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She's great with him and has so much patience, but I'm the one that has to say something to him because it's not right that he gets to cuss at her under his breath which I always hear or makes faces I can tell he's irritated. If anyone should be irritated it should be us, which I AM! If I had a choice I would put him in a home, but he can't afford it. How do I deal with his bad attitude? I was hospitalized for 3 days from stress, anxiety and depression for caring for him. I don't want to end up in there again.

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I agree with PCVS.

A neighbor recently had all her jewelry go missing after her children hire a caregiver.

If you google hospice and medicare aids and home health aids you will see many criminal cases.
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Why is he complaining about only one of them? This intrigues me. Not all paid caregivers are of the same fit to our loved ones. (Honestly, not all of them are of equal quality either. I've had to deal with some who were totally wrong for the field.)
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Heres an answer for him you can try- "Dad, this is how its going to be if you stay here. Unless you live somewhere else, its the way it will be. I'm doing the best I can but it cannot be me 24/7"
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Apply for Medicaid and put him in a home.
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Sadeyes22:

Here is another take on your issue. It is possible that your father has a legitimate complaint about these caregivers.

The best way to learn the truth is to set up a hidden camera.

Otherwise it will be his word against theirs.

Their are no federal requirements for criminal background checks. It is up to the state, but some states do not require them. You can google this to verify it.

Not all of these workers are angels. Many of them are simply very good at APPEARING TO be an angel, when in reality they are abusing their charges.....sometimes physically, sometimes financially or by theft.

There are numerous horror stories regarding financial fraud involving these care givers as well as emotional and psychological abuse.

Some of these caregivers are superb actors and present a sweet and tolerant fact to the family while secretly abusing their charge.

Here is a link to an article discussing the issue:

https://leadinghomecare.com/blog/2015/04/02/outrage-the-stranger-in-your-home/

Here is a portion of the article:

FROM THE LINK: [ “Only about half of all states require home care agencies to conduct any sort of training for their employees.”

“Just 15 states require agencies to conduct periodic in-home reviews to make sure workers are doing their jobs.”

“One 2012 study published in the Journal of The American Geriatrics Society found that less that a third of home care agencies screened their employees for illegal drug use, and 16 percent tested for basic knowledge about providing care in the home.” ]


The above link also has a pdf of a recent AARP article about this issue.


Sometimes it is a relative caregiver, reimbursed by the state that is abusing their elderly relative


Here is a link discussing that issue:


https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2015/01/when-home-caregivers-kill-the-elderly-with-neglect/384221/
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There is a time when it's too much for caregiver. It actually killed a guy in my support group. So if he has dementia call Alzheimer's help line. They are experienced & helpful. Sounds like his funds may qualify him for medicaid. Call 211 they have answers of where to start. 80% of caregivers either die or become ill before end of life patient. Your hospitalization proves it's time to admit him or you won't be around to care for him. Every state has own laws. Also if he is a veteran go to American Legion & ask if he could get benefits. Remember if you don't ask the answer is NO. If you ask it's 50 chance YES.
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What you must be careful with is to take care of YOU, especially since you had a hospital stay of 3 days.
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Echoing that good caregivers are VERY hard to find. A friend recently went thru' several awful ones, and one of the people who was NOT the worst we called "Smokey the Bear". She sat out on the patio and smoked virtually the whole time she was there. Hang onto a good one.
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I am having similar problems with my mother trying to get her to accept caregivers. I finally told the agency I am paying the bills and we need to be assertive and get her on the schedule. She thinks I am an awful person, but I actually need a caregiver so I can get my air conditioning fixed. This is ridiculous. Anything I say is taken the wrong way. I told my mother today "I have a life too and sometimes things go wrong" because she wanted my elderly neighbor to take care of the air conditioning guy. I am fed up with her poor me behavior. I find myself drinking a lot of wine lately just trying to handle the stress.
My only advice for you is keep the caregiver. Honestly, he is just going to have to deal with it so you can have some time off and your health.
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go to walmart get this melatonin they sell it in the vitamin section ..if he is in sundown time then a hour before it happens give him a pill will make him sleepy it has a purple cap it is a 5 mgs pill taste like candy kind of like flintstone vitamin tell him it is a vitamin that will get him to settle down if it works great if not use it for you to sleep better good luck ..
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Some people just love to complain. Is he one of them?
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All the above was great advice on the same theme- "don't let him dictate your reactions". There is one caveat-if he has dementia he will not understand the "if you continue this I will do that". That ability to reason is gone with dementia. It is a tough job but at the end you will be so glad you did your best for him.
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Sad, If the aide is doing a good job, I would not replace her. A good aide is hard to find. Like said, you don't say in ur profile what Dads problems are. If Dementia, then learn to ignore his comments. For whatever reason, he has chosen this aide to be mean to. Stand by your decision. We become the adults and them the children. If Dad is cognitive, explain to him this is the way it is. You are limited in the amount of care you can or are willing to give. No, it's not his fault he is where he is but its not yours either. He needs to except the way things are and try to enjoy the time you have together. But if he makes it hard on everyone, other avenues will have to be considered.

If Dad has nothing, you maybe able to get him on Medicaid. Either for a NH or homecare.
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Cetude why don’t you consider Medicaid NH for your Mom?
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I like what Kathy and Moecam said about telling him. My friend's dad began to get mean and grouchy and she leveled with him. She said "if you’re going to continue to be like this, I don’t know if I can do this anymore " and he changed. We still don’t know if your dad has dementia but I bet he will "hear" if you tell him how its affecting you.
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at least you have the money to hire people to help you. I have to deal with my mom by myself and she's far from easy..I don't have a choice I can't go to any hospital or doctor. It would bankrupt what little I have. I can only work 4 hours once a week (when my best friend baby sits her) because my mom is that confused and heavy-duty care. So at least you have the luxury of going to the hospital and you can hire people to help you. So you must be a rich person. Sitters alone are $20 an hour; a CNA is about $35 an hour. I can't afford that. If you hired people off the street you are taking a chance getting sued--they can CLAIM they fell and got injured in your house and can sue you.  That's why I suggest to people to only use agencies--they cover their employees with workman's comp so they can't sue you.  If you use people off the street same people and after a certain amount (I believe it is $1,700)  you are legally their employer so you are obligated to do their taxes and they can sue you for unemployment if you drop them...something about a tax. An agency takes care of all that legal garbage.  specialneedsalliance.org/the-voice/the-pitfalls-of-caregiver-employment-paying-withholding-and-reporting-requirements-2/ 
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My mother was the same way with the staff in her facility. They told me she would even stick her foot out and try to trip them when they passed. I’ve often said she was a “sniper”. She’d mumble an insult and then sit back and enjoy the reaction. Her aides would tell me about her behavior and we’d actually laugh. These angels understand the minds and behaviors of senior citizens.

Have you considered Medicaid for Dad? If his behavior is affecting you so very badly that you are needing hospitalization, have you considered a therapist?
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Confront him with how unacceptable his behavior is & what it is doing to your health - he may not realize how much this bothers you if you don't outright tell him because some people just don't pick up non-verbal cue like you do - assuming he is over 60 then he should be grown up enough not to act like a 6 year old - if he doesn't know, he can't improve his behavior to 'polite'standards
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Replace caregiver, they will understand. Know your struggle. I have four caregivers for my mom and the relationship they have is key. You can not change your dad, but you can change the caregivers. Peace be with you.
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Oh my what all of you are dealing with. God help you all and bless you also as you are so much better than I could have ever been, My husbands health went down for years because of COPD but not until 4 months before his actual passing which was just awful. Wish these kids now days would listen to what the professional are telling them. I finally quit about 1 year ago and will probably have to deal with what my hubby went through because I was so stubborn and would not listen to others either. One time my hubby got so miserable and moody toward the last that I told him "Stay sweet and I will do my best to give you the best care and consideration that I can. But if you continue to be irritable then I will not be there for you because your moods are driving me away:". Walla, he changed his tune and was his sweet self until the end. In his younger days he said he loved his cigareetes so much that when he died he wanted me to put one last cigarette in his mouth on the way to the crematorium. In his last couple of moths before he died I asked him if he still wanted me to carry out his wish for a Cigarette and he said no and that he cursed the day he ever started. Its a b*tch the way he died due to cigareetes and please keep urging others to quit so they do not have to die that terrible death due to an oxygen starved brain. I pray that I can do myself in if I become such a burden on my children. And if nothing else I learn by this web site to take it easy on my caregivers as it really is the tuffest job in the world. Truly all your rewards will be in heaven as you are all such terrifice people in all that you put up with and all that you try to do. Love to you all and pray for your patience with the elderly.
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Make funny faces back at him. He has obviously been a spoiled child (elder) learn to find the humor in his asinine behavior. You certainly know how hard he can be, you ended up hospitalized because of the stress.

His world has shrunk, taking you with him. Now that you have caregivers, get out, go do something for yourself. Let him be unhappy, you did not do it and my experience is that he'll suck your life because misery loves company. Find things that make you happy and let the caregivers do their jobs, one of which is to take the load off you. 😝 try it, it feels good to be silly when you get so frustrated and can't say anything. That's why kids do it, it helps.
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He might be playing on your emotions by being passively aggressive. The dirty looks and mumbling beneath his breath is a way for him to make it stressful for you and make you doubt your decision to get help. If you feel his reactions are unwarranted, don’t get caught up.
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If I were in your situation, I would buy a beautiful bouquet of flowers (for her to take home) along with a very sincere card expressing how much her patience and kindness
was appreciated.
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When there’s something you can’t change in someone in your care, it becomes part of your care of yourself to learn to let go. As long as his aggression is verbal or making faces or any other non physical stuff, a well trained caregiver will assume that it isn’t her job to worry about it, and she won’t.
Good caregivers won’t expect you to change him or defend her.
It isn’t unusual for people with dementia to develop nasty dislikes for people around them, even when the targets are loving and concerned relatives.
You protect yourself by knowing that there’s nothing you can do about the behavior and letting it slide off instead of reacting to it. Easy to do? Absolutely not.
Good alternative to letting things slide? None.
Take good care of yourself, inform Dad’s caregivers that you realize that he’s difficult and you know they’re doing a good job, LET THE REST GO.
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You do not mention in your profile any information about your dad. What is his health like mentally and physically. Age?
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Here's what I’m reading: dad is upset and complains constantly about caregivers...it’s causing you a lot of stress.
You are not going to be able to change your dad's attitude and that is what is stressful and frustrating. So you need to learn ways of handling you because that’s the only thing you can control. I recommend a book that was very helpful to me and my sister. Called Loving Hard to Love Parents by Paul Chavetz PhD. He’s a psychologist who deals with adult children of difficult parents. Also, perhaps begin seeing a therapist who can offer suggestions on handling him as well as letting you vent. I’m so sorry this caused you to be hospitalized. As his caregiver you are always going to have stress so you have to protect yourself. Under no circumstance get rid of this kind caregiver. He’s hoping you will capitulate and stop hiring. Don’t! And get out of the house when you can. Set up boundaries that protect you and help keep you sane. This is one of them. He doesn’t have the right to dictate your life anymore than he does via you being a caregiver. Please keep in touch and vent anytime here
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sadeyes, sometimes we need to put ourselves in the shoes of our Dad to see how he is seeing life. When you think about it, most of his independence is gone. Probably most of his friends of either moved or passed away. He can no longer jump into his car and go places. His eyesight is probably fading along with his hearing. And food no longer taste good except for really sweet items. All in all, that would make anyone grumpy.

If the caregivers are just letting his comments rolls off their backs, then follow their lead. They have been on this rodeo many times over.

If Dad complains about the caregiver, play along and agree with him, even though you know differently. In fact, ask the caregiver how does she deal with the cussing, etc.

I remember one time my elderly Mom said something very inappropriate to one of her temporary caregivers, and I knew the caregiver heard it. I mouthed to the caregiver "I'm sorry", and the caregiver just placed her index finger to her lips as to say "shhhhh", meaning don't say anything. I will always remember that :)
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