Night nurse or night caregiver: what you are really looking for
Many families search for a night nurse when Mum or Dad starts having bad nights. It is an understandable search. You want someone trained in the house, someone who will know what to do if something goes wrong at 3am.
We want to be clear about what we offer, because it matters. Our Night Care is a trained night caregiver, supervised by a named registered nurse. The caregiver is not a registered nurse at the bedside. The nurse is responsible for your parent's care, writes the plan the caregiver follows, sets the safe ranges for readings, and checks and signs every night report.
For most older parents, a caregiver overnight is what the nights actually call for. The hard parts of the night are getting to the toilet safely, settling after waking confused, being turned in bed, and having someone there who notices when something is not right. Those are caregiving tasks, and a well trained caregiver with a nurse behind them does them well.
Some parents genuinely need nursing at night. That might be because they need injections or a drip through the night, have a wound or a tube that needs clinical care, or have a condition that is changing quickly after hospital. Our caregivers never give injections and do not do clinical tasks. When the nurse assesses your parent at home, they will tell you honestly whether a caregiver overnight is enough or whether your parent needs a nurse at night, and explain the difference.
Who night care is for
Night care is for a parent who copes reasonably well in the day, or who already has day help, but for whom the nights have become the risky part. Often there is no single event. Dad has been getting up three or four times a night. Mum has started calling out after dark. Whoever sleeps nearest is no longer sleeping.
- Your parent gets up at night to use the toilet and is unsteady on their feet
- They have fallen at night, or you are worried that they will
- They become confused, anxious or restless in the evening and through the night
- They have just come home from hospital and the first weeks of nights feel uncertain
- They are bedbound and need turning and checking during the night
- The family member caring for them is worn out from broken sleep
- Mum or Dad lives alone and nobody is in the house after dark
Evening confusion is common in people living with dementia, and it is often called sundowning. It can be frightening for your parent and exhausting for whoever is with them. A calm, familiar person in the house at night makes a real difference.
Read: sundowning and evening confusion in dementia
Falls at night are a particular worry. It is dark, your parent is sleepy, the floor may be cold or wet, and they may be in a hurry to reach the toilet. Most of what prevents these falls is simple and practical, and the night caregiver does it every night.
An example day
An illustration. Your parent's nurse plans the actual times and tasks with you at the assessment.
- 20:00The night caregiver arrives, clocks in on their phone at your parent's home and gets a quick handover from whoever has been with Dad during the day.
- 20:30Evening medicines, if they are in the care plan, are given exactly as prescribed and recorded. The caregiver checks the rechargeable lamp is charged and the torch is by the bed.
- 21:30Help to wash, change and get into bed. The mosquito net is tucked in, there is water within reach and the way to the toilet is clear.
- 23:00Lights down. If Dad is restless or muddled, the caregiver sits with him, talks quietly and helps him settle again.
- 02:30Dad wakes needing the toilet. The caregiver walks with him, helps him back into bed and notes the time and how he seemed.
- 04:00If your parent is bedbound, this is one of the times they are turned as the plan sets out, and the caregiver checks their breathing, skin and comfort.
- 06:30Help to the toilet and a wash, and any morning readings the nurse has asked for, checked against the safe ranges the nurse has set.
- 07:00The caregiver writes the night report, hands over to the day and clocks out. The nurse checks and signs the report, and then it appears on the family portal.
What the night caregiver does
Every night follows the care plan the nurse writes after the home assessment. The plan is specific to your parent, so details differ, but the core of each night is much the same.
- Helping your parent wash, change and settle into bed
- Helping them to the toilet or commode during the night, and keeping the way clear and lit
- Turning a bedbound parent at the times the plan sets, and checking their skin
- Watching their breathing and comfort, and noticing anything that seems different
- Calm reassurance when your parent wakes frightened, confused or in pain
- Evening and night medicines, given exactly as prescribed in the care plan and recorded
- Readings the nurse has asked for, checked against the safe ranges the nurse has set
- A written night report before the caregiver leaves in the morning
There are limits, and they are there to keep your parent safe. The night caregiver gives only medicines prescribed in the care plan. They do not change doses, give anything from the family medicine cupboard that is not in the plan, or give injections. If your parent becomes unwell in the night, the caregiver alerts the family and our nurse, whatever the hour, and follows the emergency plan you agreed: call the transport you arranged and go to the designated hospital.
Awake all night, or sleeping in?
Families often ask whether the night caregiver stays awake. The honest answer is that it depends on your parent, and it is decided with the nurse.
Some parents need help many times a night, or need turning on a schedule, or wake confused and try to get up alone. For them, a caregiver who stays awake is usually the safer choice. Other parents sleep through most nights and need help once or twice. For them, a caregiver who sleeps in your parent's home and is woken when needed may be enough.
At the home assessment the nurse asks how often your parent wakes, what they need when they do, and what has happened on recent nights. Together you agree which option fits, and it is written into the care plan. If the night reports show things changing, the nurse will talk to you about changing the plan.
If the caregiver is sleeping in, they need somewhere safe and reasonable to sleep, close enough to hear your parent. A baby monitor or a simple bell by the bed can help.
Power cuts, mosquitoes and the generator
Nights in Lagos come with their own hazards. When NEPA takes the light at 2am, a parent who gets up in the dark to find the toilet is at real risk of a fall. The night caregiver checks the light plan before your parent goes to bed.
- A rechargeable lamp by the bed, charged during the day
- A torch within reach of both your parent and the caregiver
- A clear path from the bed to the toilet, with no rugs, wires or buckets in the way
- A mosquito net that is in good repair and tucked in every night
- The generator kept outside, well away from windows and doors, and never run indoors or in a closed garage
- Clear agreement on who switches the generator on and off, written into the plan
- Phone numbers for the family, the nurse, the transport and the designated hospital where the caregiver can see them
Generator fumes contain carbon monoxide, which has no smell and can kill people while they sleep. If your parent's generator sits near a bedroom window, please move it before night care starts. The nurse will look at this during the home assessment.
Night care, live-in care or a house help sleeping in
Night care covers the night only. The caregiver arrives in the evening and leaves in the morning. It suits a parent who manages the day, or who already has day visits from us or from family, and needs someone there after dark.
Live-in Care is for a parent who should not be alone at any time. A caregiver lives in the home and is there through the day and the night, with a named relief caregiver for rest days. If both the days and the nights have become difficult, live-in care may be the better fit, and the nurse will say so.
Read about Live-in Care in Lagos
Many families already have a house help who sleeps in, and wonder whether that is enough. A house help can be a great comfort, and someone in the house is better than nobody. But a house help is usually there to run the home, and is tired from a full day's work by night. Nobody has trained them to help a frail person to the toilet safely, turn someone in bed, or recognise when breathing or confusion has changed. Nothing they see is written down or read by a nurse.
A night caregiver is there for your parent and nothing else. They are trained for the work, they keep a record, and a registered nurse reads it.
What you receive, and how to start
Every morning, the night report is checked and signed by the nurse, then posted on the family portal. You can see when your parent woke, how often they needed the toilet, whether they were settled or restless, any readings taken and anything the caregiver noticed. Brothers and sisters can read the same report from Lagos, London or Houston.
If something needs attention, the family gets an urgent alert, day or night. Caregivers clock in on their phone at your parent's home and the location is checked, so you know the night shift really started. If a caregiver is sick or late, relief cover is arranged.
Before any caregiver works with a family, we check their identity document, a guarantor and two references.
We do not publish prices. The cost of Night Care depends on how many nights a week you need, whether the caregiver stays awake or sleeps in, and where in Lagos your parent lives. You can pay by card or bank transfer.
It starts with a home assessment by a registered nurse. If you live abroad, you can join by video call. Within 48 hours you receive a written care plan and a monthly quote. We cover Lagos Island and the Mainland. Abuja, Port Harcourt and Oyo State have a waiting list.
