Who is responsible for paying Caregivers’ Compensation, professional and bonding insurance?
My mom didn’t know she had compassion fatigue, since nobody named for her this extreme caregiving stress back when she was looking after her mother, who was in her 90s and had Alzheimer’s disease. By the end, Mom was dutifully visiting the nursing home day after day for hours, where she’d not only quietly tend my grandmother but also became such a familiar face that she also felt she had to stop and greet half the other residents, visit Gram’s barely-verbal roommate, bring treats to the nursing staff, and so on. It was compassionate. But it was also taxing. And it added up to compassion fatigue. Compassion fatigue is a recognized stress disorder that often affects people in healthcare. But family caregivers are just as vulnerable. “Grieving by inches” is how compassion fatigue expert Sherri Showalter, a social worker in Tarpon Springs, Florida, describes it. My mom didn’t stop making the daily visits until her own doctor ordered her not to. As her own health began to suffer, he suggest
