For want of a nail the shoe was lost.
For want of a shoe the horse was lost.
For want of a horse the rider was lost.
For want of a rider the battle was lost.
For want of a battle the kingdom was lost.
And all for the want of a horseshoe nail.
Our caregivers are often the main shoppers for our clients. As such, we fill a very important role in their lives through maintaining their supplies. In many instances both daily and occasional home “operations” cannot go forward without necessary supplies. If you look at the rhyme above, you’ll see how this is no minor thing. And since we are so often working the with frail, it doesn’t take very much of a missing nail to truly negatively impact the client.
Until about a year ago and for the previous decade, as a volunteer I developed and coordinated programs for citizens about emergency preparedness. I worked extensively with the Concord (MA) police and fire departments, and I led, managed, and taught these programs. I developed the following as my philosophy, and I bring it to our work at CCC: “There are emergencies that we cannot foresee; we can only respond to those as they arise. Other emergencies we CAN foresee; we’re nuts if we don’t prepare for and if possible prevent them.”
This doesn’t apply only to emergencies, but to urgent situations, as well as wherever else some reasonable foresight would yield more convenient, comfortable and efficient results. We hear complaints about this from clients who have worked with other agencies — particularly from the adult children who, at a moment’s notice, may be expected to drop everything and get some missing item over to mom or dad’s place. “Why was it when we worked with another agency, it was every day that another thing just HAD to be brought over right away?” is a typical complaint I’ve heard. “We’d never get a list of more than one urgent thing so we don’t have to respond to these requests every single caregiver shift. I would have been happy to pick up tomorrow’s prescription refill at the same time I got today’s latex gloves — if only I knew in advance. It was simply maddening that I never did!”
Let me tell you the most outrageous, avoidable emergency supply story I know. Last year, a good friend and her father were residing 3000 miles (and three time zones) apart. He was living with a serious medical condition and needed 24 hour care at home. One night, his caregiver (on the west coast) on shift called my friend (on the east coast) saying, “Your father’s had a bad bout of diarrhea and we’ve run out of incontinence briefs. I need some right away.” “What in the world was I going to do?” she later told me. “I thought of everything I could. I started calling drugstores in his city trying to find one that would deliver. I called dozens — not one would help. I even thought that if I drove to Logan Airport and hopped a flight immediately I could be there in 6 hours. I would then be able get them to him myself. It was completely surreal that I was even entertaining this as an option.” Eventually, she found a cab company serving his area that would pick up a box of his customary brand ($13) at a local drugstore, and drop them off to him — to the tune of a $55 taxi charge!
Researching further, she found that some agencies in our own area solve this problem by having managerial staff keep boxes of emergency supplies like latex gloves, hand sanitizer and incontinence supplies in their cars. At any time, they could be called by a caregiver on a job somewhere to personally rush any of these over. If ever there was an avoidable emergency, it’s running out of one of these totally sure-to-be-used-up, absolutely necessary supplies.
Surely, there has got to be a much better approach. Some colleagues recently told me that my 6-word memoir should be this: “Attempting to bring sanity wherever possible.” Though some accuse me of actually causing insanity, I think CCC can ably apply methods from other disciplines to maintain our supply chain and prevent emergencies, bringing home care even furtherinto the 21st century! Surely we caregivers, clients, families, and agency management deserve this kind of sanity.
One of the ways we smoothly maintain a client’s supplies is through teamwork. We place a very high value on staff like myself, our caregivers, clients and family communicating and cooperating with one another. We use email, telephone, and our unique online reporting system to keep everyone informed and on the same page. With a team, we not only know no one is in this alone, but it’s one way we maintain a culture at CCC where we constantly try to discover how efficiently we can work together on behalf of the client. Having to get ONE thing EVERY day at the store is kind of embarrassing if it happens once or twice — but as a steady habit? We see no reason to go in that direction!
We’d love to hear your ideas — what’s worked for you in keeping things organized? What HASN’T worked for you? Please add your comments!
