The first two weeks decide whether this works. Most arrangements that fail, fail in week one over things that were entirely predictable.
Before the first shift
- Get the written disclosure statement and read the termination and billing sections properly.
- Get the service plan in writing, with specific tasks and specific times.
- Confirm the caregiver's name and the backup's name.
- Write a one-page household sheet: medications and where they are, doctors, allergies, who to call, the alarm code, where things live, what the person likes to eat and to watch.
- Tell the person receiving care what is happening, honestly, before the caregiver arrives. Being surprised by a stranger in the house is how first shifts go badly.
- Decide what the caregiver is called. "Someone to help around the house" lands better than "your caregiver" with people who are not ready to be a patient.
Day one
- Be there for the first hour if you possibly can. Not the whole shift — the first hour.
- Walk the house together.
- Do the introductions in the person's own words, not clinical ones.
- Set the expectation that the first week is a trial for everyone, including the caregiver.
Week one
- Check the visit notes after every shift.
- Call the agency on day three, not day fourteen, with anything that is not working. Small corrections in week one are routine; the same conversation in week four is a complaint.
- Watch for the shower. It is the task most often quietly skipped, and the one most likely to signal that the caregiver and client are not clicking.
- Notice whether the schedule is actually right, or whether the hard hours are somewhere else.
Week two
- Ask the person receiving care directly, without the caregiver there, whether it is going well.
- Ask the caregiver what would make their shift work better. They usually know exactly and are rarely asked.
- Adjust hours based on two weeks of evidence rather than the original guess.
- Put a thirty-day review in the calendar.
If it is not working, say so early and specifically. "It is not a great fit" gets you a shrug. "She is arriving fifteen minutes late and the shower has been skipped four times" gets you a different caregiver. Agencies can only fix what you tell them.
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Related
Common questions
What should I do before the first caregiver visit?
Get the written disclosure and the service plan, confirm the caregiver and backup by name, write a one-page household sheet, and tell the person receiving care what is happening before a stranger arrives at the door.
How soon should I raise a problem with the agency?
Day three, not day fourteen. Small corrections in week one are routine; the same conversation in week four is a complaint, and by then a caregiver may already have disengaged.
Sources for this page
- NRS Chapter 449B — Agencies to Provide Personal Care Services and Related Entities — Nevada Legislature, 2025.
- NAC Chapter 449 — including NAC 449.396 to 449.3982 — Nevada Legislature, 2026.
- Agency to Provide Personal Care Services in the Home — Nevada Bureau of Health Care Quality and Compliance, 2026.
- Nevada public license search — health facilities — Nevada HCQC, 2026.
- Health Facility Complaints — Nevada HCQC, 2026.
- AB 519, Chapter 158, Statutes of Nevada 2025 — Nevada Legislature, 2025. Approved and effective May 30, 2025.
Reviewed by the Vegas Senior Advisor care team. Last updated November 11, 2026. Spot something wrong? Call (725) 465-8617 and we will correct it within one business day.
