Has anyone here done home health care?

[Lisa R.]

I'm wondering about the safety issue. Dd, age 19, has an interview with a home health care agency. She just received her CNA license--certified nursing assistant. (She is in school to be a nurse. This position will help her gain health care experience and make some extra money.)

 

So, I guess I'm being a paranoid mom here, but would she know if there was a parole-violater son or creepy husband hanging around the house? The idea of her going into strange houses is a little unsettling.

 

However, I know this is a common thing, so I'm wondering how these home care workers feel comfortable going into unfamiliar homes.

[Jean in Newcastle]

Most home health care stints are with elderly folks. (Now I have had elderly men with dementia get frisky but that was in a nursing home.) Her supervisor will know where she is so there is some safety in that. I would counsel her to have a cell phone with her and to call someone if she gets a creepy feeling from someone in the house. But most of the time home health care is frankly boring.

[Melissa in Australia]

I have worked in home care. I worked mostly with the elderly. It was perfectly safe. the houses and clients are first assessed by a case worker , and the level of care needed decided by them. I did tasks like showering and assisting to get dressed, assisting with the shopping a,d taking them to appointments, house cleaning, mostly vacuuming and making beds.

 

I did work in one house where her disabled grandson( who was older than me) lived on the same property. he was perfectly harmless, but followed me around everywhere talking the whole time. mostly he was fascinated with my hair(which is past my waist) and would question me endlessly about did I think he could grow his like that? and how long would it take.

[m0mmaBuck]

I agree. Most places where I did home PT it was elderly, homebound people.

[Desert Rat]

My mom was a home health care nurse for 15 years. She never had an issue regarding safety with clients. However, she did have go into some dicey neighborhoods. She always hung a stethescope from the rearview mirror. She never had an issue with her car being broken into or anything like that. It was a sign to the neighborhood that she was a medical professional.

FWIW, she crossed police barricades in the days after the Rodney King verdict. Las Vegas saw quite a bit of rioting and she had diabetic and elderly patients who needed her and lived in the heart of the riot areas. She came home shaken by what she saw but safe. I was very proud of her.

HTH

[JoyfulMama]

I did homecare for a number of years. Never once did I feel unsafe in any home. If I did I would have left - immediately. More often was the home I wanted to not sit down in.

[LNC]

I have used home health care for 16 years. We have rn's though. I would recommend using an agency in a good area. If her agency serves an impoverished urban area, I've heard stories from our nurses about sad situations. I don't know if they are truly dangerous, but overwhelming to inexperienced nurses... HTH.

 

Our home health care nurses have become part of our family. It is an incredibly important job!

Edited July 12, 2010 by LNC