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Keeping in touch with former PCA's
Does anyone keep in contact with PCA’s who were not friends to begin with? A select few have become Facebook friends and are on my Christmas card list, but that’s about it. I never know if it’s appropriate to reach out, or if I should just leave it up to them. The reason I ask is that my last PCA left because she was having a baby. I did message her Happy Birthday when it was her birthday and she let me know she had a little girl. Of course I congratulated her, but haven’t heard from her since. That was about a month ago. I’d love to know how things are going, but don’t want to be nosey or intrusive. Opinions?
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5 Replies
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I keep in touch with a couple of mine. One left to join the army, but we quickly became friends when he started working with me. We’re Facebook friends and try to stay in touch as much as we can. The other is in pharmaceutical school, and he and his wife have two kids. We also keep in touch on Facebook.
Yours is probably just busy with being a new parent, but I don’t think there’s any harm in reaching out to her. I think it’s great to build relationships with good caregivers, and to maintain them even after they leave.
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I have never had PCAs, but I am still in touch with a couple school nurses. I became good friends with one. Ironically, I wrote a column about this that should be published a week from Thursday. I certainly don’t think it’s inappropriate to maintain contact, but I also wouldn’t force anything. Some nurses (I’m sure the same applies to PCAs) prefer to keep a professional relationship, while others can become more of a friend. Basically just let it work itself out. If someone is worth staying in touch with, then it’ll probably just happen naturally.
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Like Ryan I never had caregivers and in most of things I agree with Ryan.Yes some nurses prefer that professional relationship.Well I don t like that relationship,but some nurses prefer.I think it is more comfortable for us when we have with them friendship.
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Totally agree it’s great to have a PCA you can consider a friend.
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My first caregiver was in 2010. My father, who was my primary caregiver, was getting to the age where it was difficult for him to do everything that needed to be done. The caregiver that we hired would not only help with me, she would also help with my father. Due to an illness, she had to leave us and I went through quite a few different personal caregivers over the next few years. I finally found a caregiver that stuck around. Her family got involved as well, and her mother and father are now my primary caregivers. I consider myself lucky that I only had to go through 4 or 5 different people before I finally found the ones that I have now. Currently, the husband and wife that help with me, along with her daughter, have been with me now for nearly 7 years.
I still keep up with my first caregiver, but the others have drifted off into the sunset. One of them is in jail for identity theft, and I’m sure that one of them drank themselves into oblivion. You never know who you’re going to get, and even though I did a criminal background check on every one of them, it’s still a shot in the dark as to whether or not they are going to work out and become someone who you can depend on.