Live-in Patient Caregiver: What Do They Do?

What Does a Live-in Patient Caregiver Do?
How Is Home Patient Care Done?

1. First, Personal Hygiene of the Patient

• The professional caregiver ensures the patient takes a bath.
• If the individual is bedridden, they will manage their personal hygiene and cleanliness. They change their clothes.    
• Additionally, tasks like brushing teeth, washing hands and face, and combing hair are also part of the caregiver’s duties.

2. Medication Tracking

• The caregiver ensures the patient or elderly person takes their medication on time and as prescribed by the doctor.   

3. Assisting with Movement

• They move bedridden individuals in bed and assist with exercises recommended by the physiotherapist . This helps the patient to work their muscles.
• They assist elderly or sick individuals with getting up, sitting down, or walking. 
• They accompany those who can go outside for a walk and help them safely enjoy the fresh air outside.   

4. Meals

• They prepare meals according to the patient's or elderly person’s dietary needs.   
• If necessary, they help or feed the individual. If tube feeding is required, they prepare the appropriate food.   

5. Cleaning and Organizing

• They clean and air out the patient’s room.
• They ensure necessary supplies are readily available for the patient.
• They change bed linens with clean ones and wash the dirty ones. They iron the dried clothes.   

6. Morale Support for the Patient

• The caregiver doesn’t just perform physical tasks; they also chat with the individual and offer moral support.

7. Quick Action in Emergencies

• Among the caregiver’s responsibilities is acting quickly in an emergency. For example, if the patient faints or falls, they notify family members. If a situation requiring serious medical intervention arises, they immediately contact healthcare professionals.

8. Monitoring the Patient’s Condition

• The caregiver keeps track of the patient’s general health status. If any changes are observed, they inform the family or doctors.
• They take notes regarding sleep patterns, diet, pain levels, and overall condition during the daily care process.   

9. Social Needs

• The caregiver encourages the patient to socialize or engages them in activities to pass the time pleasantly. For example, they read books, watch TV, or solve puzzles with the patient. 

By the way, let’s answer the frequently searched question on the internet, “Does the caregiver give injections?” In Turkey, the authority to administer injections lies with doctors, nurses, emergency medical technicians, and health officers. Therefore, no one outside of these professions is allowed to give injections. However, caregivers can learn and perform simple tasks like wound care and bandage changes.

So, does the caregiver clean the house? General house cleaning is not part of patient care services. However, cleaning and organizing the patient’s room and ensuring hygiene are important tasks for the caregiver.