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My 75-year-old father recently suffered a stroke. We are working on converting my parents 2-car garage into a total living area for him. What we are looking for is overnight care for him from 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. He is paralyzed on his left, has restless leg syndrome and has a condom catheter on at all times. He has been living at my home and I have been sleeping on the couch to just keep an eye on him at night when he kicks his covers off, occasionally needs some pain cream rubbed on his shoulder or hand and sometimes pulls the catheter out, which we have resorted to putting a mitt on his right hand to prevent this. He does not get up to use the bathroom at night he's just pretty much in bed. However, I am going back to work in August and my mom can't do this and then also watch him during the day (although with some occasional help). Can someone please give me an idea what to pay for these hours and job duties?

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You seem set on keeping him in home care, but that seldom works well for long, if at all. It's rarely sustainable (and I did it for both parents in their home with the help of caregivers as you intend to do). From what you tell us, dad should be in a skilled nursing facility where professionals can take care of him. There's no way that you and your mom can care for him as well as professionals, especially as his condition worsens.

It depends on where you live what a caregiver would charge. You get what you pay for, so you might not want to go with the lowest cost. For instance, my Rude Aunt insisted that my dad didn't need more than a sitter overnight, $15 an hour. She had no idea of the intricacies of taking care of him, since she'd never participated in his care. Dad had 24/7 care by a live-in CNA, who was devoted to him. She slept on the couch next to his bed, and she knew what to do in medical emergencies. She handled several dire situations that developed. We wouldn't have had that with someone who was only a sitter, but we paid top dollar for a CNA.

I wish you luck in dealing with a difficult situation.
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Reply to Fawnby
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SSdaughter Jul 22, 2024
What I can tell you Fawnby is that having him in a hospital and rehab facility for five months I saw some terrible things happen to him. There was a family member there every day with him except the week he had Covid. I was the one who found him gray sitting in a chair on an early Sat. morning with the call help button draped over his shoulder. He had just finished some sort of therapy, not sure how he could, but I told the nurse somethings not right. She checked his lungs, offered a nebulizer and then he coughed and I grabbed a tissue and it was full of blood. He had pnuemonia and pulmonary embolisms. Shortly after a medical stay for 10 days when so many bad things happened he got pneumonia again. I'm the one who had to complain to the doctors when he had feces all over on his hands and not to mention had a nasogastric tube in and O2 oxygen and they didn't see fit to even cleanse his hands thoroughly knowing that was his only good hand to scratch his nose, feed himself, etc. Not to mention the time he fell out of his chair because they forgot to put the seatbelt on him or the time he was found on the floor from slipping out of bed, and the take the cake when the nurse walked out of a patient's room (didn't know I was sitting at the table by the nurses station) and proceeded to tell his coworker "these patient's are so f****g helpless. Now you see why I don't want him going to a nursing home. Even when we were there every day they insisted he be put in bed at 6 p.m. so his nurse who just came on duty at 4 p.m. could take her lunch break. The good help deserve it but the problem is we are paying for the bad help as well.
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It would be best to check on Care.com since that would give you local pricing you don't tell us what state or county you're in. Plus, this forum is global.
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Reply to Geaton777
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Companion care in NYS is about , 25 an hour, but if they have to deal with a catheter, a companion care company, probably won't take him on as a client.

I did companion care for a bit, I would of never accepted a job for some in with this kind of health issues.

You may need a CNA , and that would be more.

I would think state laws are different in each state but I don't think it would be legal to for someone that's not a CNA or higher to do this kind of care.

But I could be wrong

Best of luck
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Reply to Anxietynacy
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Typically the rate for home care is between 15 and 20 percent over your county’s wage. Here, that’s about 20 an hour.
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Reply to PeggySue2020
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