Credentials, Competency, and the Invisible Expertise of Family Caregivers
Credentials, Competency, and the Invisible Expertise of Family Caregivers One of the strangest conversations I have ever had within the home-care system happened many years ago. At one point, after multiple frightening experiences with nurses coming into our home, it was suggested that perhaps I should go back to school and get a nursing degree so I could then become “qualified” to care for Alex. On the surface, maybe that sounds reasonable. Until you look closer. Because by that point, I was already doing things many of the nurses coming into our home had never done themselves. And some of the situations we experienced were not minor. One nurse documented Alex’s dropping temperature and heart rate but did not recognize the severity of what was happening. Alex ultimately ended up in the ER with profound hypothermia. His temperature was so low it would not even register on the device. Another nurse had Alex’s ventilator turned off and partially disassembled while he was still dependent ...
