Finding a home health aide can be stressful for those who need one. And finding the right one is important.

News10NBC started looking into this after a home nurse was charged in the abuse of a 6-year-old with special needs.

According to a redacted court document, while employed as a home nurse Nicole Guilds subjected the 6-year-old child to physical abuse including carrying him by the wrists, dropping him on the floor, slapping his face with a diaper and slamming his head into a chair.

Guilds was arrested after the child’s father watched home surveillance footage and reported her to the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office

Lifespan President and CEO Ann Marie Cook says that although this is rare, these things can happen.   

And that’s why it’s important to find the right home health aide for you or your loved one and to check in with them.

“Monitor the situation closely; make sure, you know, you’re communicating with your loved one who’s receiving care. And if it’s not working out, act fast. And it is difficult for people, we recognize, to get someone new. But it is it’s worse if you keep your loved one in harm’s way,” Cook said.

Cook also says that you can contract home health aides through a company, or directly through the caregiver.

But at Lifespan, they encourage those who are hiring to go through a licensed agency because a background check will already be done and they will have references ready.