Valinda Won Client’s Heart
A Home Instead® client had a 180-degree change of heart. CAREGiver of the Month Valinda Nash couldn’t have been happier, but she was caught off-guard by her client’s unusual request. “When I first started with her about seven months ago, the client didn’t want help from anybody. That was despite the fact we at Home Instead previously had helped her mother, who was in her 90s before she passed away,” Valinda said.
The 72-year-old client’s gradual attitude reversal was made complete when she asked Valinda, “Will you move in with me?” Valinda thought for a moment and replied, “I would if I could, but I’ve got my own place and kids to take care of.” What was the turning point for her client? “When she got to know us CAREGivers, she was more relaxed and at ease. Building bonds through companionship was important, but the one thing she absolutely did not want to do was to leave her home and go into a care community,” Valinda said.
Actually, the client could sense something was wrong with her health – something Valinda also had seen. Valinda told the staff at Home Instead of Clawson, “She cannot be alone because she cannot remember when she has eaten or when she has taken her medications. She needs 24/7 care in one form or another.”
When the challenges were explained, the client’s family agreed to additional assistance. Valinda said: “I am now a member of a 24/7 care team. As part of our teamwork routine, we journal about the client’s condition for each other and for the family. I am glad we can keep her in her home. I have seen this kind of situation before. For my own mother, I took her out of a care community and moved her back to her home where I could care for her.”
Family caregiving was part of Valinda’s life long before she joined Home Instead in November 2020. “My sisters and I took care of our father after he retired because he did not live more than six months after he stopped working. He had lung cancer, and it took him very quickly. We helped with everything, including personal care. I was 21 when he passed away,” Valinda said.
“My mother passed away two years ago at age 90. I lived with her for her final two years. I knew it was up to me to provide better care than what she was receiving at a facility. With in-home care, you get to choose who you want to take care of you; that is not so at an institution. It was a matter of her body wearing out because she really was not sickly. She was unable to walk. When I am with my Home Instead clients, my parents are in the back of my mind. Even more, I tell all of my clients I will treat them just as I would want to be treated.”
Valinda found Home Instead on Indeed.com. “I filled out an application, and the human resources manager called me. I had looked at the reviews from clients and their families on the Home Instead website and liked what I saw. I had been in the health-care field previously. I worked at a group home for a long time,” said Valinda, who was honored as the Home Instead franchise’s CAREGiver of the Month for April.
She has been even more impressed with Home Instead since joining the franchise. “As a Home Instead CAREGiver, I have talked to families about their options. Some of them had called a bunch of companies before choosing Home Instead. Some of them had used Home Instead and another company simultaneously, but they always seem to drop the other company and go solely with Home Instead. I have been told by families that we at Home Instead are more professional. I have been told we even look more professional,” Valinda said.
“My Home Instead job is going well. Home Instead runs smoothly. The training is very good. It is in a classroom setting. The staff shows you the things you need to know. I needed to brush up on some methods and techniques, and I think that’s probably true for all of us. Special training is available if it is needed for some clients. If I get a client for whom I need to know more things, I’ll ask for the training. We don’t go into any situation unprepared. I like Home Instead’s process to match clients with CAREGivers. You want things to go as smoothly as possible.”
Valinda added: “I already told my family I’ll continue to work for Home Instead until I retire. I should have gone to work for Home Instead sooner.”
Bert and Stephanie Copple own the award-winning Home Instead franchise, and Anne Monaghan is the general manager. Valinda is among more than 100,000 CAREGivers worldwide, and she has helped add to those numbers because of her strong belief in Home Instead’s purpose. It isn’t hard to see Valinda lives the Home Instead principles of “Build Trust, Take the Lead and Share Your Heart.”
All Home Instead CAREGivers are screened, trained, bonded and insured. For inquiries about employment, please call (248) 220-3009 or apply online. For further information about Home Instead, visit our website.
