Has anyone had to keep time sheets of care for their parent?

Didn't have to but I did anyway. It is a really good idea. You think you'll remember exactly when she first vomited or how her behaviour changed, but you won't, you know; and then when the doctor or nurse asks for a history where are you?

Also, suppose you think you spend twenty hours a week on caregiving. Then, when you're keeping track, you do include all the other things like laundry, cooking, time on the phone making appointments, running errands, getting up in the night to check she's okay - and you find that actually it's nearer forty. Or sixty. Or...

I keep mine on a spreadhseet and things I do daily I just simply cut and paste. If you feel confident private me and I will send you my copy - it might help you

I keep a time sheet for when I do things for my mom. At first I tried to do it on my desktop PC, that was a disaster cause it took longer for the damn thing to turn on than it tool to enter the notes. So I changed to good old paper & pen. I made an Excel spreadsheet with space for date, time & hours on top. Then all along left third of page I listed about 25 activities I frequently do for my mom (medication check/reminder, calls for doctor, drive to doctor, take shopping, pick up mail, take out garbage, etc). On the right 2/3 of page is a dotted line for notes specific to these activities for that Date. On bottom 4 lines of page is space for any special notes for that Date. Guess what? For me, this is WAAAY faster and more likely to get filled out. Plus when I get a good stack of them (at least monthly ) I can pop the whole bunch into printer to scan and save as a file on the recalcitrant desktop. So I do have a good system going. I also have a separate notebook for all the store receipts, depends receipts (I order online), and any expenses in have had to pay for her....just in case we need to do Medicaid within 5 yrs I will be all set.

We hired caregivers privately. They have a notebook in which they write detailed notes, down to what my mother eats and snacks on, her level of activity, everything. This ranges from a half page to 3/4. Since there are 3 caregivers, each can read the previous entries. I keep my mother from Friday to Monday, so read this and respond to their notes if necessary and give a brief update of the weekend. My mother is prone to UTIs, so noting possible symptoms is invaluable. They have never complained about this and do a wonderful job.

Whether they go through your time sheet (you can get on-line) line for line, your care is basically the same every day and every night. Other than errands, shopping, etc., the personal care you give is basically the same and it certainly is more than 8 hours per day. It is more like a 24/7 job. I had to go back two year for Medicaid. Although I have a Care Management Agreement, which is very important to have if your mom is on Medicaid, I did have to document everyday with time sheets.

Record keeping not my strong suit. Have you heard about the guy who took years of receipts in a box to his IRS audit? We are not professional bookkeepers, just family caregivers, so don't panic. I procrastinated, could not quite get all the paperwork together with the forms, envelope, and a stamp. I had my third notice with a pink envelope, phoned them for more time, saying I needed help. They answered my questions, gave me more time, I did it right away.

I am getting paid 3 days a week at 3 hrs at a time through HCBS waiver through medicaid to care for mom, which is way less than what I am actually doing. I just have to punch in online through Consumer Direct, my employer.

Imccarthy1, I'm paid biweekly through mom's checking account. She's not a rich woman but can certainly pay for her own care. Mom's elder care lawyer charged me $1000 to draw up this contract. I was worried that my being her DPOA might make things too complicated but apparently not. My brother and sister are named "authorized persons" in this contract and know what I'm paid. They're very okay with it. We can change this whenever we want, and we all get along fine as we're trying our best for as long as we can to keep her out of a nursing home, and mom is physically fine at this point. I'm called an independent contractor and not an employee of my mom. I also went to the lady who does my taxes to be sure I know how much to pay quarterly. I don't expect this contract to go on forever and told my sibs that I plan to early retire in 18 months. I'm personally cutting every corner I can at my age (61 this year), having lost my job. I just sold my house (had a $30,000 mortgage left to pay) and bought a cottage for mom and me with cash; got a terrific deal and wish I'd done this before. Mom's been living with me for about 2 years now in my home. I'm doing fine on $12 per hour, but this sure isn't what I planned for my life, ya know? I loved being a transcriber at home but doubt I'll ever find anything like that again full time. So this situation has actually been a godsend for both of us, if you ask me. I do have an STNA but really don't want to have to work for anyone else when mom passes. I can and will get help when she gets worse. Not sure I have any advice to give you; I just did what the lawyer recommended for the time being and would be nervous without that contract, simple though it is.

When I worked as an activities director in a nursing home in MT, I was told that the state requires that I log all activities. I think it was also for family members to see.

now that I am a caregiver for my parents, I found an actual printable time sheet template that I use here: printabletimesheets

For a detailed account, I used to write it all down in a notebook, but now I have a blog spot.(free at google)

I just quit my job. I took this part-time job to pay for my own health insurance. I told my mom that I would charge her $200/week to care for her. She is OK with that since I quit my other job to take care of her. I begin my "new" job on Monday. I will make sure everything is documented. The VA gave me a guideline sheet to help me. I'm not out to rip my mom off. I just need to sustain the part-time income I had while I was working in the real world.