Nurse Next Door. Long read

[Grim]

**Edit: Version with paragraphs found below in post 5

Hey guys, it’s been a while since I logged on here. Lot of unfortunate events happened to me back in 2018, and left me paralyzed in a way where I wouldn’t even Hope this would happen to my worst enemies. Well maybe Nurse Next Door.
Unfortunately it was a work accident so I am left now with the need of someone assisting me through my every day needs. In the past 18 months, I have had Nurse Next Door as my care provider agency and I think this is the most unfortunate event out of all. To be honest, I was reluctant to share my story, however the shit Nurse Next Door put me through really made me want to expose the bullshit they put on people who depend on them or at their most vulnerable state. But in order to expose them, I will have to expose myself but it’s worth it. To be honest, I am a little ashamed of who I am now but this concern of mine is really making me want to make awareness so that everyone in here who reads this, who knows someone who needs a carriage and see whether they have a disability or whatever reason. Please read this and take my 18 months of experience and take it with a grain of salt. I know many of you here are very young, early 20s perhaps to even mid 40s or 50s. But we all know someone who needs daily living assistance, and we all know someone who would love for them to us stand up for them when they can’t. So here it is, sorry long read I don’t really have the functions of my hands anymore so I’m not going to throw in funny Memes or spoilers to hide my texts. As we all know our S community is kind of a dick about this but there’s nothing I can do LOL. Here goes,


By the way I really wanted to post this on Google review along with yelp and any business review sites. Unfortunately, I’ve made it too personal and too long. So bear with me and educate yourself so that your family member won’t get scammed

Dear Nurse Next Door and Laurel

It is very disappointing to know that I have to at least donate one star to this agency in order to spread awareness to existing or perhaps new clients looking for a care agency to take care of those loved ones. If I could, I definitely would take away five stars but life doesn’t work the way you want it so I will just have to make do.
I hope you’re ready for a good read, if you are looking for someone to help you take care of a family member or loved one and you are spending your hard earned money to do so. Please read this, please read this and take my experience so that you can make your own informed decision whether or not you would like to use this Agency. If you are someone who is undergoing an insurance claim, please be aware and mindful of this agency because they love nothing more than to ‘’help’’ anyone who has a sponsor to fund their six digit salaries. Time is money and I don’t wanna waste any of it, so if you have the patience please take your time to understand what I have went through for the past 18 months. Like purchasing a product, I would say majority of the population would go on YouTube or Google to do their own research and review in order for them to make their own informed decision before purchasing or subscribing to whatever they are interested in. With home care agency, why would we not do the exact same thing? It is important to understand the agency, Their principles and work ethic’s before investing a large proportion of your income in order to keep the person you want safe, safe. That being said, I think it is very important to understand and know basic medical subjects as I’ve experienced and can confidently say that Nurse Next Door or rather, Laurel. Has very little knowledge in the industry she works in. Few examples I would like to point out, she is not able to identify the difference between ROM, range of motion AMD ‘’ massage.’’ It was very disappointing to have my physiotherapy at GF Strong and also my outpatient physiotherapist come up with a range of motion book lit for me when I first got discharge back in early 2019. With Laurel‘s supervision, she has deemed these actions written by licensed physiotherapists as “ massage. “ I have forwarded the range of motion booklet to the agency, however there has been no confirmation or denial that they have acknowledged the evidence I’ve submitted. Additionally, I was having an assessment with Laurel’s superior at the time, when her thermostat read my temperature at approximately 97Fahrenheit. Unfortunately her supervisor at the time, was not aware of the Fahrenheit to Celsius ratio, Laurel both Lee stated that it is 38°. with confusion on the supervisors facial expression, she had checked the correct Fahrenheit to Celsius on Google which turned out to be 36° Celsius. for the readers here who may or may not know, the difference between 36 and 38 is the difference between a regular bed and VGH versus a bed in ICU with people affected with a spinal cord injury. Having to hear her Pride her self with 30 years of nursing as an LPN, it really makes anyone wonder if that three years of “experience “really means anything. I’ve learned that when anyone complements themselves on how many years of experience they have under their belt, it is a major red flag for me as a client is there is a major difference between 30 years of bedside experience versus 30 years of Management as a LPN in a hospital setting.
Stella, ambassador to Nurse Next Door truly reflects the agencies method of work ethics if you get to know her. Multiple times, as recorded at my parents house is surveillance camera, Stella decides to show up to my house unannounced, expecting to have a conversation that I am not aware of and gives me attitude when I am not at home when she surprisingly showed up unannounced. To further that, she contacts my caregivers at the time via SMS to “Ask “my current location. I have not dealt with a lot of ambassadors to an agency before, however I would only assume it is appropriate to contact me directly if they need to know my current location and also my schedule. To further add on top of the confusing work ethics from Stella, we have spoke on the phone and made an arrangement for us to meet and speak about safety and proper care staff training. Unfortunately on the day of, no phone call or meeting was made as Stella claims she had an emergency to Be absent from work for a week or two. Again, one simple email or text as she is very familiar with SMS with my caregivers at the time did not follow through and left me waiting for an entire afternoon for a meeting I thought would happen which she never did.
Ann, a supervisor Who I have encountered multiple times throughout the 18 months of “service “. Ann was very I’m pleased when They scheduled a caregiver who is afraid of dogs, well knowingly I have two dogs and had problems problem-solving the situation I was in. At the time it was summer, I was outside of my home after an appointment, and my previous caregiver had already left. Waiting outside in the heat sun with absolutely no shade, I had to wait with my caregiver Until my parents came home from work. I have contacted and at the time who was the person to contact and her idea of resolving this issue was to contact the previous caregiver who had left nearly an hour ago to come back to my home which is roughly 1 hour of commute for her to open the door and I quote, “put the dogs in a room “. Of course, the previous caregiver denied her requests and she was left to problem solve on her own. I had suggested that she come to my house since she is not afraid of dogs, to let my dogs out into the backyard. However since the evening caregiver would be with me for a period of time, I was not happy to have my dogs out in the backyard during sundown. She asked me to put my dogs in a room, which really was the last straw that broke the camels back. Well Knowingly I have dogs, asking me to lock my dogs in our room so that I can cater to the caregiver who is supposed to cater to me. Made absolutely no sense. On top of that, she was hesitant to make the drive from Vancouver to Richmond in order for her to put my dogs in the backyard until my parents came home. Her reasoning or rather excuse was that she is in Vancouver and it will take a period of time for her to get to Richmond to delegate those tests. Now, understanding that she is in the service industry and knowingly I have a spinal cord injury she decided that it was more convenient for her to neglect the situation. At the end of the day, she did not come and I had to wait in the sun with no water as my dogs wondered why I wasn’t coming home. If you’re asking if that caregiver did anything to relieve the situation, the answer was she stood near the shade and waited for my parents to come home. Once my parents came home, they excused her of her service because there was no expectation of her since my dogs were inside The house.
Britney, A caregiver by day, and a care designer by night. Britney services her clientele throughout the days including Saturday and Sunday when she has the title of “tear designer “any time I would have a problem with the care staff not knowingly what to do with my equipment or at the very least, my transfers at the morning., She would not be able to give me a satisfying response other than going through the routine over the phone with the caregiver, which I can do myself since I know my routine much better than anyone. Absolutely made no difference from what she’s doing to what I’m doing. On top of that, when caregivers decide to have a no-show, knowing The expectation of the contract signed from my insurance provider, to provide the minimal or basic care to client if no caregivers are available. Whether it would be a PSW, public service worker, LPN, RN or even the care designer themselves, will have to provide that basic care. Unfortunately when situations like that happens, which is quite frequent. Britney‘s response to my concerns usually end up hearing like, “Oops we did it again. “

It is with utmost pleasure that I am writing this letter of farewell surprisingly alive and well considering what I have been through with your organization. The past two years have been life changing for me—my spinal cord injury accident has caused such a massive shift in my lifestyle and capability. On top of that, nurse next door was there every step of the way in my journey.

With all the lifestyle changes, rehabilitation and recovery I needed to go through and still am continuing to go through, I can say that nurse next door was there with me— unfortunately not to relieve any burden on the caregiving aspect but disastrously add more strain to my already stressful situation.

It started promising. Nurse next door prides itself on having a care designer to manage every step in planning the client’s care and monitoring the quality of care that I receive from my numerous ever changing caregivers. Laurel being my care designer, has been such a tremendous learning experience for myself and my family. I could truly say that Laurel has an innate talent to make every encounter feel hostile, and make me feel that “she cannot be bothered” to find a replacement nor problem solve the lack of staff to help me get up in the morning to make the situation safe again. In the past 18 months I was given an opportunity to understand the concept of what a “good client “means according to Nurse Next Door standards. On top of that, I was able to learn how to manage my own care team schedule, caregiver training, most importantly on how to properly advocate for myself as a client going through an insurance provider. We often hear companies and corporations taking advantage of those in need, nurse Next Door definitely falls victim to this alleged crime. Throughout the 18 months of service there had been countless times where I would not have I care giver end nurse Next Door would not provide anyone to give me the minimal care that I need in order for me too get off my bed and onto my chair. According to the contract they've signed with my insurance provider, their responsibility is to ensure that they will provide chair weather the caregiver is LPN, RN or even the care designer themselves. However, that being said never once did my care designer showed up to complete the tasks they promised upon signing the contract with my insurance provider. Instead, I get an apology, but not from the care designer herself and instead from one of the dispatch team.
Being a C5 spinal cord injury client, I depend on the me that they are unable to find someone to provide care. “Sorry” is the only word that the scheduler can say, with Laurel nowhere to be found to help problem solve the unsafe situation. Unfortunately, “sorry” cannot reverse the impending pressure sore and autonomic dysreflexia that I am at a high risk of experiencing if left alone in bed for more than 4 hours to a whole day.

Looking back, it is no surprise that there is such a high staff turnover at nurse next door. When Worksafe pays you $39-40 per hour and the care staff doing the brunt of the physical labour only gets paid $15 an hour without benefits, as well as get treated as if they were disposable, it does make sense. Funny that nurse next door prides itself in claiming that all home caregivers are kind, trained, and insured in their website, oh and with years of medical experience and training, as well as the company apparently engaging in “rigorous hiring and screening to ensure that staff are qualified attentive and willing to go above and beyond”. Wow, I truly wonder where these “qualified” and “attentive” care givers were when I was with nurse next door from march 2018 up to September 2020. My experience of constantly needing to train the staff myself as they show up to my home with no experience and training seems to be a far fetched reality from what nurse next door is claiming. to be fair, I have had about 4 care givers whom I loved working with. and In all fairness, I am pretty patient when I have to teach them what to do because what other choice do I have? But when care givers continuously show up with a dazed and deer in the head lights look, unable to do the basic tasks such as not use the same towel that they wiped my ass with to then wipe my face, I think I have the right to be upset.
Funny enough, in a recorded conversation between the care designer, my insurance provider and myself, care designer from Nurse Next Door stated that their rigorous screening and training solely rely on the fact that they hire a warm body human heart beat with a graduate certificate. Laurel says and I quote, "we don't offer extended training since they have been trained in school add their certificate proves that been educated in order to contain the registered care aid certificate. "
The organization’s website further claims that nurse next door provides “comprehensive training and an educational environment to provide long term retraining”.. however, I have had countless experiences where I, being physically impaired as well as visually challenged, need to train the numerous new care givers who come in not knowing my routine, history, or medical needs. I personally do not mind giving them directions however, when the staff who nurse next door hires do not know how to use a lift safely, has a language barrier that makes it unsafe for them to follow instructions and routines, as well as the utter lack of common sense in the simplest tasks that needs no medical background of some sort, makes me wonder what kind of “rigorous hiring” is going on in the background.

Lastly, when you respectfully mention all of this concerns, safety issues and discrepancies of their staff qualifications on paper versus the reality of what is going on in real life to your loving care designer Laurel, who claims that “love is in the details”, it makes me wonder why the defensive reaction is instantaneous and why the client gets blamed that there is a “do not send list” of unsafe care givers on my file.

Nurse next door, I am writing this letter not only as a farewell but also as an advocacy for myself and for your numerous of clients, especially the more vulnerable and older ones, who cannot speak for themselves. The quality, pride and strength of an organization is built not only on the management but more importantly on the countless workers who represent your organization and do the actual personal care and provide bedside assistance to your clients.

If your company is really “passionate in making a difference” as your website claims, look into the numerous flaws and unsafe caregivers that are rampant in your company who are providing care to your vulnerable clients. We all would rather not be the client. If tables were turned and you or your loved one were in my situation, how would you like it if the care givers whom nurse next door keeps sending lacks experience, lacks safety and insight, and has no training? Learn to work with your clients and hear what their concerns are. I am in no means a perfect client. I learn from the caregivers and have learned what the boundaries are with regards to what nurse next door can provide for me and what my shortcomings are. However, the only difference is that I am able to recognize and acknowledge when I am wrong, and move forward and learn from it. Laurel, being defensive and dismissing the concerns and safety issues of your client never looked good nor professional on anyone.

Goodbye nurse next door. I hope that your management and care designers do not lose sight of the concept of empathy and what the essence of caregiving is all about.

[Grim]

I don’t often go on the site anymore since I am trying to separate my interest of cars now. If you have any questions about Nurse Next Door and you have someone going through them and undergoing the same bullshit, and need someone to talk to, you can email me

WWS14K@gmail.com

[Jmac]

Sorry to hear about your injury and the poor care you received over the past couple of years. Hope things improve for you.

[bcrdukes]

Wow, we did miss you, and wondered where you went!

I really hope and wish you well and the best in health!

[Eff-1]

Sorry to hear about all of your troubles. I have broken your post into paragraphs just to make it easier for people to read it. I promise I haven't changed any words. If you want, I can edit your original post to match, but wouldn't do that without your permission first. Let me know.

Hey guys, it’s been a while since I logged on here. Lot of unfortunate events happened to me back in 2018, and left me paralyzed in a way where I wouldn’t even Hope this would happen to my worst enemies. Well maybe Nurse Next Door.

Unfortunately it was a work accident so I am left now with the need of someone assisting me through my every day needs. In the past 18 months, I have had Nurse Next Door as my care provider agency and I think this is the most unfortunate event out of all.

To be honest, I was reluctant to share my story, however the shit Nurse Next Door put me through really made me want to expose the bullshit they put on people who depend on them or at their most vulnerable state. But in order to expose them, I will have to expose myself but it’s worth it. To be honest, I am a little ashamed of who I am now but this concern of mine is really making me want to make awareness so that everyone in here who reads this, who knows someone who needs a carriage and see whether they have a disability or whatever reason. Please read this and take my 18 months of experience and take it with a grain of salt.

I know many of you here are very young, early 20s perhaps to even mid 40s or 50s. But we all know someone who needs daily living assistance, and we all know someone who would love for them to us stand up for them when they can’t. So here it is, sorry long read I don’t really have the functions of my hands anymore so I’m not going to throw in funny Memes or spoilers to hide my texts. As we all know our S community is kind of a dick about this but there’s nothing I can do LOL. Here goes,


By the way I really wanted to post this on Google review along with yelp and any business review sites. Unfortunately, I’ve made it too personal and too long. So bear with me and educate yourself so that your family member won’t get scammed

Dear Nurse Next Door and Laurel

It is very disappointing to know that I have to at least donate one star to this agency in order to spread awareness to existing or perhaps new clients looking for a care agency to take care of those loved ones. If I could, I definitely would take away five stars but life doesn’t work the way you want it so I will just have to make do.

I hope you’re ready for a good read, if you are looking for someone to help you take care of a family member or loved one and you are spending your hard earned money to do so. Please read this, please read this and take my experience so that you can make your own informed decision whether or not you would like to use this Agency.

If you are someone who is undergoing an insurance claim, please be aware and mindful of this agency because they love nothing more than to ‘’help’’ anyone who has a sponsor to fund their six digit salaries. Time is money and I don’t wanna waste any of it, so if you have the patience please take your time to understand what I have went through for the past 18 months.

Like purchasing a product, I would say majority of the population would go on YouTube or Google to do their own research and review in order for them to make their own informed decision before purchasing or subscribing to whatever they are interested in. With home care agency, why would we not do the exact same thing? It is important to understand the agency, Their principles and work ethic’s before investing a large proportion of your income in order to keep the person you want safe, safe. That being said, I think it is very important to understand and know basic medical subjects as I’ve experienced and can confidently say that Nurse Next Door or rather, Laurel. Has very little knowledge in the industry she works in.

Few examples I would like to point out, she is not able to identify the difference between ROM, range of motion AMD ‘’ massage.’’ It was very disappointing to have my physiotherapy at GF Strong and also my outpatient physiotherapist come up with a range of motion book lit for me when I first got discharge back in early 2019. With Laurel‘s supervision, she has deemed these actions written by licensed physiotherapists as “ massage. “ I have forwarded the range of motion booklet to the agency, however there has been no confirmation or denial that they have acknowledged the evidence I’ve submitted.

Additionally, I was having an assessment with Laurel’s superior at the time, when her thermostat read my temperature at approximately 97Fahrenheit. Unfortunately her supervisor at the time, was not aware of the Fahrenheit to Celsius ratio, Laurel both Lee stated that it is 38°. with confusion on the supervisors facial expression, she had checked the correct Fahrenheit to Celsius on Google which turned out to be 36° Celsius. for the readers here who may or may not know, the difference between 36 and 38 is the difference between a regular bed and VGH versus a bed in ICU with people affected with a spinal cord injury.

Having to hear her Pride her self with 30 years of nursing as an LPN, it really makes anyone wonder if that three years of “experience “really means anything. I’ve learned that when anyone complements themselves on how many years of experience they have under their belt, it is a major red flag for me as a client is there is a major difference between 30 years of bedside experience versus 30 years of Management as a LPN in a hospital setting.

Stella, ambassador to Nurse Next Door truly reflects the agencies method of work ethics if you get to know her. Multiple times, as recorded at my parents house is surveillance camera, Stella decides to show up to my house unannounced, expecting to have a conversation that I am not aware of and gives me attitude when I am not at home when she surprisingly showed up unannounced.

To further that, she contacts my caregivers at the time via SMS to “Ask “my current location. I have not dealt with a lot of ambassadors to an agency before, however I would only assume it is appropriate to contact me directly if they need to know my current location and also my schedule.

To further add on top of the confusing work ethics from Stella, we have spoke on the phone and made an arrangement for us to meet and speak about safety and proper care staff training. Unfortunately on the day of, no phone call or meeting was made as Stella claims she had an emergency to Be absent from work for a week or two. Again, one simple email or text as she is very familiar with SMS with my caregivers at the time did not follow through and left me waiting for an entire afternoon for a meeting I thought would happen which she never did.

Ann, a supervisor Who I have encountered multiple times throughout the 18 months of “service “. Ann was very I’m pleased when They scheduled a caregiver who is afraid of dogs, well knowingly I have two dogs and had problems problem-solving the situation I was in.

At the time it was summer, I was outside of my home after an appointment, and my previous caregiver had already left. Waiting outside in the heat sun with absolutely no shade, I had to wait with my caregiver Until my parents came home from work. I have contacted and at the time who was the person to contact and her idea of resolving this issue was to contact the previous caregiver who had left nearly an hour ago to come back to my home which is roughly 1 hour of commute for her to open the door and I quote, “put the dogs in a room “. Of course, the previous caregiver denied her requests and she was left to problem solve on her own.

I had suggested that she come to my house since she is not afraid of dogs, to let my dogs out into the backyard. However since the evening caregiver would be with me for a period of time, I was not happy to have my dogs out in the backyard during sundown. She asked me to put my dogs in a room, which really was the last straw that broke the camels back. Well Knowingly I have dogs, asking me to lock my dogs in our room so that I can cater to the caregiver who is supposed to cater to me. Made absolutely no sense. On top of that, she was hesitant to make the drive from Vancouver to Richmond in order for her to put my dogs in the backyard until my parents came home. Her reasoning or rather excuse was that she is in Vancouver and it will take a period of time for her to get to Richmond to delegate those tests.

Now, understanding that she is in the service industry and knowingly I have a spinal cord injury she decided that it was more convenient for her to neglect the situation. At the end of the day, she did not come and I had to wait in the sun with no water as my dogs wondered why I wasn’t coming home. If you’re asking if that caregiver did anything to relieve the situation, the answer was she stood near the shade and waited for my parents to come home. Once my parents came home, they excused her of her service because there was no expectation of her since my dogs were inside The house.

Britney, A caregiver by day, and a care designer by night. Britney services her clientele throughout the days including Saturday and Sunday when she has the title of “tear designer “any time I would have a problem with the care staff not knowingly what to do with my equipment or at the very least, my transfers at the morning., She would not be able to give me a satisfying response other than going through the routine over the phone with the caregiver, which I can do myself since I know my routine much better than anyone. Absolutely made no difference from what she’s doing to what I’m doing.

On top of that, when caregivers decide to have a no-show, knowing The expectation of the contract signed from my insurance provider, to provide the minimal or basic care to client if no caregivers are available. Whether it would be a PSW, public service worker, LPN, RN or even the care designer themselves, will have to provide that basic care. Unfortunately when situations like that happens, which is quite frequent. Britney‘s response to my concerns usually end up hearing like, “Oops we did it again. “

It is with utmost pleasure that I am writing this letter of farewell surprisingly alive and well considering what I have been through with your organization. The past two years have been life changing for me—my spinal cord injury accident has caused such a massive shift in my lifestyle and capability. On top of that, nurse next door was there every step of the way in my journey.

With all the lifestyle changes, rehabilitation and recovery I needed to go through and still am continuing to go through, I can say that nurse next door was there with me— unfortunately not to relieve any burden on the caregiving aspect but disastrously add more strain to my already stressful situation.

It started promising. Nurse next door prides itself on having a care designer to manage every step in planning the client’s care and monitoring the quality of care that I receive from my numerous ever changing caregivers. Laurel being my care designer, has been such a tremendous learning experience for myself and my family. I could truly say that Laurel has an innate talent to make every encounter feel hostile, and make me feel that “she cannot be bothered” to find a replacement nor problem solve the lack of staff to help me get up in the morning to make the situation safe again.

In the past 18 months I was given an opportunity to understand the concept of what a “good client “means according to Nurse Next Door standards. On top of that, I was able to learn how to manage my own care team schedule, caregiver training, most importantly on how to properly advocate for myself as a client going through an insurance provider. We often hear companies and corporations taking advantage of those in need, nurse Next Door definitely falls victim to this alleged crime. Throughout the 18 months of service there had been countless times where I would not have I care giver end nurse Next Door would not provide anyone to give me the minimal care that I need in order for me too get off my bed and onto my chair.

According to the contract they've signed with my insurance provider, their responsibility is to ensure that they will provide chair weather the caregiver is LPN, RN or even the care designer themselves. However, that being said never once did my care designer showed up to complete the tasks they promised upon signing the contract with my insurance provider. Instead, I get an apology, but not from the care designer herself and instead from one of the dispatch team.

Being a C5 spinal cord injury client, I depend on the me that they are unable to find someone to provide care. “Sorry” is the only word that the scheduler can say, with Laurel nowhere to be found to help problem solve the unsafe situation. Unfortunately, “sorry” cannot reverse the impending pressure sore and autonomic dysreflexia that I am at a high risk of experiencing if left alone in bed for more than 4 hours to a whole day.

Looking back, it is no surprise that there is such a high staff turnover at nurse next door. When Worksafe pays you $39-40 per hour and the care staff doing the brunt of the physical labour only gets paid $15 an hour without benefits, as well as get treated as if they were disposable, it does make sense. Funny that nurse next door prides itself in claiming that all home caregivers are kind, trained, and insured in their website, oh and with years of medical experience and training, as well as the company apparently engaging in “rigorous hiring and screening to ensure that staff are qualified attentive and willing to go above and beyond”. Wow, I truly wonder where these “qualified” and “attentive” care givers were when I was with nurse next door from march 2018 up to September 2020.

My experience of constantly needing to train the staff myself as they show up to my home with no experience and training seems to be a far fetched reality from what nurse next door is claiming. to be fair, I have had about 4 care givers whom I loved working with. and In all fairness, I am pretty patient when I have to teach them what to do because what other choice do I have? But when care givers continuously show up with a dazed and deer in the head lights look, unable to do the basic tasks such as not use the same towel that they wiped my ass with to then wipe my face, I think I have the right to be upset.

Funny enough, in a recorded conversation between the care designer, my insurance provider and myself, care designer from Nurse Next Door stated that their rigorous screening and training solely rely on the fact that they hire a warm body human heart beat with a graduate certificate. Laurel says and I quote, "we don't offer extended training since they have been trained in school add their certificate proves that been educated in order to contain the registered care aid certificate. "

The organization’s website further claims that nurse next door provides “comprehensive training and an educational environment to provide long term retraining”.. however, I have had countless experiences where I, being physically impaired as well as visually challenged, need to train the numerous new care givers who come in not knowing my routine, history, or medical needs. I personally do not mind giving them directions however, when the staff who nurse next door hires do not know how to use a lift safely, has a language barrier that makes it unsafe for them to follow instructions and routines, as well as the utter lack of common sense in the simplest tasks that needs no medical background of some sort, makes me wonder what kind of “rigorous hiring” is going on in the background.

Lastly, when you respectfully mention all of this concerns, safety issues and discrepancies of their staff qualifications on paper versus the reality of what is going on in real life to your loving care designer Laurel, who claims that “love is in the details”, it makes me wonder why the defensive reaction is instantaneous and why the client gets blamed that there is a “do not send list” of unsafe care givers on my file.

Nurse next door, I am writing this letter not only as a farewell but also as an advocacy for myself and for your numerous of clients, especially the more vulnerable and older ones, who cannot speak for themselves. The quality, pride and strength of an organization is built not only on the management but more importantly on the countless workers who represent your organization and do the actual personal care and provide bedside assistance to your clients.

If your company is really “passionate in making a difference” as your website claims, look into the numerous flaws and unsafe caregivers that are rampant in your company who are providing care to your vulnerable clients. We all would rather not be the client. If tables were turned and you or your loved one were in my situation, how would you like it if the care givers whom nurse next door keeps sending lacks experience, lacks safety and insight, and has no training? Learn to work with your clients and hear what their concerns are. I am in no means a perfect client. I learn from the caregivers and have learned what the boundaries are with regards to what nurse next door can provide for me and what my shortcomings are. However, the only difference is that I am able to recognize and acknowledge when I am wrong, and move forward and learn from it. Laurel, being defensive and dismissing the concerns and safety issues of your client never looked good nor professional on anyone.

Goodbye nurse next door. I hope that your management and care designers do not lose sight of the concept of empathy and what the essence of caregiving is all about.

[SSM_DC5]

Sorry to hear about your experience. What agency are you going to try next?
Proof of Care?
Bayshore?

Keep up the attitude of willing to teach your caregivers because in the end, you will be happier when the job is done to your likings....I'm not referring to using a lift properly, but things like pillow placement, limb placement, placement of personal items, all the things to have you in a comfortable position before the caregiver steps away to do something else.

But just to touch on the use of a lift. There are the basics that your caregiver should know, but it's also good to be aware that there are tons of different makes and models out there, similar to that of cars. There's Honda, Toyota, BMW, etc. Then on top of that, there are Sedan, Wagon, SUV, etc. To make matters worse, Honda likes touchscreen to change the volume on the stereo when Toyota likes a volume knob....different ways to do the same thing is what I'm getting at.

Home health is a difficult industry to find workers. As you've already pointed out, they get $15 per hour without benefits. They need to own + operate their own car to drive to your house and they don't get paid extra for travel time. They help you for 4 hours, they get paid 4 hours. They are much better off working at a long term care facility or the hospital, where they will receive $15 per hour, get benefits, and they can bus to work.

[punkwax]

Did anyone else read Nurse Next Door and immediately think porn?

[murd0c]

My girlfriend is a care aid and she worked for nurse next door for a bit and she said it was the worst job she has ever had. They are all about cutting corners and dont really care about the person they are looking after. Its super said and pathetic a company like that takes advantage of so many people on a daily basis.

[MG1]

Originally Posted by punkwax

Did anyone else read Nurse Next Door and immediately think porn?

I thought it was, "Girl Next Door."

[MG1]

Originally Posted by murd0c

My girlfriend is a care aid and she worked for nurse next door for a bit and she said it was the worst job she has ever had. They are all about cutting corners and dont really care about the person they are looking after. Its super said and pathetic a company like that takes advantage of so many people on a daily basis.

Did you drop the gal who was a border guard?

Or same............

[highfive]

Guy who ran for mayor of Vancouver last election is the owner. And rosemary rock salt too

[yray]

^ probably had money in 1043 fm too, all you hear are their ads on the channel

[murd0c]

Originally Posted by MG1

Did you drop the gal who was a border guard?

Or same............

Oh I kicked her to the curb two years ago lol

[unit]

Originally Posted by Eff-1

Sorry to hear about all of your troubles. I have broken your post into paragraphs just to make it easier for people to read it. I promise I haven't changed any words. If you want, I can edit your original post to match, but wouldn't do that without your permission first. Let me know.

dammit i read it all and then read your post afterwards

grim, i'm really sorry about how poorly you've been treated and want to thank you for sharing your story and review of this company.

[Obsideon]

Originally Posted by Eff-1

Sorry to hear about all of your troubles. I have broken your post into paragraphs just to make it easier for people to read it. I promise I haven't changed any words. If you want, I can edit your original post to match, but wouldn't do that without your permission first. Let me know.

Dude, Thank you!
The original wall of text was actually really difficult to follow. I kept losing track of which line I was on. I was tempted to break it up but somebody awesome already did. RS for the win!

And to the OP of the thread. Thank you for sharing and take care!

[westopher]

Sorry to hear about your injury and your terrible experience grim. My wife almost took a job with them when we first moved here and she was having trouble getting her foot in the door into the provincial health authority. The pay for their nurses and health care aides is appalling and it's clear how they operate their business. Truthfully they are an excellent example of why for-profit healthcare is an issue.

[6793026]

Originally Posted by Eff-1

Sorry to hear about all of your troubles. I have broken your post into paragraphs just to make it easier for people to read it. I promise I haven't changed any words. If you want, I can edit your original post to match, but wouldn't do that without your permission first. Let me know.

holy F, wish i read YOUR paragraph worthy separation instead.. cause holy dangggg my eye were hurting.

Sorry Grim to hear what's going on. Yes, the turn over is epic because the moment these aids are able to find a job at any single given care home, they are gone... even these care home are flooded with literally 60-90 job postings looking for nurses.