Margaretta Page, MS, RN, clinical nurse specialist, UCSF School of Medicine, offers advice to nurses for how to care for the caregiver.
Margaretta Page, MS, RN, clinical nurse specialist, UCSF School of Medicine, offers advice to nurses for how to care for the caregiver.
Page says the first thing a nurse should do is acknowledge the caregiver and assess them for signs of distress. Nurses should ask the caregiver how they’re doing and ask them if they are in need of any information.
At the time of diagnosis, caregivers’ needs focus more around information, Page says. Caregivers also have difficulty dealing with the financial burden associated with insurance and disability of the patient.
Page says nurses should provide the caregivers with information or put them in touch with resources that are available to them.