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My mom is in a senior group home with one staff taking care of 5 seniors. No other staff on site. I witness her working 5- 12 hour shifts in a row. Is that legal or most of all safe?

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Gheez, my typing skills have gone out the window! Sorry for the typos, why can't my table correct all Those!
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PamZ, Nope, you were all on your own in that respects! Lol! If you were lucky to work for a Dr who was computer savvy, you were in happy! For the first 8 years (and before we had EMR), I worked for a lady Doc, who ran at least an hour behind, all dag long, and still put off her paperwork, results letfers, refills, call backs (except energent ones) all to the end of the day, and expected me to stay late to complete all the work! The next 8 years, I worked for a very efficient and computer savvy Doc, who was a more "treat um and street um" type of guy, and I always had a full hour's lunch break, was always on time, and was out the door by 5:15pm, every day. Of course, by then, they started to employ "floats", who's job it was to see that everyone got breaks and lunches in. The clinic had gotten very big by then (31 providers), and I preferred it, whe it was only 11 Dr's, as when I started. Those were the good old days, when the drug reps brought in goodies, lunches, and tons of samples, pens and gifts too! Now a days, the've cut out all the frills, and the employees and patients alike, are all treated like a number, no personal touches, and no fun at all. I'm glad I retired! 😉
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Stacey.. no pee breaks either...LOL
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Yes Pamz, I worked in Healthcare, and never had assured breaks or lunch hours, for that matter. Somehow, working in that environment, there is loophole that hospitals and clinice get around (in Washington state anyways), that doesn't guarantee breaks to nursing staff, go figure!
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If she is caring for 4-5 senior residents in her own home, an Adult Family Home, then she is probably making pretty good money, and can certainly afford to hire a daytime and or nite time aide. There may be rules to rules to how many residents to how many caregivers, I don't know. If you have specific concerns, you need to speak to her about them. It does seem like a lot of work for one person alone! There ade more and more Adult Family Homes popping up, as they are quite a lucrative business, but there is a lot of licenses, training, and insurance that goes along with setting one up. Often, an RN is the owner/operator, and they hide the staffing, while overseeing the home. It's a great solution for Senior housing, if you find one that is well run and has good ratings. I hope that your Mom is getting good care there!
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Not sure about care homes, but I am in medicine, and I work 3 x 12 a week. Many of my "younger" co workers pick up extra days at other places, or at our hospital for OT. Often 5 or even 6 in a row. We don;t have built in meal breaks or mini breaks.. and most seem to hold up pretty well! Depends alot on the person I think. Does everything seem to be going OK, or do you have a specific concern? I sometimes do 4 in a row if the money is right,, but I get tired, of course I am approaching 60!
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In the group homes in my area the caregiver is like a house mother taking care of her own family. The resident all go out daily to day care centers and return in late afternoon. I have seen it include one girl who is bed bound. These homes are very strictly regulated and inspected. When ever there is a problem with a resident there is always someone on call to deal with it. There are no breaks as such built in for the caregiver but she is relieved for certain hours each week. So yes just as a mother cares for her family 24 hours a day so do these people.
Typically there are 4-5 residents and everyone lives together including the caregivers own family. When they have a vacancy the caregiver has a new person recommended and will often invite them for a meal so it can be determined if they will be likely to get on with the other residents. After that the caregiver can decide whether or not he/she wishes to take on that person.
Are you happy with the care your Mom is receiving? Is she maintaining her weight being kept clean etc? Does the caregiver take everyone out to go shopping etc. Caregivers may have the same residents for many years and may even take care of them till death so they really are like family. Have you had a chance to talk to the caregiver about the hours she has to work and is she happy in the job? In many ways it is like being a foster parent and there are no breaks on that job either. I am just commenting on what i have observed in NYS. Other States may be different.
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If she has breaks scheduled in to her shift, I don't see why not. And one-to-five as a staff-to-resident ratio is okay, depending on the level of the residents' care needs. But no other staff on site? Do you mean there are only five residents in total? What kind of senior group home are we talking about here?
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