The Globe and Mail

November 14, 2007

Mommy Shift; B.C. health-care firm finds flexible way to fill caregiving void

by Lauren LaRose, Canadian Press

Long before gaining any formal training or experience in caregiving or nurturing children of her own, Nancy Peirce demonstrated at an early age her capacity to offer her hand to those who needed one -- something that was very much a family affair.

"When I was five years old, my grandmother lived with us and I helped my mom look after her. Kept me out of trouble," she recalled, laughing.

The Surrey resident would later earn a diploma in early childhood education, working at preschool day care as well as four years as one-on-one support to an individual living with mental and behavioural challenges.

But at 48, the wife and mother of four has her hands considerably more full juggling the demands of work and family familiar to countless Canadian moms.

A new initiative aims to help ease the strain that often accompanies work-life balance by offering working mothers a schedule that allows them to honour their family commitments.

B.C.-based Nurse Next Door, a home health-care service company, developed The Mommy Shift. Mothers who are experienced caregivers are given the opportunity to work with neighbourhood seniors between 9 a.m. and 2 p.m. while their children are in school.

Individuals interested in becoming caregivers but lacking formal training or experience can participate in an in-house companionship training program.

"When we were out there looking at hiring caregivers, we realized that mothers have two qualities that are really high on our list: they are very caring individuals, and they are, on the most part, very responsible individuals because they have children," Nurse Next Door co-founder John DeHart said in an interview from Vancouver.

"We basically created a program to get mothers back to work, and work for us as caregivers with schedules that allowed them to put their families first."

The initiative was the brainchild of Christina Rehm, a human resources manager with the company's Vancouver branch, and started during the summer, generally a tough time to fill spots as workers take vacation.

Workers involved in The Mommy Shift are also eligible to take any days off throughout the year when their children are scheduled off school, including Professional Development days and holidays in winter, spring and summer.

Those are boons to Peirce, whose children -- aged 16,14, 13, and nine -- are in three different schools and two different school systems and involved in a host of extra-curricular activities.

After re-entering the workforce following the birth of her youngest child, Peirce said she found it difficult to find a job that meshed with her schedule and desire to be home on afternoons and weekends with her kids.

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