What Do Overnight Caregivers Do While Your Mom Sleeps?

You’ve heard a lot about 24-hour home care services, but you have some questions. One of the most common is what happens when the client is sleeping. If you hire overnight caregivers for your mom, what do they do while she’s in bed?

Caregivers Are Not Asleep

It’s a common misconception that 24-hour home care aides are sleeping while their client sleeps. That’s not the case. A caregiver is not going to move into your mom’s home and sleep during the hours she’s asleep.

She’ll have a team of caregivers working in shifts. While she sleeps, her caregiver is awake and ready to help her. If your mom wakes up and needs a glass of water, her caregiver brings it to her. If she has Alzheimer’s and wakes up and tries to leave the house, her caregiver redirects her.

Overnight Caregivers Help in Many Ways

While your mom sleeps, what is her caregiver doing? The caregiver does anything that’s on the list of chores for the night. If your mom has medications to take in the middle of the night, her caregiver will wake her up long enough to take them.

If your mom has laundry or needs her home dusted, the caregiver can do that while she’s asleep. Her caregiver can start prepping vegetables and meats for meals. If your mom needs to get groceries, her caregiver can schedule an online order for pick-up.

Your mom has Alzheimer’s and often wakes in the middle of the night and wants to “go home.” Her caregiver is there to stop her from going outside and wandering away. With a home care aide to redirect her, your mom has someone to put on a movie, prepare her a snack, or help her get back in bed.

If your mom wakes up and doesn’t feel well, her caregiver can alert doctors if needed. If your mom’s dealing with nausea from medications she takes, her caregiver is there for moral support and to support her to prevent a fall.

Caregivers Work in Shifts

The number of caregivers depends on the caregiver. There are some who work six-hour shifts and others who work eight hours. If your mom’s 24-hour home care aides work six-hour shifts, she’d have four caregivers covering her daily needs. If they work eight-hour shifts, there would be three caregivers covering the full day.

When one caregiver’s shift is about to end, the next caregiver arrives. They’ll talk about what tasks have been completed and what’s left to do. The new caregiver takes over and the first caregiver goes home. This cycle continues.

Do you have additional questions? Reach out to an expert in 24-hour home care to learn more about this service and how it can help your mom.

Source
https://www.webmd.com/insomnia-awakening-help

If you are considering 24-hour home care in Summerlin, NV for an aging loved one, please contact the caring staff at Golden Heart Senior Care of Summerlin. 702-800-4616.