Nursing Agency information to help friend of a friend.

[dotpoom]

I have a good friend who has been taking care of a friend of his in that person's own house for about two years now. His friend has Parkinson's Disease and he moved in with him in order to take care of him as best he could. Unfortunately the illness has progressed since then and he is finding it more difficult and stressful being a full time carer. While the person with the Parkinson's is still mobile (an electronic wheelchair) his mobility around the house has deteriorated significantly, but his brain is as sharp as ever. Having reviewed the situation my friend feels it is time to employ a full time live in carer with a medical background. Somebody responsible that could possibly detect a change in his friends condition while my friend is out of the country (he leaves Thailand for about 6 months every year). 

   We were wondering if there is an nursing Agency in Pattaya... or what would be the best way to go about finding a suitable person to fill this position.

  I offered to post this on TV as I know there are many knowledgeable people here and also suggested the Ex Pat's club for some possible information.

   He reckoned about 10,000 Bt. a month might be a fair wage seeing as it is a live in position. Any views on that would be most welcome.

   Thank you all in advance for reading this and for any suggestions you may have.

P.S. I suppose simply advertising in the classifieds is another option but would like to try the Agency way first.

[mrtoad]

10,000 a month won't get you a qualified Nurse that us for certain, you'd be needing to pay 30k minimum would be my guess. 10k would get a helper.

Sorry, I don't know what agency to recommend

[CharlieH]

I am moving this over to the health forum for better suggestions, and experienced members.

MOVED

[rgs2001uk]

Live in position, that means expecting a full time carer 24/7 for 10k per month.

No chance.

 

Jeez girls are being paid more working 9 hour shifts in factories these days, with free accomodation provided.

[mrtoad]

Nurses working international hospitals are gettin 40k plus. The government ones get less, but get the civil service benefits. Philippines might be an option

[samuibeachcomber]

pattaya expats club would be a good place to start to ask for help and information.I agree with others here about remuneration,30,000 minimum.

 

It must be difficult for your friend and heartbreaking too.

 

I dont know much about parkinson's but if he is 'sharp as a tack" then maybe a carer is all he needs and someone trusting who could go to pharmacy when medicine is needed,to cook food,clean the house and i guess clean him to.

 

If that were the case then maybe 15000-20,000 would suffice.Best to be generous with this if financially possible.

[dotpoom]

Thanks for the replies so far lads (and ladies). I was afraid the 10,000 Bt. a month might end up being the focus of discussion but that is OK as it's better it is laid out in the open for him to consider. I felt that myself but didn't like to say it to him as I'm not sure what way the finances are being arranged and how much can be afforded. However, I think what is suggested here is affordable for his friend (if he is willing to pay it, if you know what I mean).

 PS. I am sending the link with all the replies to him so thank you again from the 3 of us.

Edited August 5, 2014 by dotpoom

[NancyL]

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to concur with the advice that 10,000 baht/month isn't going to cut it, especially to care for someone who is so vulnerable. It could be a suitable salary for a secondary assistant, someone who isn't live-in, someone who comes in to help out, like 8 hr/day and works under the supervision of someone trusted. But you wouldn't want to have someone with Parkinson's in the sole care of a live-in person paid just 10,000 baht/month.

Usually for someone in this position, it's best to assemble a "care team" with more than more person. You need someone supervising like taking care of financial matters, visa, banking, shopping, running the household supervising the others; someone to do household chores and someone to do patient care like bathing, dressing, feeding toileting. It isn't cheap.

In my involvement with Lanna Care Net, I've seen several Parkinson's victims totally burnout friends and spouses expecting just one person to do all of these tasks. Yes, their minds are still good, but they can have totally unrealistic expectations of what others can be expected to do in caring for them. I don't mean to sound harsh, but it's important for anyone with Parkinson's to think ahead to assemble a team of paid, professional carers if they want to remain at home and not plan on imposing on friends and family as a long-term care plan. Edited August 7, 2014 by NancyL

[dotpoom]

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to concur with the advice that 10,000 baht/month isn't going to cut it, especially to care for someone who is so vulnerable. It could be a suitable salary for a secondary assistant, someone who isn't live-in, someone who comes in to help out, like 8 hr/day and works under the supervision of someone trusted. But you wouldn't want to have someone with Parkinson's in the sole care of a live-in person paid just 10,000 baht/month.

Usually for someone in this position, it's best to assemble a "care team" with more than more person. You need someone supervising like taking care of financial matters, visa, banking, shopping, running the household supervising the others; someone to do household chores and someone to do patient care like bathing, dressing, feeding toileting. It isn't cheap.

In my involvement with Lanna Care Net, I've seen several Parkinson's victims totally burnout friends and spouses expecting just one person to do all of these tasks. Yes, their minds are still good, but they can have totally unrealistic expectations of what others can be expected to do in caring for them. I don't mean to sound harsh, but it's important for anyone with Parkinson's to think ahead to assemble a team of paid, professional carers if they want to remain at home and not plan on imposing on friends and family as a long-term care plan.

Thank you Nancy for your informative post.