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I have 8 hour shifts w/caregivers for my Mom. Mom naps a lot. My Mom has Alzheimer's (approaching middle stage). Memory issues affect her ability to prepare food. When I can't care for her (I'm the daughter), we have an agency provide caregivers in 8 hour shifts, 11am-7pm to cover meal issues. The rest of the time Mom does a few household tasks and naps a lot. Sometimes she wants help w/chores, sometimes not. She does need some help. But in an 8 hour shift, 7 days a week there is only so much cleaning a person can do. When she's awake they are active with her (we have watchful neighbors). My Mom also gets upset if they disturb her by doing things while she's asleep. I drop in unannounced a lot to check on her. We have 2-3 regular caregivers. I have found all at one time or another asleep in the same room as my Mom, while she napped. She generally sleeps soundly. Sometimes she talks about them sleeping and it bothers her. My gut reaction is anger, but I've slept while Mom napped. Should I be upset? Should I talk to them? Talk to the agency? I like the agency and caregivers. We have had consistency, no theft, no abuse, active participation to keep my Mom active. Confused, frustrated, and maybe a bit guilty. Please give me some guidance

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I'll keep this simple, no no sleeping! You are paying this person to take care of a loved one! This means watching over them to make sure they are safe, sort of hard to do while sleeping. You are not paying them to sleep. I'd talk to them or I'd find someone else.
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I think there is a difference between a nurse hired to monitor a patient for seizures and an aide hired to be available in case of an emergency. And there is no doubt a pay difference for those jobs.

Expectations should be set at the beginning. And if things aren't satisfactory the first step is to talk to the aide/nurse, not to immediately call the boss.
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Caregivers should have a break just like any other job. What better time then when mom is sleeping. She may close her eyes to meditate, pray or nap. OR should she go, go, go like a MACHINE with not even one break throughout the day? How cruel and inhumane. Not to mention illegal. SLAVERY ENDED LONG AGO. Employees deserve a little break. Unless mom needs vigilance while sleeping why not let her have some quiet time.... as long as she is near during & when mom awakens.
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Caregivers that you hire should never sleep on the Job. If I did that I would be fired on the spot.
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I worked at an agency and we did not sleep. The family allowed us to sleep and provided all of the linens for that. She had 2 care givers with her 24/7 seven days a week. I had a couple 7 hrs a day mainly meals and some light housework. We paid great attention to their personal hygiene. Sleeping was allowed during the evening if anyone was needed to stay over night. We always kept notes on our patients in basic folders like the kids do. You can also write a note in there that sleeping is not allowed. Before you get yourself upset, go to the office and talk to the management or head nurse if you don't feel comfortable talking to your care giver. They should take care of it immediately. If it continues to happen, change care givers. Angels on Duty is a wonderful group of ladies that LOVE their charges. Great company.
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They are not paid to sleep and it upsets Mom so put a stop to it. Many caregivers work two jobs to make ends meet so they are constantly exhausted.
Try providing cofee and some nutritious snacks of their choice.
But as DD tells me "Don't get mad Mom take action"
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On the issue of caregivers sleeping on duty, it is useful to keep a care plan booklet/chart and also a communication notebook for both family and caregivers to write in every shift. I suggest getting the patient's care plan from the agency or constructing one so expectations are clear.

To get a chart, start by collection into a folder all papers that you got from doctor's visits. Care plans can be set up by licensed persons.

If you have professionals coming to the home, ask them about making up a chart. For each page, write 'memo for the record' and the name and credential of the person writing, and the date. This makes the chart eligible to be a legal document.
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As an homecare nurse for decades I mostly did night shifts. You are paying for 8 fully awake nursing services hours. Permission to nap while on duty raises red flags. Throughout my 40 years of nursing I have even seen cases where. the patient has died while the caregiver was asleep. Staff is supposed to observe for early medical symptoms for their eight hours.

Before you tell the agency,(which likely would fire her), I suggest you confront her and have that caregiver understand naps are unacceptable and continuing taking them result in your telling the agency. In that conversation try it as a problem solving how to not go sleep.

Try suggestions to not sleep: dietary eat protein for their meal/snack because protein promotes wakefulness and carbohydrates makes the body sleepy; coffee/caffeine is useful/ necessary to stay awake with for; a talking watch is good, especially ones that beep on each hour; an oven timer is useful for timing care such a dressing soak for half an hour; (this is a mixed message because it makes sure the patient is tended by an alert caregiver); possibly the caregiver has another job; walk around and do exercises is one way to stay awake; the use of Iphones and tablets I used to oppose, but I have rethought that for when patient is asleep I believe they are OK; I often suggest using WebMD to learn about the medical case.
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This is a great thread with many opinions and experiences.

Two tips.
Cameras and cell phones.

With cameras you can check in anytime.
Since the cameras are visible to all ( in my case) they are a deterrent on their own for any no no’s. No one can tell when you are checking.

The cell phone is useful for two different reasons.

One is that you can check the cameras via the cell phone regardless of where you are.

The second use for the cell phone is for the sleepy person. If feeling sleepy simply read a few minutes on the phone and the light of the phone will help wake one up and make one more alert.
That’s the same reason one shouldn’t be on the cell phone before going to sleep at night.
Good for waking up. Bad for going to sleep.
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I take care 24/7 of a 95 year old lady with dementia and erratic sleeping pattern. She would wake you up every 15 minutes from 11pm to 4am, thereby depriving you of your right to uninterrupted sleep. There would be nights she slept soundly. Her children are aware of their mother's sleeping habits. They would tell me to nap when their mother is napping, and not to mind the dishes piling up on the sink or the house not cleaned yet as long as I made up on lost sleep. My lady gets mad if i work too hard around the house and would prefer me taking rest with her.
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Diana, I agree with you. My gosh, I remember one time watching over my Dad in the evening. He was dozing in his recliner. My cellphone didn't have internet and even if it did, there was no WiFi in the house.

Guess I could have read the weekly hometown newspaper that was mailed to Dad, to catch up with the farming reports, that would take 10 minutes.

Couldn't do any housecleaning as I didn't want to wake Dad. So I quietly turned on the TV and scrolled through all 6 channels on the TV. Oh, Dad didn't have cable, either. Eventually I found something to keep me awake for awhile.

Eventually i did doze off. One just can't help it, unless one was a night caregiver who has a chance to sleep 8 hours during the day.  Plus the house was sooo hot.
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I am in this situation right this minute.
My patient didn't sleep all night (again) and fell asleep 1 hour after my shift started. I got him fed, sheets changed, teeth brushed and pottied before he drifted off.
It is permitted that I can use my phone while I sit in the darkened room. (If not, I'd go nuts!) When I notice I'm getting heavy eyed, I get up, use the bathroom, read by flashlight, do deep breathing, exercise quietly in the room, ANYTHING to keep from sleeping. If the house gets too warm, I'll have a big cold drink and wash my face and hands with cold water.

I'm being paid to stay awake. I can hear (from his breathing) if he's going into a seizure. (90% of his seizures are during his sleep). If I was asleep, I wouldn't catch it. How would that be to wake up to a gran mal seizure?

Falling asleep is punishable by a warning then by termination.
This is a good job (unlike a lot that I've tried out there) and I don't want to screw it up.
I go to bed at 9 pm and get up at 5 am. No reason to sleep.
Plus, I get to read all the AC responses at work ! 😀
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If I walked in and found my mom asleep in the bed and the caregiver in a chair next to her, nodded off, then no, I would not be angry.

You’ve said you like the caregivers they don’t steal, they are kind and take care of your mom well, etc.

People get tired!
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This is learning experience to all concerned. Set your expectations and talk it out to your caregivers before they started a job with your elders. And if there is some mishaps talk to them what do you think and why it happened the unexpected. They are just human and not a machines. Try to be nice to them by giving some advice how to cope with their difficulties and you will see how more wonderful they become to care for your love ones. Love begets more love.
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No matter how pleasant the Nurses Aid/ attendant is, they should not be sleeping on the job. Neither should they leave there charge alone while they go outside for a smoke. They should get enough sleep on their own time. Even if they are a light sleeper, they should not be sleeping on your time. A bed alarm is a good idea but the N.A. should not rely on this to wake them when they fall asleep. Talk to the N.A. first, then to her boss and lastly try someone else for the job. They can bring mints, walk around, drink water, stretch, do whatever they have to do stay awake. Also you might have to break up the shift and use 2 different N.A.'s instead of 1. Cheers to you for stopping in to see what is going on.
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Only instance of someone being paid to sleep on the job was a comic strip character named L'il Abner created by Al Capp in the 1950's. L'il Abner was a mattress tester in a mattress factory. No one is paid to sleep or engage in personal hobbies while on the clock. That is considered theft unless sleeping on the clock is your job description. All paid employees are required to find ways to keep busy while being paid. Sleep and hobbies are done on your own time, not the client's or employer's time.
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Only instance of anyone being paid to sleep on the job was a comic strip character named L'il Abner created by Al Capp. He was a mattress tester in a mattress factory! Sleeping on the job is theft unless sleeping on the job is what you are specifically hired to do. Stealing from employer/client is a fireable offence. Sleeping or engaging in personal hobbies during a paid work shift is a theft of time/wages. An employee is required to find chores or duties to stay occupied during the time frame they are being paid for. Sleep is what one does off the clock!
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YES, you should be upset and fire that person immediately!! What do you think would happen if you had a job and your employer found you sleeping? You wouldn't have the job very long!!! People are being PAID to do a certain level of work and this is an unsafe situation - what if something happened with the patient or the house while this person was sleeping? You're paying him/her to be AWAKE, ALERT, and RESPONSIBLE. The caregiver is NOT a guest to be treated with "kid gloves!"
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What if the caregiver is sleeping and your LO falls? When you have a caregiver overnight you are paying them to stay awake. We have a bed posey that says, "Please sit down." for our LO in case the caregivers fall asleep which in our case is family. For some caregivers this does not wake them. If they don't wake up at night time from the bed alarm we don't schedule them at night time. Even for Caregivers who wake up very easily, it doesn't mean 100% of the time. Therefore get a bed alarm and learn how to reset it. The point is to prevent your LO from getting hurt. Blessings to all.
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I think your concern is if the caregivers would wake up when your mother gets up as you are hiring them so that someone will be alert in case she falls or needs help.

You should probably talk with the caregivers. When my mother was recovering from surgery, one of her favorite caregivers would come work at night, then go to her full time job during the day at a company. The caregiver would sleep in the rocking chair next to mom's bed with her legs up in such a way that mom could not go anywhere without waking her up. That way she could make sure that mom did not fall or put too much weight on her recovering hip.

You need some reassurance that the caregivers have a plan for how to be awakened when your mother is up. That could be anything from having your mother wake them up if she is alert, to having a motion sensor beep if your mother gets up. There are also pressure sensor pads that will sound if they sense the person has gotten up. Talk to your caregivers and work out what would be the best solution for all involved to make certain that your mom's caregivers get up when she does.
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Cameras have solved a lot of issues for me. And, of course, you should "drop in." I think you would be negligent if you didn't.
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Please note if a parent has any type of memory problem such a Alzheimer's/ Dementia, we sometimes need to take what they say with a grain of salt.   Yes, there is a 50% chance that the Aide was napping, and a 50% chance the Aide was not.

That time of night can be difficult for an Aide who doesn't do night shift on a regular basis.   When my Dad had overnight shift, these caregivers only did overnight shifts, no days shifts, so they got their 8 hours of sleep prior to coming to the house.
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A care aide was scheduled from 1 am to 4 am to assist my parent with night-time walks to the bathroom to prevent so many incontinence accidents and/or falls while trying to get to the bathroom. At least 2 assists per shift were requested. Other quiet tasks like laundry folding and mopping the kitchen or bathroom were in the job request. Twice the care-aide was found napping on the living room sofa. Parent was calling for assistance from bedroom (approx. 15 ft away) and the aide didn't wake up. Parent did manage to get up to walk to living room and see aide asleep. We requested that aide not be assigned any longer. Simple request without the reason unless the staff manager asked. She didn't.

I believe that unless an aide asks for permission up front that naps be allowed that an aide should not just assume it's ok. They are getting paid to do a job. They should consider themselves lucky that they may have some downtime to use smartphone to take care of personal business, or sewing, pleasure reading, ect.
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This thread is three years old.
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This is for "Ladee1" I understand your point as a caregiver And you are probably one of the "good ones" but her daughter has every right to show up unannounced she doesn't have to tell you or anybody else for that matter. It is her right as a caring daughter. I do the same thing for my mom in assisted living I will make visits any time day or nite. It wouldn't be a good scene if someone did hurt or did anything wrong with my mother!!!
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I've been involved in caring for a private individual for 5 years until her death at the age of 104.She had Alzheimers and I watched her decline. But it was a gift to me to be able to care for her as in personal hygiene, laundry, grocery shopping, cooking and preparing her food by pureeing it so she wouldn't choke on it. Sometimes when she would take her nap I would take a break, and sit in the recliner in a next room or sometimes she would want me to lie next to her. I would doze, but would snap to at her least movement. Taking care of an adult is a lot more work than taking care of a infant. So I would tell anyone who is taking care of my 89 year old loved one and sister who has serious health problems, to rest when they rest so that she (the caregiver) will have enough energy to give them the care they need when they are awake. Caring for a patient with Alzheimers is mentally and physically exausting. Why else would anyone hire someone to help them? One person can't and shouldn't have to and God bless those that do.
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well I wrote something and it disappeared. Talk to the people you work for. Right now, I was burned pretty bad by my person that pays me, I am there always onetime, and she has alzheimer's and she calls me many times in the morning to see what time I am going to be there. There are 20 minutes that I am not paid. When I get to the house, the person whom pays me stated I was to clock out the minute I unlocked the key to the door, not any of the time when I walk into the house and find that two and only two dogs have done their duty in the house. I am to clean it on my own time, forget about breaks, forget about lunch, and the latest was, oh your schedule is going to be the same, and the next week, well I have decided to give my sister in law a chance (the same sister in law) that two month's ago she said no way in heck would she give her a chance. Sorry for going off topic, but the answer is this. talk with the people whom pay you if that relationship isn't good, nothing will be, I don't care how kind you are ever and ever. Like I said, sleeping, if you are a light sleeper and it is night then I don't think there is an issue with it, but keep communication lines going all the time. it is tricky but you need too, also keep everything and i mean everything in writing.
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I would also like to add that i have done24 hour live in cases and it requires us by our license to rest 8 hours downtime and we are allowed to get up 2-3 xs to assist client not sit up all nite.. agencys tend to put caregivers on theses cases when should be a 12 12 case the caregiver and client need to understand both and the family needs to understand the requirements of a license caregiver. I have come to realize with each caseplan is different expectations i tend do try and do what is good and right for all and this is not easy.. many try to be a caregiver and go into it with the wrong motives again,resting and not a full sleep is ok and if the family has problems then take over and work it out among the siblings and other family members.. I have seen families run away from responsibilities and i had to do all aspects of running the home for very little pay, and i have seen the opposite of family helping as much as possible if good keep it why change what is working. there are alot of other familys that would gladly want a trusting honest caregiver
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When I first posted my intention was not to be too hard on the caregivers you occasionally find asleep. I was not supporting those who make a habit of regular nap time with blankets etc Just be kind to the older caregiver who gets extra tired and may fall asleep sitting bolt upright writing letters. That may not be the right caregiver for your situation especially for that overnight shift. I worked till I was 68 and my week ends on call were Friday night 4.30 pm to Monday morning 8.30 am and if it was my turn at Thanksgiving my shift started at 4.30 pm on Wednesday evening. Now sometimes very little happened and at others it was non stop. If I had to wait for a funeral home to arrive and they took 2 hours to get there I can tell you even matchsticks were not 100% effective. Blessed the family that had the coffee on and a snack. I was asked to do every thing from patient care, cooking, stacking wood ( I did refuse to do that) going to the pharmacy at 3 am, doing laundry and feeding the dog. I did all these things willingly and tolerated the patient who stood over me and carefully supervised the loading of the washer. I really enjoyed my job until I just got too tired. It is a lot of give and take with caregivers but remember you are paying the piper and good ones are hard to find
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