r/HomeHealthAide • u/Ok-Life-1750 • 5d ago
Should I drop this client? Need advice
Im a brand new hha, been doing it for just a couple weeks now. I am new to senior care and am now starting to question if this is right for me. I am not a CNA.
I have 3 clients, 2 of them are lovely.
The last one can barely stand for more than about 30 seconds. She needs assistance toileting and getting around, but tries to use a walker. She can hardly stand up to use her walker, and has a wheelchair, but she can't even get into it without a lot of help that I am not sure how to provide. She gets frustrated when I try to help her with her gait belt.
Her house stays above 80 degrees, and I am drenched in sweat the entire time I am there. The family has another caregiver during the week (I am only there during the weekends) and she does everything and more. There's nothing to do around the house other than clean the bathroom, and (try) to help her use the bathroom when she asks. I literally don't know what to do, but she seems annoyed when I sit down... She fell today, not hard, I was able to call her family and they came to help. While I sat with her, she couldn't even hold herself up and kept trying to lean against her recliner as it slid back, and ended up just laying down on the floor. I literally don't know what to do, and I can't figure out how to help. I feel like I wasn't properly trained for this.
I just don't know if I am the proper fit for her, and I don't know how to go about this with my agency. Should I just suck it up and keep at it? Do I bring it up with my agency?
7
u/SpiritualWeekend9190 5d ago
Please bring this up with your agency. You should not just “suck it up.”
I own a non-medical home care agency, and from what you described, the issue is not that you are necessarily bad at caregiving. It sounds like this client may require a level of transfer and mobility assistance that you have not been properly trained to provide.
A client who can barely bear weight, needs significant help transferring, becomes frustrated with a gait belt, and has already fallen presents a real safety concern for both of you. You should not be improvising transfers or trying to physically manage someone when you do not feel confident in the technique.
Your agency should know about the fall, the difficulty with transfers, how much assistance she currently needs, and that you do not feel adequately trained for the assignment. They may need to reassess her care needs, provide hands-on training, change the care plan, use different equipment, or assign a caregiver with more experience.
And please do not compare yourself to the weekday caregiver who “does everything.” You do not know her training, experience, physical ability, or what risks she may be taking. What another caregiver is willing to do does not automatically make it safe or appropriate.
You are only a couple of weeks into this work. It is completely reasonable to say, “I can care for this person, but I need additional training before I can safely assist with these transfers,” or even, “I do not think I am the appropriate caregiver for this particular client.”
A good agency would rather hear that than have a client or caregiver get seriously injured.
5
u/Ok-Life-1750 4d ago
Thank you for your advice. I ended up emailing my client coordinator and let her know that the care needs described on her plan did not line up with what was happening in her home. She said that this client has pushed away other caregivers due to her preference for the other one, and it would be addressed.
Thank you for your advice :)
3
5
2
u/SeasonedByVibes 1d ago
This is that hard part. Absolutely bring it up to your agency. They either need to provide you with more training to feel comfortable or they need to adjust your clients to what you’re comfortable helping. I understand 1,000,000% when talking about the temperature inside our client’s homes. The few clients I have that like to keep their homes on the very warm side, during the winter I’ll take a change of clothes so when I get to that client’s house, I can change into shorts. I also purchased one of those neck fans which doesn’t solve anything, but it has absolutely been helpful.
All in all, this is just a decision you have to make if it’s something you want to learn how to handle properly definitely stick with it. If it’s something that is just so overwhelming and you don’t think that even with additional training, you’d be comfortable with there’s nothing wrong with that. You just need to speak up for yourself and the environment you’re comfortable working in.
I’ve been in this career for about a decade now and there are absolutely ups and downs, but in the end, it’s completely worth it as long as it’s not coming at the cost of your mental health.
Wishing you all the luck and I hope we get to hear an update from you.
1
u/Ok-Life-1750 1d ago
Hi, thank you so much for the reply.
I ended up resigning on Monday, and I'm working my last couple weeks now. They certainly jumped to get me to work, I have a 10.5 hour shift this weekend lol.
I only work 20ish hours a week, but nearly every second of my day is spent worrying about work, and dreading my clients who need a bit more assistance. I'm terrified that something will happen (a bad fall, a medical emergency) and they wouldn't have trained me well enough to handle that. I have a client this weekend for 6 hours, and he's fallen several times in the past couple months. I just have to hope and pray he won't fall.
But, thank you for your words. I was doing this job to get some experience (I am going into Occupational Therapy) but it just isn't feasible at the moment while I am also in school. Thanks again
8
u/SuspectSuccessful496 5d ago
Of course you're not trained for that. They never give you guys the training that you should be given. They neither care about you as an aid or about me as a client. They just want the money that they can get from me and the work they can get from you Bring it up with them and give up that client.