Our nanny (she was hired to care for our son who is now just 1) told us after being with us for 6 months that she wanted a flight back to the Phillipines to spend her son's birthday with him. We gave her a return ticket to spend this important time with her family. She got on the flight and that was the last we saw of her. Our cleaning lady told us she overheard her speaking to someone on Skype explaining she intended to come back to work for someone else. After she left, we had reports she had been leaving our son alone in our apartment and visiting other apartments in our building- so it's all for the best that she left. We had her visa cancelled.
We then found another nanny who was recommended by a British family who had left. To make sure we were all happy, we asked she first do a few days of trial with us by shadowing a home nurse who currently cares for my son. She said she was happy with the job. We started the process of getting a new visa for her but there were some complications because her previous sponsor left without cancelling her visa properly. After a month, she had changed her mind . We let her leave and then discovered she had taken all of our cleaning supplies :( We heard from a friend who spotted her in Old Town she's now cleaning and babysitting for a number of households.
I tried to find another nanny for a few months, networking and placing ads up, but there certainly seems to be fewer good people looking for such jobs now than even a few years ago. A personal impression is that I have noticed a lot of applicants who are on the last few days of their cancelled visas or visit visas, worried about having to leave, so in desperation they sign up to new contracts but perhaps without the intention of working for term of their agreements.
Hi there- I've used EHN for a year but when I first started to look the following home care agencies were referred to me by a friend working at the Ministry of Health:
AL HIREY MEDICAL SERVICES
EMIRATES HOME NURSING
ANGELS OF MEDICAL CARE
ALMUSTKBAL HOME CARE
ENAYA HOME NURSING SERVICES
AL RAHMAH HOME NURSING SERVICES
AL HILAL PRIVATE NURSING & MEDICAL SERVICES
ARAB EURO HOME NURSING SERVICES
MEDCARE HOME CARE
AL BAKR HOME NURSERY
A number of nursery schools/daycares are also increasingly flexible about care for infants to pre-schoolers. My son has gone to Hummingbird in DIFC for a few mornings a week and they recommend a minimum of 4 hours which you could do 2-3 times a week.
EHN have some lovely, capable nurses working for them but the background and skill varies. We've also noticed despite feedback, they are often a bit slow to correct problems. It might be worth checking with one of these other reputable home care organizations.
Good luck!
