I have been a patient for more years than I hope to count. Though I have received caregivers who…read morewere very competent, skillful and affable, and who I missed when they left for better paying jobs and situations. However, do not be fooled. The last caregiver was extremely deceitful, and for want of a better term, emotionally abusive. However, because she was a very competent person in her tasks, I bent over backwards to keep her. She was extremely fond of calling me, to my face, "crazy". "You're SO crazy" titter, titter, titter, and then, she would say, "oh no. Not Really. You're not crazy" hahaha. Meanwhile, the office was calling, behind my back, a "Hoarder". Even though I am fully disabled, homebound, and unable to care for myself, without some outside help, and therefore, not as good as a housekeeper as I used to be before becoming 100% disabled, and now a senior. Nonetheless, this is how they talk about their patients, insinuating how "crazy", or "hoarders" (because they can't keep ahead of the housework, because that is why I am getting help in the first place; help with housework. All I can say it, "who is crazy NOW"?
So, if you, either need help, or, are a family member, seeking for help for your loved one, beware of this self-defeating, undermining, abusive behavior and labeling that they do to their patients. The last caregiver I had, Lied to management regarding that "I was NEVER available" and, while, at the same time, she was coming on every day during the week, per HER convenience. Then, instead of just deciding she didn't want to work for me anymore (after 1 year), instead if letting me know to my face, she goes to management and lies about something that never happened, so she could look good, I guess.
What worries me the most, is that, should these people be allowed to care for a frail elderly, there is no end to what some of them, and their emotionally abusive behavior, can do. Management, at the same time, looks the other way, because they do not pay well enough to attract competent caregivers. Unfortunately, I cannot even GET another Agency, because they are all booked up and not accepting any new clients. So, final thought: "Buyer Beware!"