How do you handle a caregiver that is good but she gossips and takes sides in a family dispute? I have asked her not to get involved and she says she only says what she sees, which is not what I see at all. She takes sides and does harm to the family by bad mouthing me. As long as dad is taken care of she has done nothing wrong but her manners are horrible. How do you handle this scenario?
When I did Hospice, people in the community would ask how X was doing as they had seen my vehicle at their home. I would reply that if they were concerned, they should call the family. If I got push back about them knowing X for years and 'needed to know', I would counter with "would you like to know if I were caring for you that I was spreading your business all over town"?
Is this care that is happening in your home? A family members home? A facility?
Who hired the caregiver?
And a few other important things..
Are these conversations (gossip) happening in front of your dad? Is he aware of what is said? (ALWAYS assume that a patient can hear and understand what is being said) Is he contributing to any of the discussions?
Are any of the things being said a violation of HIPAA laws? If any of the conversations deal with his health issues and if the conversation is taking place with people that are NOT listed on HIPAA forms this is a violation and can be reported.
Are any of these conversations potentially going to upset your dad?
If the care is happening in your home, if you have hired this person then sitting down and discussing these issues is part of your job as an employer and you need to establish clear ground rules. If the caregiver ignores your instructions tell her that you will terminate her.
If the care is not happening in your home, if you have not hired her you should have a discussion with the person that did.
If the care is happening in a facility reporting the incident to the supervisor might work.
If the caregiver is from an agency reporting the inappropriate conversations to her manager would also be appropriate. (if a private conversation has not worked)
I would not put up with anyone that is potentially driving a wedge between family members during a stressful time. Caregiving (even with the help of a hired caregiver) is a stressful time in a family's life and you do not need someone stirring the pot and fueling flames.
you wrote:
“She takes sides and does harm to the family by bad mouthing me.”
i’ve seen this exact, bizarre, inappropriate behavior, too, from a friend’s caregiver.
what i think, is that some caregivers actually enjoy creating trouble/conflict within the family! they get the ball rolling, and want to pit family members against each other (usually highlighting that she/he, the caregiver, is the hero in this situation).
it’s very bad behavior from the caregiver.
i think some caregivers enjoy the “power” they have!!
they know you are to some extent at their mercy! dependent on them!
they know, you might not be in a position to fire easily (there might not be many, good, alternative caregivers available).
in my friend’s case, there was luck:
through fate, this caregiver had to go away, and another caregiver appeared.
it’s a personality thing (your gossip caregiver), i think. some people have bad personalities, want to see/create conflict in an already-suffering/stressed-out family.
hug!!
i hope you can get a different caregiver.
bundle of joy
I've worked for many families over the years and a lot of times the caregiver gets put in the middle of feuding family members because one is looking for an ally against the other and wants them to take their side. I've been in that situation many times. I never volunteered information to anyone, family or not. If some family member asks me a question, I answer it truthfully. I refuse to lie or cover for anyone. I cared for one elder with advanced dementia that lived with her husband who was still mentally competent and independent. They had three adult children. One of the daughters was an alcoholic and drug addict who the other siblings didn't want in the house unless they gave permission for her to be there (they lived out of town). Well she was homeless and stayed there at night. She often was there during the day as well. Their father used to help her out with money too. The siblings found this out when they were combing over the father's bank statements on their monthly inspection visit. They did absolutely nothing for either of their parents in any other way, but they kept the hawk's eye on how their dad was spending his own hard-earned money.
When they found out about this arrangement there was hell to pay and they expected me to pay it. I got blamed for not telling them. I told them that it wasn't part of my job to report their father's business back to them. I was hired to take care of their mom's needs and make sure the home was maintained during the hours I was paid to work and that's it. Which is exactly what I did. Then their father gave me a nice raise.
If your father likes her and he's being well cared for then I'd tell you to just ignore the gossip and intrigues. If her talking troubles you so much then have a word with her. Remind her about what her job is and that talking about you to the family is not part of it. A good and competent caregiver who works hard and also gets along with the elder they're caring for is hard to find. Don't cut off your nose to spite your face because you don't like the caregiver.
What matters is that your father does and by what you've said here, she does a good job with him. Leave well enough alone.
Maybe your family members ask her questions and expect her to answer and if that's the case if you are Dad's Primary Care Giver, you have the right to tell her that what goes on in your household is Private and for her to refer all questions from your family or anyone else to you to answer.
Tell her she is causing problems in the family and if she wants to continue working there, to stop talking to others about Dad's Care.
If she has any concerns to only talk to you.
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