A caregiver starts with the instructions you handed over. Then the household changes. A different door is used. Laundry moves. A relative adds a request by text. One caregiver writes a note in the margin, while another keeps an older copy in a bag.
The hiring decision is not finished until someone owns the working instructions. Use the steps below to create one copy, control changes, and remove instructions that no longer apply. For the larger hiring sequence, keep Start Here: Five Steps to Hiring beside this sheet.
1. Name the working copy
Write this at the top of the page:
Working caregiver instructions kept at: ____________________
Person responsible for maintaining them: ____________________
Backup person: ____________________
The location should be specific enough that a new caregiver can find it without calling you. Write “blue folder in the kitchen drawer beside the refrigerator,” not “in the kitchen.”
If the provider uses an app or office record instead of a household folder, ask:
“Which copy controls the shift when the app, the office record, and a paper in the house do not match?”
Write the answer: ____________________
Walk away from any arrangement in which nobody can identify the controlling copy.
2. Separate standing instructions from one-shift notes
Put recurring household instructions on the working sheet. Put temporary requests on a separate shift note. This prevents a request meant for one visit from becoming an unwritten permanent duty.
Use these headings on the working sheet:
Entry and lockup: ____________________
Tasks included every shift: ____________________
Tasks that require family approval first: ____________________
Items the caregiver must record before leaving: ____________________
Person to contact about a household problem: ____________________
Do not copy medication directions, treatment directions, or equipment settings from memory. If any instruction comes from a professional or product document, record the document title and where the current copy is kept. The site’s Sources page shows the public-source standard used by this desk.
3. Test each instruction for one clear action
Read every line aloud and ask what the caregiver would physically do.
Replace “help with laundry” with the loads, machines, supplies, and stopping point you actually expect. Replace “keep the kitchen clean” with the surfaces, dishes, trash, and food storage tasks included in the shift. Replace “call if there is a problem” with the person, number, and type of event that should trigger the call.
For each line, ask:
“Could two reasonable people read this and do different things?”
If yes, rewrite it. The method behind using checkable language is explained in How We Write the Sheets.
4. Run the sheet through one real shift
Give the caregiver the sheet at the start of a shift. Do not explain every line first. Ask the caregiver to mark anything that cannot be completed from the written instruction alone.
At the end, compare the marks with what happened:
Instruction that required a phone call: ____________________
Supply or location that was unclear: ____________________
Task that did not fit inside the scheduled hours: ____________________
Request made verbally but missing from the sheet: ____________________
Do not solve a repeated gap with another private text. Decide whether the instruction belongs in the working copy, in a one-shift note, or outside the caregiver’s assignment.
5. Control every change
When someone requests a change, the person maintaining the sheet should write down four things before replacing the instruction:
Requested change: ____________________
Who requested it: ____________________
Who confirmed it with the caregiver or provider: ____________________
Where the updated working copy was placed: ____________________
If an agency or other provider controls the assignment, ask whether task changes must go through its office. Record the route it gives you:
Change submitted by: phone / portal / email / other ____________________
Person or department confirming acceptance: ____________________
Record left behind: ____________________
Listen for a named route and a confirmation you can keep. “Just tell whoever is there” leaves the instruction dependent on one conversation.
6. Remove the old copy
Replacing the page is not complete while an earlier version remains where someone might use it.
Check the refrigerator, kitchen counter, household binder, caregiver bag, family text thread, provider portal, and any other place where instructions have been shared. Mark each location:
Current copy confirmed: ____________________
Old copy removed or clearly marked inactive: ____________________
If the provider keeps its own service record, ask:
“Who updates your record, and how will I know the change reached the next caregiver?”
Write the name or role and the confirmation method: ____________________
7. Assign a recurring maintenance check
Choose a regular point in the household routine when the owner will compare the written instructions with the work actually being requested.
Maintenance check occurs: ____________________
Owner reviews:
1. Whether the listed tasks are still being requested.
2. Whether any repeated verbal request belongs on the sheet.
3. Whether supplies and locations still match the instructions.
4. Whether the scheduled hours still contain the listed work.
5. Whether every active caregiver has access to the controlling copy.
The check is complete only after conflicting copies are removed and the affected caregiver or provider confirms receipt.
8. Use one failed instruction as the test
When an instruction is missed, do not begin by adding more detail everywhere. Trace that one line.
Was it present in the controlling copy? yes / no
Could the caregiver find that copy? yes / no
Was the wording specific enough to act on? yes / no
Did the task fit the agreed assignment and available time? yes / no
Was a later verbal or text instruction competing with it? yes / no
Fix the failed handoff, then run the same line through the next shift. If the provider cannot say which instruction controls, who updates it, or how the next caregiver receives it, stop adding requests until that maintenance path is settled.
Final record:
Working copy location: ____________________
Maintenance owner: ____________________
Provider update route: ____________________
Next scheduled check: ____________________