Stop the insanity
My opinion is my opinion and it may or may not fall into the beliefs or views of Texas Charm Senior Care, now that I have that out of the way, lets be honest no one is going to take on the problems with senior care anytime soon. What problems are we facing? Still facing? have always been facing? well in my opinion there has been and will always be a problem with staffing. Finding caregivers ( good caregivers) will never not be a problem,the industry pays a crappy pay rate, and caregivers are forced to work to hard for to little compensation and honestly no one is doing nothing about changing it.
First let me describe to you the job description of a caregiver/ certified nursing aide. This is a short description to give you some context, so keep in mind caregivers and CNA’s do much more than what I am about to type out for you. Here we go, first on our list is they are responsible for preparing meals, making sure those said meals are consumed documenting sometimes the percentage ate, to monitor weight loss or gain, provide hydration, monitor this and document, hygiene care which also includes incontinent care, diaper changes ( brief changes the state likes to call this for dignity purposes) but not everyone knows this so I will put both, monitor and document this too, monitor and take care of behavioral issues, handle outbursts and sometimes caregivers are attacked and practically beaten up by patients that family members refuse to medicate, Next lets see, we have housekeeping awh yes housekeeping. Caregivers not only have to remain vigilant with their client so they don’t harm or hurt themselves but they also wash dishes, wash, fold and put away laundry, clean bathrooms, wipe down furniture, vacuum floors, sweep and mop. Then we have the great time of family encounters while some are pleasant you also are blessed with and I say this sarcastically, the dreaded guilty feeling family member who drops in to do nothing but either complain about not enough is being done, or why wasn’t this or that done, and nitpick over how their family member isn’t being taken care of enough and much more needs to be done- not realizing the caregiver is already emotionally and physically spent! this little description dosen’t even touch on patients who are bed bound and require lifts and transfers, two hour skin checks, bedsore monitoring ect.
With all that being said these caregivers and CNA’s are only paid with in- home care wages average $ 9 - $12.00 per hour with no benefits and no retirement fund. Don’t get me started on how bad nursing homes pay, assisted living centers or any other place.
So what? why am I going on and on about what caregivers have to do? what they are required to put up with, why do I care about how much they get paid? Ill tell you why I care, better yet why you should care too. There is never EVER going to be a point in time where you are not going to need a caregiver either for your own personal care or to care for your loved one. If the demands and the pay don’t ever change then the shortage we have been dealing with for years is going to get even worse! You can tell yourself that you will take care of the responsibility when your loved one starts to need care and while that is very noble, how prepared are you to miss numerous hours of family and work time? change diapers and bath, because having the heart to do it is one thing but believe it or not there is a skill to every act of compassion that not everyone has, including the act of exhibiting compassion in the midst of a loved ones outbursts of Alzheimer’s and Dementia.
At these wages agencies are forced to hire young inexperienced caregivers with the hopes that they will stay and work with low pay, no benefits and almost always a guarantee of caregiver burn out. What is caregiver burn out? please look up the definition.
State funding for low income seniors who want to stay in their home is reimbursed very poorly so agencies are applying less and less to take on Medicaid patients, while private pay is some-what profitable it isn’t really because agencies cant bill high enough to attract clients and pay caregivers a true living wage hence the merry go round continues.
Listen I’m not making agencies look at all good right now or for that matter no senior care center, but here’s what I am doing to try and change this broken system so I can offer better for the TEXAS CHARM SENIOR CARE caregivers. First I need to continue to point out the problem, educate the public on just how broken this system is. I post on Facebook, Instagram, and every place I can to get this story front and center. Next I am reaching out to government agencies who are providing us with services that can assist our caregivers with daycare, gas allowances, and affordable healthcare and an open door policy to address needs and concerns as they arise to keep the caregivers that work for TCSC emotionally and financially stable. I believe that if we can do more to take care of our precious caregivers they in turn will provide excellent compassionate care for the seniors we are entrusted to take care of.
More needs to be done I get this loud and clear! but our seniors deserve better affordable care free from abuse and neglect and so do our beloved caregivers.
reach out to me tell me what you think
Just my thoughts,
Pauline Prince ( formally Gorbett)
