care work - difficult people

adouglasmhor

Morgan_Ree wrote: »

Were they allowed to keep the money?

I was under the impression staff were not allowed to accept gifts from patients/clients?

A bequest is not a gift though.
My mum was left a flat, after paying for her share of it's demolition which was needed she made a tidy profit of £25 on the land.

MrsE_2

honeyD wrote: »

Did you not read all of the thread? I havent been leaving before my 30 minutes are up which seemed to help a little. Posting on here made me realise that it is unfair to do that but that is what the company told me to do. Ive stopped. Anyway now we only get paid for how long we are there so if I leave at 20 mins thats all I get paid for.
!

So you stay for 30 mins but watch tv instead?

Seriously, you are leaving yourself open to her complaining here, can you not see that?

Try working for a full 30 mins. Use your own initiative, I'm sure you can easily fill the last 10 mins if you try. Wipe down the worktops, sweep the floor, take the bin out, ask her where her sheets are so you can change her bedding, tell her you are putting a wash on & the next carer call can hang it out for her........

ETA if she still complains then, perhaps shes just a miserable old cow, but you will know that your work is above reproach.
But if shes paying for 30 mins, unless shes getting 30 mins of work, shes being shafted, & if I was her, I would be pee-ed off about that.

jhe

honeyD. do you have a careplan in the service users house? it should state on the careplan what tasks are required of you.in my own work i am only allowed to complete/assist with tasks stated.the lady will have been assesed before carers started work there. if the lady involved doesnt need the full 30mins the time could be be cut to the time needed to complete tasks required.i would also log with your manager the problems you are facing and update it everytime you have further problems.this lady should also have a review done at a set time, were any problems can be addressed. the ladys social worker should also be made aware of problems from either the lady or the carers. the social workers will no doubt be aware if she is difficult to deal with.

honeyD

jhe wrote: »

honeyD. do you have a careplan in the service users house? it should state on the careplan what tasks are required of you.in my own work i am only allowed to complete/assist with tasks stated.the lady will have been assesed before carers started work there. if the lady involved doesnt need the full 30mins the time could be be cut to the time needed to complete tasks required.i would also log with your manager the problems you are facing and update it everytime you have further problems.this lady should also have a review done at a set time, were any problems can be addressed. the ladys social worker should also be made aware of problems from either the lady or the carers. the social workers will no doubt be aware if she is difficult to deal with.

Yes there is a care plan. I do everything on it. There are some things Ive been told I cannot do, like hoovering. The personal care call is mainly to help shower, dress, help with food but she is ready when I get there most days because of wanting to change the call time. I will try my best next week but Ive already requested not to have her after that as today was really terrible but Im not going to go into it so others can say I was in the wrong when there was nothing I could do about the situation.

honeyD

MrsE wrote: »

So you stay for 30 mins but watch tv instead?

Seriously, you are leaving yourself open to her complaining here, can you not see that?

Try working for a full 30 mins. Use your own initiative, I'm sure you can easily fill the last 10 mins if you try. Wipe down the worktops, sweep the floor, take the bin out, ask her where her sheets are so you can change her bedding, tell her you are putting a wash on & the next carer call can hang it out for her........

ETA if she still complains then, perhaps shes just a miserable old cow, but you will know that your work is above reproach.
But if shes paying for 30 mins, unless shes getting 30 mins of work, shes being shafted, & if I was her, I would be pee-ed off about that.

Thankyou, I will take the tasks into account and try to do them next week.

MrsE_2

honeyD wrote: »

Thankyou, I will take the tasks into account and try to do them next week.

If she really is just a miserable old bat, don't put your neck on the line by giving her ammo;)

Charlie1986

Hi, I haven't read all of the thread but thought I would reply. I can sympathise with you as service users like this can get you down if you let them. I work for Social Services and if something isn't written on the person's care plan we just simply can't do it. That includes taking the rubbish out, posting letters etc.
In my experience as a carer I have found that most of the service users who react the way you explain are lonely and you are probably the only person they will see that day, so it feels like everything is being taken out on you. The other thing to remember is that you are in the service users home, everyone does things in different ways and a lot of people do not like things changing.
In your first post you mentioned that you thought the lady was on the toilet so you went to make her a drink. The first thing I always do when I arrive at a service users house is to make sure I can see/hear them, they could be on the floor injured or worse still have died in the night.
Personally if I was in your situation I would stick to what the care plan says and if the service user got abusive I would calmly tell them that speaking to me that way was not acceptable and I will leave if it continues. Have you tried asking the service user the way they like things to be done? Also maybe you could try asking the lady to help alongside you, if you make the toast they could butter it while you make a cuppa, that way the service user will feel more involve and won't see you so much as an outsider (hopefully).

stripedwellies

Am I the only person who dislikes the term 'service user'?

stripedwellies

honeyD wrote: »

but Im not going to go into it so others can say I was in the wrong when there was nothing I could do about the situation.

I find that a bit disturbing.
So other than requesting a change, have you done any of the things errata suggested in relation to the agency? I am guessing not.

Charlie1986

stripedwellies wrote: »

Am I the only person who dislikes the term 'service user'?

I don't like it either but apparently its the correct term to use these days (so my manager tells me) .