When it came time to find an agency with caregivers to take care of our dear loved one who fell ill, I recommended this agency to my family after having met a very nice caregiver from this agency. Little did I know that she was one of the finest caregivers employed by this agency. During the time of our loved one's illness till their passing, there were two caregivers whom I can recall who were very caring and professional, and for them, we were most grateful. However, our loved one was ill for over a year before they passed, and seeing them this way was difficult enough; but I never expected that the other "caregivers" we were sent from this agency would add to the adversity of it all.
I would suggest that you not hire this agency unless you approve of having nighttime "caregivers" sleep while your loved one sleeps. Yes, the "caregivers" who work for this agency sleep on the job. When is sleeping while one works permitted? What would happen if your loved one were to fall out of the bed, or worse, pass away during the night and the "caregiver" is asleep and doesn't even know? I politely and professionally spoke to someone at the agency about this issue and the next thing I knew, I was informed by my husband that I was no longer to contact the agency again, at the request of the agency. Just to give some examples, one "caregiver" complained that the chair that was placed in our loved one's room was uncomfortable, and asked if she could lie on a sheet on the floor instead. I doubt anyone, save an insomniac could stay awake under those conditions. Then there was the night "caregiver" who would go into the bathroom and put rollers in her hair and don a bathrobe, pajamas, and slippers?
Do not hire this agency unless...
...You would like a "caregiver" who tells you what religion she is and frowns upon yours.
...You would like a "caregiver" who, when you are about to exit your loved one's house stressed over their condition, encounters you on the way out with tears streaming down her face wanting to talk to you about how her son is angry with her.
...You would like a "caregiver" who tells you off and calls you "confrontational" because your loved one has mentioned to you that this "caregiver" is too rough with them, and you contact the agency to advocate for your loved one so that the "caregiver" will be a little more gentle and not so rough. The "caregiver" finds out that you reported the issue, and then instructs you to no longer obtain any information from her about your loved one, and says that you must look at the pad on which she has written meager notes; but then your sibling calls and she gives them all the information your were asking for, to "punish" you for advocating.
...You want a "caregiver" who, when you knock loudly on your loved one's front door, then use your keys and walk in, and repeatedly shout "hello;" only to find out that she is in the bedroom with ear buds in her ears listening to something on her phone, and then accuses you of startling her.
...You would like a caregiver who tells you how much she likes certain political figures.
...You would like a caregiver whom you would have to teach how to cook a soft boiled egg.
If you are fine living your life in the nightmare of your loved one's suffering with the addition of finding yourself in a "drama twilight zone," then Visiting Angels is for you. read more
