About Melissa

Reviewed on 10/9/2023

To Whom It May Concern, I am writing to recommend Melissa as a Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA) and Caregiver. Melissa has worked in this capacity for my elderly father, who is with Hospice and who needed more health care assistance as his health began to deteriorate more from May 25, 2023 to the end of August, 2023. At the time I hired Melissa through the Visiting Angels Agency, I knew that my father particularly needed a CNA who would be able to do all the hands-on care for his personal needs and hygiene that he needed. At the same time, I also wanted a caregiver who could be depended upon and be self motivated, and Melissa never failed to deliver. Each time Melissa came to take over care for my father, she jumped right in with giving my father his meal, then making sure his bed sheets were washed if they needed it, made his bed, vacuumed and did the dishes as needed. But if Melissa saw something else that needed to be done, she took it on herself to do it – such as tidy up the bathroom, or doing an extra load of laundry, if she saw soiled clothes and towels needing to be washed. Of course, as important as fulfilling physical care giving needs is, being an excellent caregiver means more than just doing the normal care giving duties. In my opinion, it means the caregiver shows compassion, understanding and respect to the person being cared for. Melissa did all of these things, by joking with my father, offering help when she saw that he needed it, while at the same time giving him space and respecting his needs for him to try to be as independent as possible. Probably the biggest obstacle she had to encounter was my father’s unwillingness to have assistance with his toileting, which is understandably a very humiliating thing for anyone to experience. Though it wasn’t an easy thing to do, especially with my very proud and strong willed father, Melissa’s positive and easy going nature enabled my father to relax and be willing to accept her help. Melissa instantly became my father’s favorite caregiver out of the four caregivers we have to help him. My father actually looked forward to the days that she would come to care for him. That my proud and independent father looked forward to her time with him, says volumes more than I ever could say about her high quality care, compassion, respect and understanding, especially when knowing that he refused for over a year to have caregivers come to help him, at all! Melissa’s great qualities as a caregiver were very appreciated by me and my father, and I knew that I would never have to worry that she would not be taking care of his every need. For all the reasons I’ve listed above, I never would hesitate to recommend her to others! Thank you, Cathleen S