The Importance of Waking Night Care

As we grow older, it’s only natural that nighttime can often become one of the most difficult periods of the day. Indeed, it can often be a period that we come to dread. Whether you’re living with mobility issues or a medical condition, or simply wish to have the reassurance of knowing there’s a friendly someone nearby, waking night care can be an invaluable source of support for those needing extra help overnight.

Waking night care provides continuous support throughout the night from an expertly-trained carer, giving both you and your loved ones peace of mind that someone is always on hand to proactively help you out in your home. Unlike sleeping night care, where the carer is expected to rest and only wake if needed, a waking night carer stays awake from dusk until dawn, ready to assist whenever necessary without hesitation.

Waking night care can be particularly beneficial for individuals living with more unpredictable or complex conditions such as dementia or Parkinson’s. It can also be useful for those who are recovering from surgery who might not be confident in their physical capabilities.

Having a trained professional available all night can also significantly reduce the stress for both the person receiving care and their family. Whether your waking night carer is helping you stay comfortable by repositioning you in bed, assisting with medication, accompanying you to the toilet or simply offering a calming presence during periods of confusion or anxiety, waking night carers provide vital support when it’s most needed.

One of the major advantages of waking night care is that it allows you to continue living safely and comfortably in your own home, rather than having to move to a residential care home. Home is often where we feel most at ease, and being able to maintain a familiar environment during the night can have a huge impact on how well we’re able to relax and sleep.

Waking Night or Overnight Care?

If you’re unsure whether you or your loved one requires waking night care or traditional overnight care, you can chat to your local care branch or give our friendly centralised customer care team a call, seven days a week. They’ll be able to answer all of your questions and schedule a meeting with your local care manager to suit you. We also have our own team of clinical nurses working for Helping Hands, meaning that if you’re living with a complex care condition and need a high level of support, our carers will receive additional care training to ensure they have all the skills they need to understand your condition.

Our Amazing Carers

Whether you choose waking or sleeping night care, you’ll benefit from a compassionate professional in your home who will always be focused on promoting your independence. They’ll encourage you to be involved in your care and help you to live as well as possible, using their experience to keep you comfortable and safe in the home you love. We build on our carers’ skills to make sure that they have all the knowledge they’ll need to support your condition, but more than anything, we only choose people to work for us who have natural qualities of kindness and empathy.

We’re very particular about only hiring carers who share our values and put kindness at the heart of everything they do. Our carers are highly motivated and feel valued by Helping Hands because we directly employ them – we’re not an agency and we look after our carers as well as they’ll look after you. This matters because it means we’re responsible for managing them, paying them and maintaining their wellbeing, responsibilities we take very seriously.