what online attendant resources are there?

[jack]

i'm in nurseing home paying 135.00 per day. i would hope i could find attendants but can't.

[BJ]

The one's I've seen on the web have been for CA, mostly. You might have good luck posting an add at a local college, tech school etc. But I would bet you can count on paying 8-12 per hour. Your profile didn't indicate what part of the country you are in, but also check your closest Independant Living Center.

[SCI-Nurse]

Most people who work as PCAs are low income and relatively low literacy, so most are NOT on-line, while most people with SCI are. This is the problem. You are most likely to find PCAs other places than on the web. We hired a PCA for my mother part time who was her favorite nurses' aide at the nursing home (during her 8 week stay in hell in a really awful one), and she had several friends who serve as back-ups.

Here is a good on-line resource for planning on how you will recruit, hire, supervise and fire PCAs:

http://www.wa-ilsc.org/toc2ack.html

Here are a few sites that claim to link PCAs with employers, but they are little used (as I described above). We had an ad on one for over a year without a single response, but it is worth a try:

http://www.pca-hha.com/index2.html

http://www.independentliving.org/assex/index.html

Also talk to your local ILC. They should be a resource to you for finding local PCAs and can help you get out of the nursing home in other ways as well. What state/area are you in?

(KLD)

[jack]

i'm currently in st. louis, but from rural area of the missouri bootheel.

[SCI-Nurse]

Here is a direct link to a list of all the ILCs in Missouri:

http://www.ilusa.com/links/ilcenters.htm#MO

(KLD)

[PN]

Jack:

If you are getting $135 a day to spend on caregivers you should have no problems finding anyone. I'm in California and the state only gives me about $1300 a month to try to find people who work twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. If the state would give me $100 a day for 24-hour care I would have the ability to find good stable reliable people. Perhaps I don't know all the details regarding your situation.

PN

[jack]

at 8-12 an hour, how can i find 24 hr help for 100.00 a day? will good people where your from work for 100.00 a day for 24 hrs.?

[SCI-Nurse]

Do you really need 24 hour daily care? Are you on a vent? Most people I know, even at C-4 complete go with 6-8 hours of total attendant care daily. They don't have anyone at night, then have someone get them up in the AM and do bowel, shower, dressing breakfast, etc., fix them a sandwich for lunch (at home or work) and then they are on their own until their evening attendant comes to put them to bed (ROM, skin care, etc.). Often these are two different people, or even 3-4 to cover 7 days a week as well as sick time, etc. If you can afford turning mattress at night and rig up your fluids, telephone (for emergencies), etc. you should not need night care unless you have to be suctioned.

If you really need live-in, then you generally pay less as you are also providing room and board, but you will need to give them a day off (in California even live-in is entitled to one day off every 7 days). Live in is MUCH more difficult to recruit as most people have their own home/family already. Look in the section of the PCA manual listed below to help you develop your needs assessment and determine what your real attendant care needs are. (KLD)

[jack]

maybe i don't need that much coverage. i don't know. i'm c5-6 complete, no vent.

i had my mother until 6/99. then attendant 11-12 hrs. a day until they burned out. slept on stomach at night, very uncomfortable though. was in rural area with few agencies with cna's/hha's. good help was hard to recruit. now in st. louis. may move back there.

what type/brand of turning mattress do you reccomend? do you know cost of these?

[SCI-Nurse]

At your level, most people can get their care organized to 3-4 hours daily total...2-3 in AM, then 1-2 in evening. You should be able to get your own food for lunch out of the frig, and prepare simple meals. Did you have a decent rehab program? Perhaps you need to see an OT to help you determine more what you can really do for yourself.

Most people I work with do not use agency staff. They are VERY expensive (they charge $18/hr. in my area, with a 4 hour/shift minimum) and the agency is their boss, not you. The agency determines who you get, what they will do, etc., not you. Most people hire "from the street" and train the person themselves, and part-time help is easiest to get...people who have other jobs and want some additional income (often "under the table"), people who are semi-retired, students, stay at home moms, etc. Churchs, schools, nursing homes, etc. are good places to recruit, even in rural areas.

The turning mattress I am most familiar with is the Span America Pressure Guard Turn Select. They are not cheap (around $7000) but I have a number of people who use these exclusively for their turns. If you loose power the turning will not work, but the mattress still remains pressure reducing.
http://www.spanamerica.com/med_ss_tmpow.html

There is also the Invacare TurnQ, but this is usually "overkill" as it is also low air loss (for treatment of pressure ulcers), and will go flat in about a 1/2 hour if you loose power. They run about $10,000.
http://www.invacare.com/cgi-bin/imhqprd/inv_catalog/prod_cat_detail.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0226237792.10 00393367@@@@&BV_EngineID=cadccceliehjbekgcfmcfcgn.0&oidOfCategory=-536879073&oidOfProduct=536921696&prodID=BB9612000

Some insurances will pay for these, including the VA. Medicare will sometimes cover them. There are a couple other ones with which I am less familiar. It would pay to shop around.
(KLD)

[jack]

what does one do when no one shows up and no back-up available. with agency, i would have back-up.

[PN]

Subj: a
Date: 9/13/2001 11:03:00 AM Pacific Daylight Time
From: USCSSUN
To: USCSSUN, SSUUSC



Jack:

If you need a live-in caregiver then you are providing them with free room and board. Now, if they work five days a week at a $100 a day, their salary is $2000 a month. Not having to pay rent is worth about $700 a month. You need to find someone who can help you with a discharge planning and section 8 housing. You have written that your budget is $135 a day, which adds up to $945 a week. This should be enough money to find fulltime care. I would suggest that you do not pay by the hour, but give the PCAs a salary. I am getting the maximum amount of hours and money from In Home Support Services, which totals about $1,300 a month. How you are getting $135 a day for attendant care?

If you live in the state of Michigan, they have a catastrophic injury law on the books and PCAs get about $14 an hour, including full medical and a paid two-week vacation every year.

Good luck with your situation,
PN