Overnight Caregivers in Petal, MS

About 302 Petal residents 65 or older have serious difficulty remembering, concentrating or making decisions (18%; 13% in Forrest County). Confusion at night is a common reason families arrange overnight care.

427 older residents live alone (26% of those in households). For them an overnight caregiver means someone in the house after dark.

The nearest emergency hospital is Forrest General Hospital in Hattiesburg, about 4.8 mi away in a straight line; keep its number and the person’s medication list by the bed.

At $11.47 an hour (the Mississippi median aide wage), a 10-hour overnight shift three nights a week comes to about $1,491 a month, and every night about $3,479 (73% of the $4,736 monthly median income of Petal households headed by someone 65+). Awake and asleep night shifts are often paid differently; agree it in writing. Mississippi has no state minimum wage law, so the federal minimum of $7.25 an hour applies to employers covered by the Fair Labor Standards Act (U.S. Department of Labor).

Hiring directly, you agree the rate with the caregiver and usually become the household employer (U.S. Department of Labor rules). Some families qualify for programs that pay for care at home; see Medicaid programs for family caregivers: who can be paid, and the rules in 12 states.