How about a 5-Star caregiver review?
Last week, we started a new caregiver with one of our long-time clients. Like every time before we followed our process which is pretty intuitive to us. It sets everyone…the client, caregiver and us up for success. We did the following:
- Alignment: We used our knowledge of the client and our care plan and recruited for a caregiver we believed would be a great fit for that specific situation. Personality fit, knowledge of the conditions the client is living with, etc.
- The offer: Once we found a good match, Suzanne, our Office Manager shared the care plan with the candidate to see if she felt the same…that she would be a fit. She agreed and we offered her the job
- Care plan formal review and training: At that point, Gail, our Geriatric RN, reached out to the caregiver and thoroughly took her through the care plan and everything she should be aware of entering the care environment (client preferences, things to watch out for, etc.)
- Introduction: Next, we introduced the caregiver. To do that, Cjay, our Caregiver Supervisor set up a time with the client to stop by and make the introduction. When the caregiver arrived, Cjay was waiting for her in front of the client’s residence. Cjay asked if she had any questions to make sure she was good and the two proceeded to go knock on the client’s door
- Shadowing: Because Cjay is very familiar with the case (as she is every client case) she stayed with the caregiver for a couple hours to make sure things went well
To us this was business as usual. As we always do, we called both the client and caregiver after the first shift to see how things went.
After learning all went well, we were surprised to get a call back from our new caregiver. She said she had to call and tell us she could not believe we went to such great lengths to set her up to succeed.
She went on to say that she NEVER had anyone go over the care plan twice….much less the Office Manager and a Geriatric RN. She continued by saying that she was blown away when Cjay met her outside. She’d never actually been introduced! Normally, she said, she was simply sent to a house she’d never been to all by herself to meet a client. She continued by saying having Cjay introduce her to the client and subsequently stay to make sure things went well enabled her to feel none of the awkwardness that is common when starting a new job.
She gave us 5-STARS!
OK…to be honest, we know not all home care companies do what we do. That being said, we certainly never tire of hearing from a caregiver (or client) about how happy they are having us on their team. It all traces back to our goals. Quality and continuity of care leading to positive outcomes for the families we serve, the caregivers on our team and the management team at Caring Companions.
Adam
