Caregiver: Roxanne B.

Employer: Dorson Home Care

Location: West Orange, New Jersey

Inspiration for this Nomination:

Upon arriving at work, on Thursday, May 23rd, 2013 at 8:30 am. CHHA Roxanne B. stated that her client, Mrs. R. complained of not feeling well. Mrs. R. complained of feeling sick. When the Aide asked her what in particular was wrong? She said, "I feel sick, it's spiritual sickness." Not understanding what Mrs. R. meant and that she appeared confused; the Aide proceeded to ask her a few pertinent questions. She asked her; did she take her blood pressure medication and did she have anything to eat this morning. Mrs. R. response was, "no I only had a cup of tea," and that she had taken her blood pressure medication around 7am. She placed her in a chair and asked her, are you feeling any dizziness or any pain anywhere," to which Mrs. R. replied no. She took Mrs. R. blood pressure and it was 124/88. This was WNL (within normal limits). Mrs. R. then checked her blood sugar, which was 117, also WNL (within normal limits). She then asked her to call her granddaughter on the phone. When her granddaughter arrived on the phone, Mrs. R. was heard telling her, that she was worried about her children at home in Guyana , South America, and her granddaughter can be heard asking, " Why are you worried about them?" that they were grown. The Aide took her to lay down on the bed and offered to make her something to eat, in the hopes that she would feel better. She then called the office and reported that her client complained of not feeling well and that she will keep us posted. During this time the Aide reported that she kept going back and forth to check on her. After she finished making the breakfast, when she came to give it to her, she found that Mrs. R. was not able to drink the tea she had made. She dribbled and it came back out of the side of her mouth. The Aide realizing that something was seriously wrong, called the paramedics, but Mrs. R. told her that she wanted to use the bathroom to urinate first. Upon escorting her to the bathroom, Roxanne discovered that Mrs. R. was not walking upright. Mrs. R. used a cane but was unable to ambulate correctly, even with her help. After placing her to sit on the toilet the aide asked her to hold up her right hand for her, she lifted it up but it fell back down. The aide then escorted her back to the bed then called 911. This Aide is in school for her LPN license. When the aide called the paramedics they asked her to stay on the line. They then instructed her to try these three steps with her client: (1) One was to ask her to smile and describe her smile. When Mrs. R. smiled her smile went more to the right. The Aide then reported this. (2)Then the Aide was told to ask the client to raise both of her arms in the air but she was unable to do so. (3)Then she told the aide to ask the client to repeat the sentence, "the bird catches the worm." The aide repeated it three times but the client could not repeat it. A few minutes after the EMT arrived and they asked the client her name and she was unable to state it so, the Aide supplied her name to them. Then Mrs. R. asked the Aide, are you coming with me Cheryl? The Aide whose name was Roxanne, replied yes she would stay with her. She later found out that Cheryl was another family member that she had not seen before. The EMT took her vitals and questioned the Aide about her last doctor visit and to bring out her medications. In the mean while, they were saying, that it looked like she was having a stroke. The client was subsequently admitted to the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, where she is still is as of 6/24/13. At this time, the Aide's scheduled time had ended. She called the agency and reported the incident and present situation and that she will stay with her client until she was relieved. Mrs. R. lives alone in a senior building so the Aide did not want to leave her alone. The Aide stated that, she could have been her mother. Several weeks later the Aide attended a family gathering in Brooklyn and while there she saw a woman who said to her that she looked familiar and she told her, she did too. She found out that night that the woman was her Aunt Inez's granddaughter. This same woman also happened to be Mrs. R., her client's granddaughter. What a small world!

Caregiver's Best Skills and Attributes:

She goes above and beyond.

Feedback About This Caregiver:

Her client's always talk about how loving and caring she is.

More About This Caregiver:

I learned that she really looks at all her clients as if they were her family.

She deserves this award because she works really hard and it's not for the money she does it because she loves helping people.

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