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Questions on hiring a new caregiver
I’m still in the process of hiring a new caregiver. I have an interview set up with one person. We’ve only corresponded through text, so have no idea if they’re a guy or a gal.
Maybe I’m old school but other than a hospital or care center setting I’ve only had women do my personal care. If I was in a different setting, not just one on one, I might feel differently. Regardless, I’m planning on meeting with this person to see how it goes.
Do you hire caregivers that are of the opposite sex? Should it matter?
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12 Replies
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I guess it all depends on your comfort level with someone of the opposite sex handling your personal care. Personally, I’m not into it. I have a guy friend I would let do my personal care, but I don’t think I’d feel comfortable with a stranger.
I had a male CNA give me a sponge bath in the hospital last year and it felt weird to me. I don’t know. I don’t have a reason as to why but it did.
When are you meeting this person? If it’s a good vibe, would you entertain the idea if they’re of the opposite sex?
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***Update…This person was female. Despite some reservations I offered her the position. She was going to pick up the application on her next day off. That was over a week ago. Back to the drawing board.
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Ugh. A very similar thing happened to me recently. Despite some minor hesitations, I went forward in the hiring process with a girl I had interviewed. (That’s how desperate I am for help.) She said she was interested several times to me. Then, when it was time to fill out the application, she ghosted me.
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Shoot. Guess it proves our instincts were right. Ghosting is frustrating, but I’m certainly not chasing them down. I forget, do you advertise or go by word of mouth?
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People back out on me all the time. I interview sometimes several nurses a month. Over 90% of the time it’s the same story. They will tell me that the driving distance to my house is absolutely not too far. Then they call my nursing agency the next day, and say it is too far and won’t come back. Or they will tell me that my care is absolutely not too much work for them. Then the next day they call my agency and say it is too much work and won’t be back.
It’s very hurtful when nurses tell me one thing, and tell the agency something different. Sometimes I don’t know what’s wrong with some people. Hopefully it will get better soon, because I’ve had plenty of good nurses in the past, and still do.
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Sorry, don’t know if my second paragraph came out since I spaced too much. How I meant to end my last post was:
It’s very hurtful when nurses tell me one thing, and tell the agency something different. Sometimes I don’t know what’s wrong with some people. Hopefully it will get better soon, because I’ve had plenty of good nurses in the past, and still do.
I’m sorry you have to go through it too Deann and Alyssa.
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So so frustrating. Does your agency scout the nurses for you or do you find them yourself? I have a nursing agency that scouts for us, but the PCA agency I go through leaves it up to me to find them. Not sure which is better at this point honestly.
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Yeah, if I’m open and upfront I would hope they would be too, but no such luck. Like you, I’ve had some good ones too. Wish I could clone them. The good ones tend to move on to bigger and better things. I’m fortunate to have a fairly solid crew now albeit small. Most have been with me a while too. Do you have a lot of turnover with your staff?
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My nursing agency has traditionally done all of the recruiting for most of my life. However, in recent years, the nursing shortage has gotten so bad that I haven’t had much choice but to help my agency look. I post ads online. In my latest column, I wrote about how I found 2 nurses 2 years ago myself, but unfortunately I haven’t been able to find anymore nurses myself since. https://smanewstoday.com/columns/reason-i-have-faith-that-new-nurses-will-join-my-care-staff/
My nursing agency has found a couple nurses for me since then, but at the rate that people come and go, my staff hasn’t grown much yet.
By the way, my nurses get paid by my agency whether I find them or not. My mom and I could never afford to pay them.
As far as whether or not my case has a high turnover rate, the answer to that is yes and no. After 37 years of home health care, I’ve had a few that have stayed for 10 years or more, some stay a couple years, and a whole lot of them never make it past the interview.
smanewstoday.com
The reason I have faith that new nurses will join my care staff –...
With his back against the wall, columnist Ari Anderson has faith that new nurses will join his care staff.
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This was a great column, Ari. I can definitely relate to it too. The nursing shortage is sadly happening everywhere. Thankfully I live with my parents but they’re getting older and can’t do this forever. Do your parents help out?
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My dad left when I was a kid, so he’s not involved in my care at all. Unfortunately, my mom has to help with my care a whole lot, and she shouldn’t have to at her age. Plus, she gets up at 4:30am every day to work at the hospital, so she is swamped.
The problem is, we don’t have enough nurses to cover the hours we’ve been given by Medicaid. Hopefully, that will change and we’ll find more nurses soon.
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We have the same problem here too. I’m sure we’re not the only ones either. Hopefully, things get better soon.
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