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Providing care
Let's look at providing care, or what's known as care giving. Whether we're caring for a loved one or a friend, what does it mean to provide the proper skin and wound care? Skin and wound healing can be a complicated process. Frame of mind, emotions, and ability to learn all play an important role. Providing care means we have to learn, plan ahead, and make the best use of our time. Providing care means understanding health conditions and using proper techniques and supplies, which can often make some of our responsibilities more manageable and shorten the time it takes for our skin or wound to heal. Providing care means we may be managing, and therefore have to understand, our feelings of frustration, isolation, and the challenges that may lie ahead.
What can you do in your role as a caregiver? Provide encouragement. Provide emotional and spiritual support. Remain aware of other factors that may be slowing the healing process. For example, does the individual have trouble sleeping? Do they cry a lot? Is there a low energy level? An affirmative answer to any of these questions should be discussed with your primary care provider.
As a caregiver, let your loved one or friend do as much as his or her abilities allow. This will provide a sense of independence. The more the individual is in control and feels a sense of self-worth and accomplishment, the more comfortable he or she will feel with their healing process.
You can also provide valuable information to the doctors, nurses, therapists, case managers, and others involved on the team providing care, about what you are observing in your role as a caregiver. You can help with decision-making and finding the necessary services. But keep in mind, a caregiver's job can be very demanding. Care giving should not be handled alone. It has to be shared.
As a caregiver you should:
· Maintain a positive attitude
· Accept help and support from others when necessary
· Provide privacy for the patient
· Allow the patient time to adjust
· Eat right, get plenty of rest and exercise
· Talk with friends to keep in touch
· Receive professional help when necessary
· Treat the patient with respect
· Allow the patient to assist with tasks according to abilities
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