It must be every outgoing carers nightmare when the incoming carer decides for whatever reason that she is simply not staying.
Here you are at the end of your placement. Your bags are packed, your train is booked, and maybe even your flight home is all arranged.
After most placements carers will be tired – to say the least. For such a long time we look forward to our future, wherever we are heading. All of a sudden, those plans seen to be falling apart in front of our eyes.
In this situation is it easy to see why tempers can become short and words flung around which we may regret later.
So, what can we do?
The first thing to do is to find out the reason for the incoming carer wanting to leave. There has to be a reason. She agreed to take the placement so it must have met with her approval at the time. Has something changed? If so, what was it?
Illness
This is the most probable cause for an incoming carer to not want to stay. If she arrives ill, then you certainly have an issue on your hands.
Depending on what is wrong with her she may not even be fit to take over from you. She may be infectious or have injured herself so that she cannot work.
The agency must be notified as soon as possible. They will need to access the situation and see how fast they can bring another carer to you so that you can leave.
They will also decide if the incoming carer is fit to stay or needs to be removed right away. Either way, the decision needs to be made as soon as possible so you can still make your flight.
Personal issues
Should the incoming carer arrive and want to leave right away due to personal reasons, you may want to find out exactly what they are. This will be a situation where you may be inclined to lose your temper (you’re tired and want to go home, remember).
Depending on the personal issue at hand, she may feel she has to leave (in the case of a relative about to die or being critically ill).
Once you have established the reason, contact your agency or the family and discuss with them any options there may be.
It may be possible for a family member to stay until a new carer can be brought in.
The incoming carer doesn’t like night calls or the routine
This is something that she will have been told when she was approached about the placement. Talking to you may have left her thinking that there are too many calls for her liking, and she is not prepared to stay.
Call the agency right away. This is something for them to discuss and you may not want to get involved as it will only lead to unpleasantness – after all, you’ve just stayed for a month or more and have dealt with them, so why can’t/won’t she?
To sum up
This situation fortunately does not happen very often, although it does happen and can be a complete nightmare for the outgoing carer, especially if there is a flight involved.
It is important to get in touch with your agency as soon as possible and have them talk to the carer. They should/may be able to persuade her to stay a few days until they find a replacement. Often after a few days, things will improve, and she will stay anyway.
One thing to remember is that when this happens, you will be tired, possibly grouchy, and desperately in need of a break. Tempers can easily flare, and nasty words flung.
Try to stay calm and diffuse the situation, instead of adding to an already tense situation. Most of all, let your agency or the family deal with it.
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