Advice for in-home 24 hour nursing & caregiving?

[Ericm]

I've got a question. A close friend of mine got hired by an in-home caregiving company that doesn't have RNs on staff, and gave her a 24 hour shift. Within the evening of her first shift, she called me asking me for advice on how to keep herself and her patient safe during the process (she's filling in for another person who normally does the shift and had about a half hour to become familiar with the care plan). She is expected to fully care for a total dependent who has a multitude of diseases and ailments and doesn't receive care from a medical team.

My questions would be:

What should she do? What can help the situation? Is she at risk? Does anyone have any advice? Is there anything she can do to de-stress herself in this situation?

(I apologize if I put this in the wrong thread, I'm not very familiar with this site as of yet)

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Since your friend is obviously not giving nursing care, I don't know what "risk" she could be incurring.

Quite frankly, it sounds like a bad situation for an aide. Is there family present? When you say there is no medical team involved, do you mean that the patient does not receive medical care at all?

[Ericm]

Right, she is not an RN. She is a NA, and it seems as though she is being asked to do things outside of her SoP. In fact, we were told explicitly not to do certain things she is being asked to do. The employer said it would not affect her NA status if she did something because as a "caregiver" you are not under anybody's medical license and they don't hold you to the highest "certificate," but "license." Family is "present," but it seems as though they are uninvolved. I have zero idea what kind of medical care she receives, but it's apparently not nearly enough.

So yes, I was asking more about the second group of questions (a little anxious when I typed them as she was on the phone with me at the time) as to how overnight/long shift nurses de-stress when providing exhaustive levels of care to someone with dementia who requires constant care as well as injections, medications, and other things. Also I was asking if anybody might have any advice for her being in that situation (waking up every couple of hours to check her blood sugar alone would be tough for me, I don't do well on little to no sleep).

[roser13, ASN, RN]

I'm very confused about the situation that you describe. How is an NA expected to check glucose levels, give injections, medications and "other things"?

No nurses on staff....unsafe, frightening home situation....run, run, run.

[Ericm]

Funny you should say that, I was just getting on the thread to say she did exactly that. She hasn't told me if her replacement showed up yet, but she's not planning on sticking around another night!