Probably the most difficult tasks for families with aging, sick, or disabled family members is finding a home care professional with all the necessary credentials and experience who has the ability to empathize with the patient and family members alike. According to a recent post by the Washington Post, there will be a severe shortage of home health aides across the country and the effects are already being felt across the country.
The dilemma of many nursing and health care professionals is finding the balance between doing the job and getting rewarded monetarily for the hard work. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be a shortage of 1.1 million health care workers by 2024 and nursing homes are facing closure because of lack of staff. Those in the healthcare industry would rather specialize because of higher pay.
Is there a solution? Many of our nurses see the problem and are doing all they can to address the needs such as working double or triple shifts and cutting short their holiday and vacations to attend to the needs of their patients. Some nursing professionals have taken it a step further and set up their own agency that will guarantee home professional care.
When you have home healthcare workers applying to come into your home, you should consider talking to them about the following. This list will help you determine their qualifications, intentions, and pureness of heart which is one of the most important credentials of a healthcare professional. Pureness of heart refers to the unequivocal willingness to go beyond the job; to see the person, not the illness; but also has the right mindset to stay professional and follow the correct work ethics.
“Tell me about yourself.” The applicant should be able to discuss freely the process it took to get to his or her present position. It should contain details on the education, training, professional background, life goals, and reasons for working in the field of healthcare.
What do you see is your role here? Ideally, the applicant should have an idea of the medical situation in your home especially if you called an agency. Thus, the applicant should have some plan on how to care for your family member.
Describe a typical and atypical day at home. How would you handle the job? The answer will give you an insight on how the applicant will deal with stress and unexpected problems and work ethics (organization, teamwork, and troubleshooting).
Would you agree to a background check? This is a security check aimed to protect you and everyone in the house from any undesirable or illegal act. This question would not be necessary if you decide to work with an agency because they assume the responsibility of vetting the applicants before sending them for interview. However, you should be able to ask the agency about their security and safety policies.