What Do I Do if the Night Aide Keeps Falling Asleep?
Answers
If someone you hired to be a night shift aide keeps falling asleep, that's not a good sign. I'd start watching other aspects of his or her behavior more closely.
If the person is otherwise a good caregiver and has other good qualities, bring the issue up and discuss it. Before taking action, try to find out what's going on -- is he or she not getting enough sleep during off-hours? Working a second job? If there's a problem, be clear that the caregiver needs to address it.
Night aides need to get enough sleep at other times so they can present for the older adult during the hours they're paid for. Be firm about the fact that this is a safety issue. If an aide's sleeping on shift, he or she is not going to be aware and able to handle an emergency.
This happened to me. Parents lived at home with no family in town. Mom (mid-late Alz) had fallen and broke her hip. Dad (severe dem) at home alone. 24/7 care was absolute. I wanted to be home when Mom got out of rehab to ensure she was getting what she needed. First night home, she fell in the bathroom. I heard it and ran to her to see her spralled out on the floor. I started asking her questions to assess potential injury, finally, the caregiver heard us talking and came in to see what was happening. Thank GOD I was home. I was furious with the caregiver! The next morning I called the agency to report the issue. She was a good caregiver otherwise, I asked her to stay on their case. The next thing I did was get a baby monitor. I am sure she dozed off regulary, but I insisted she keep the monitor attached to her so that when there was sound from the bedroom, she would feel and hear it at the same time. This did help alot. Sadly, both are in assisted living now, but it worked well while they were home.
My husband had overnight cargivers in addition to day ones. I would find the overnight caregivers asleep on the floor, in the chair, wherever. I finally decided, when heard my husband get up during the night to go to the bathroom and did not hear the caregiver with hm, to have him sleep in our room. As long as I was awakened anyway, it was easier to have him there and we have an adjacent bathroom. I close the bedroom door and everything is fine. Not too much help for my sleep but better than before.
