!

[Wildflower]

Hi Pookie,

I am now a caregiver since my husband broke his neck 3 years ago. I have learned a whole lot about nursing since I stayed with him in the hospital for 7 months.

I have also helped my adult son for over 10 years, but his was not a physical disability. That was way harder.

Caregivers are the forgotten heroes. I have since met so many women and men who are caring for their husband or wife or a child with disability and many who have adult children with mental/emotional difficulties.

I must say that I don't like it, but I try to have a good attitude and do many things to make myself happier and more involved in the community. This life can be very isolating, thankless, and depressing (just to be honest.)

One thing I have finally learned is the art of not being so darn helpful. People need to learn to do as much for themselves as they can. "I'm not the maid." is my common refrain.

[janek46]

I am so grateful to people like you who do this kind of work. It takes a special person.......

btw Pookie....did you start back to meetings? I saw somewhere that you planned to......I hope you did and have great success.....

[cydkitty]

Hi,

I am an Occupational Therapist, I would be happy to answer any specific questions about transfers, or equipment etc.

For your mom, does she have an elevated toilet seat yet, you never notice how low a standard height commode is until you have painful joints.

There is a catalogue that offers less expensive equipment, you may already be familiar with it .

drleonards.com It offers shower seats, reachers, cushons, etc for more reasonable prices than most equip catalogues.

Total hip replacements have also come a long way and most patients that I know who have had them are very happy that they did

[josh]

Pookie, I think you are a special person for this job. For many, it is very rewarding. It depends on the circumstances. My niece is a nurse and works in a nursing home. She finds it very rewarding. She just spent 17 days with her mother, my sister, while my sister had knee replacement. The skills you learn are priceless. Good luck to you and God bless.

[pookie]

oh, wow, great replies! Thanks!

First, Jane, I should have gone back to meetings 2 weeks ago but it was put off until this week, Wednesday! I never thought I could do personal care, it seemed a yucky job to me, but once you start, nothing phases you anymore! Beats housekeeping, which I did for 25 years.

And thanks to you Josh, you always say the nicest things! Kudos to your neice, nurses work HARD!


Cyd, yes, we did have the higher commodes installed in our house and they are so much better, even for me. When I use a regular one I feel like I'm falling down, LOL!

The questions I have about transfers and dealing with my client are kind of personal. Can you e-mail me sometime?

[ema2two]

Good luck on the new career, Pookie! I can only imaging you'll be very popular with your clients and they'll benefit not only from your personal care but from spending time with you. I always enjoy your insights and perspectives, and I'm sure your clients will, too.

I work in healthcare, and my only advice is about roles and families. You have to figure out what you want your relationship to your clients to be. It can be a pretty intimate job, and you'll come to know a lot about your clients, which can foster a very personal relationship. Then if some 'job' issue comes up, it can get tense because you were starting to feel more like a friend than an employee. Be careful of this potential pitfall. Doesn't mean not to get close to the client or their family, but just be aware. I've seen it from the healthcare worker side and from the client side with my full-babysitters, who are in my home with my kids when I'm at work.

Also, if you work with younger, more mentally 'intact' clients, with physical disabilities, (as opposed to the elderly with dementia) you will see how isolated some of them are, and how much they may appreciate your companionship as much as your physical assistance. Not that the elderly don't deserve great caregivers, they need them desperately, it's just that the physically disabled younger person is often not thought about by those who haven't dealt with them, and don't realize what a large group of people like this are trying to live independent lives with the help of people like you, rather than being in nursing homes or other institutional settings.

Finally, these people will come to depend on you, so make sure you and they have a plan for the occasional emergency that will come up for you and keep you from showing up, whether it's you getting sick or something with a family member.

[pookie]

Ema, yes, I have already gotten a taste of the situations you mention. My main client is a 36 year old college educated woman with CP. Fortunately she has a wide circle of friends from her college years that she keeps in touch with, but it is not consistent and she does look to me and the other caretaker as friends as well as helpers. She and her Mom have already asked to borrow garden tools from us, LOL! I only live a 1/4 mile away from them

She has had so many helpers come and go thru the years so she is comfortable about sharing stuff with perfect strangers. We do have a lot in common, so that helps. I think I will draw the line IF she starts calling me in my off hours for things.

Thanks for the insight!

[mary]

I am also in the medical field and my job has recently expanded which is why I haven't been around for awhile.

I agree with Ema, one of the abilities of staying power in the medical field is knowing where the boundaries are. When and where the job starts and stops.

It can be a very rewarding and satisfying position, or it can drain you dry.

My best advice is protect your back, lifting incorrectly can do tremendous and long term damage!
Hold in your tummy and lift only with your thighs!

[pookie]

Mary, thanks for the lifting advice! My client weighs about 130. I was downright SHOCKED when I dove right into lifting her and did not get a sore back! I guess the egronomics seminars we used to get during my housekeeping years have paid off I do use my legs. I still have problems getting her to land in the right spot and toward the last lift of the day she suddenly feels so much heavier, LOL! But it's not the nightmare for my back that I fully expected, thank goodness.

CYD--I got your e-mail (thanks!) and will be writing you soon

[kathleen320]

Cydkitty -- thanks for posting the info about the catalog. I will check it out for my mother, who is at home with a caretaker.

Kathleen

[ema2two]

Pookie--have you started the course for the CNA yet? How's it going?

[slimcris]

Hi all, I'm about 5 months from attaining my Masters degree in physical therapy, so I'd also LOVE to answer any questions about body mechanics, lifting, personal care, anything related you can think of! I love my career and enjoy nothing more than sharing my knowledge and experience. So ask away!

Pookie, feel free to email me about your personal transfer questions. I dealt with it all on my last inpatient rotation! [e-mail].

Great idea for a thread!