The Caregiver’s Journey 1

The Nightly Care Checklist is the form I need to fill out during my 12-hour shift from 7:00 pm to 7:00 am.  I must be sure to fill out my name, the date, and the time in the top left-hand corner.  During the night, I must perform the following duties: 1.  If the PM medication has not been administered, then I must attempt to administer the PM medication.  If my client refuses to take his medication, then I must log that he refused to take his evening medication.  2.  For safety, I must check that all five doors leading in and out of the house are locked and secured.  3.  I am not to clean during the evening shift because it may disturb my clients’ restful evening hours.  4. There are emergency medications that are available in case my client has a severe mood swing and becomes belligerent or violent.  I have never had to administer them on any of my shifts.  However, there is a place in the log to fill out if it is necessary to do so.  The managers (my client’s son and daughter) ask that one communicate with them first before administering the emergency medicine and to explain the reason for the administration thereof.  5.  If my client has a backache or headache, there is a medication that is termed ‘over the counter’ that one may administer.  I have been asked by my client several times in the past to provide him pain relief for his sore back or a headache. I always am conscientious about logging in the amount given and the time it was administered.  6.  I use this part of the log most every shift. We share hot-tea served oriental style as one of our rituals.  Because my client has Alzheimer’s, he can never remember my real name.  However, his has a nickname for me that he always remembers whence; he sees me.  My client calls me Ocha after the Japanese tea ceremony. “It is a choreographic ritual of preparing and serving Japanese green tea, called Matcha, together with traditional Japanese sweets to balance with the bitter taste of the tea.” He usually eats dinner or a small snack on my shift.  I bring my lunch box, and we eat together at the dining room table which is on the floor in Japanese style.  My client calls the dining table “chabudai,” which is a short-legged table used in traditional Japanese homes. The original chabudai ranged in height from just 15 cm to a maximum height of 30 cm. People seated at a chabudai may sit on zabuton or tatami rather than on chairs” My client is very agile for being in his late seventies.  He is hilarious. We laugh, he tells jokes, and he shares stories.  Sometimes I read to him or share something I have written for a class at school.  He is always receptive and encouraging toward my studies at the University.  8.  My client has a male dog name Haruto which I understand means’ sun flying.’ My client loves Haruto, and Haruto loves my client.  I make sure Haruto is fed, his water bowls and food bowls are clean, and I also bring in the outside water bowl into the house at night.  I have trained Haruto to sit, lie down, stay, be gentle when he is offered food.  I practice with him every shift. Seeing his dog trained gives my client great joy!