Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you need an aid if family can stop by for an hour or so.

The patient has a TBI. The family tries to be present for 9-12 hours/day and someone usually is. But clearly they need a break - the stress is really overwhelming that at the moment - and we are trying to figure out some options.

So it’s not your family? The family needs to just divide up the hours needed. That’s what we did.

We are close to these people. There are 2 of them - a sibling and a spouse - who are trying to be present 9-12 hours/day. While friends visit as they can, there are no other people around to cover these hours and the sibling and the spouse are really starting to suffer.

TBH, it doesn’t sound like these are even remotely analogous situations. Sometimes that’s the case.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why do you need an aid if family can stop by for an hour or so.

The patient has a TBI. The family tries to be present for 9-12 hours/day and someone usually is. But clearly they need a break - the stress is really overwhelming that at the moment - and we are trying to figure out some options.

So it’s not your family? The family needs to just divide up the hours needed. That’s what we did.

Anonymous wrote:Why do you need an aid if family can stop by for an hour or so.

The patient has a TBI. The family tries to be present for 9-12 hours/day and someone usually is. But clearly they need a break - the stress is really overwhelming that at the moment - and we are trying to figure out some options.

Anonymous wrote:or talk to the charge nurse of the unit.

My only worry about that is will the hospital staff not care for the patient if they know the aide’s background from the referral - some of these places are short staffed and do not want the charge nurse redirecting the nurse and aide for that patient to another because “there is an aide in there.” I’ve already seen in once on a different floor and that is because “the patient had visitors” and “they could take care of it.”

FWIW, I think these staff work very hard. The purpose of the aide, however, would not be to supplement her care but to be present and interact with the patient when alert, etc.

Why do you need an aid if family can stop by for an hour or so.

Anonymous wrote:The hospital social worker might be able to recommend someone or a certain service. We did this for my mom, who lived in another state.

Just to confirm - you had someone sit with your mom while she was at the hospital?

Anonymous wrote:We did that for my grandmother in hospice. I think it was a joke health aide.

Was she in the hospital when on hospice?

We did that for my grandmother in hospice. I think it was a joke health aide.

or talk to the charge nurse of the unit.

The hospital social worker might be able to recommend someone or a certain service. We did this for my mom, who lived in another state.

Anonymous wrote:I've considered a home aide for my caregiving mother, as my father has been doing length hospital stays and is scheduled for more. But in their country, hospitals don't allow visitors all day, only in the afternoon, so even if she wanted to, she wouldn't be able to be there the whole time.

I DO agree that with a person not in complete command of the faculties, someone needs to be there as much as possible, so yes, you can try to find someone to sit with the patient. I fear what the cost is going to be, though, and your relatives will still have to pop in *inconsistently* to verify that the sitter is doing their job.

Yes, good point and would be part of the plan.

They do not want to stop going but they definitely need days where they do not visit or for shorter times. They need some downtime every few days to reset/ recharge/keep their job!

Anonymous wrote:I would pull back the amount of time they are at the hospital. I don't think they need to be there 12-24 hours a day. How often are there even updates or doctors that need to talk to next of kin?

No one is there 24/7 @ this time. If I wrote that, it was in error.

At this juncture, they want someone present for at least 8, maybe 12 hours/day. Trying to solve for that rather than telling them what to do at this time.

I've considered a home aide for my caregiving mother, as my father has been doing length hospital stays and is scheduled for more. But in their country, hospitals don't allow visitors all day, only in the afternoon, so even if she wanted to, she wouldn't be able to be there the whole time.

I DO agree that with a person not in complete command of the faculties, someone needs to be there as much as possible, so yes, you can try to find someone to sit with the patient. I fear what the cost is going to be, though, and your relatives will still have to pop in *inconsistently* to verify that the sitter is doing their job.

I would pull back the amount of time they are at the hospital. I don't think they need to be there 12-24 hours a day. How often are there even updates or doctors that need to talk to next of kin?

Posting here as feels closest forum. We have a close friend with a spouse with a TBI in the hospital. Don’t want to make this a TL;DR so the short of it is that the family is burning out from being at the hospital 12-24 hours/day (going on six months). We are really worried that the mental/physical toll this is taking may lead to another crisis when the children are in pretty fragile states.

The spouse will be in the hospital at least another month, probably then moving to another facility but that is for another day. There are no prospects for rehab at this time.

Has anyone ever hired an aide to sit with their LO at the hospital or a similar set up? The preference is for someone to be eyes on as well as keeping family in loop. The dream is a retired nurse/social worker familiar with a hospital environment, able to track the convos with doctors, etc., and interested in supplementing retirement income.

Would love any general feedback on this as well as appreciate anyone with insights on NYC, including hiring leads.

TIA!