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I work at this facility and the nurse and supervisor had me wake a resident up at 3am to shower him. I worked the 11pm-7am shift. I've been heard of it but I also know state laws change.

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Nope. Ever been in a hospital when the nurse wakes you up to give you sleeping pills or do some other nonsense? Not to mention seniors with cognitive problems already have broken sleep patterns. It would probably scare or disorient them. I would consider it cruel.
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BurntCaregiver Mar 20, 2024
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That is completely unacceptable. Though these days nursing homes and other care facilities can get away with pretty much anything and they answer to no one.

I'd ask your state's Ombudsman if this sort of abuse is industry standards for nursing homes and memory care facilities.

Waking someone up in the middle of the night and forcing them into a shower is what the Nazis, Vietcong, Khmer Rouge, and the North Koreans did to prisoners of war.

I think if this practice is important enough to me mentioned in the Geneva Convention about P.O.W. rules, then it should also apply to poor elderly people in nurising homes and memory care facilities.

Please tell your state's Ombudsman.
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If the resident is awake and wants to bathe or shower, definitely okay. If the resident is sleeping peacefully, it’s cruel
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No it’s not Ok .

The only time it would be Ok to wake them for a shower at 3am is if you found them in bed head to toe in feces , or vomit etc.
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Is it okay? NFW 😠
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Of course it's not okay! Ask yourself if you'd like to be woken up at 12-3am to be bathed????
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BurntCaregiver Mar 20, 2024
@lealonnie

I pity the person who tries to wake me up at 3am for a shower.
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You have been a CNA for 17 years?
Have you never given a bath or shower on the night shift before? If so, I as a retired RN am a bit surprised.

I was an RN who did primary care. Toward the end of my career I worked the night shift. I OFTEN bathed patients at night, and the day shift was SO GRATEFUL because they dealt with it all, three meals, the MD, the PT and OT and tests and EVERYTHING. If a patient was restless or wakeful, and was amenable to bathing, that is what we did.

So I would say that there must be a reason for this request.
Do ask what that reason is and let us know the answer.
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cwillie Mar 20, 2024
I rather doubt the OP would have brought this to us if the resident was covered in feces and need to be cleaned up or for any other reasonable reason, it's more apt to be because day shift didn't get time to finish their scheduled work due to absences and perpetually low staffing levels. These facilities like to pretend that this is a HOME not an institution so if you wouldn't accept this in your home then you shouldn't accept it there either.
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I have heard of places trying to shower a few residents on pm shift & 1-2 on night shift in order to reduce shower load on am shift.

Maybe the resident is wakeful, unsettled or has severe incontinence at night?

But waking someone who is asleep at 3am is awful!

I would be calmly asking my supervisor the reason why.
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I would first ask, out of curiosity, why do I need to wake a resident up at 3am in the morning? Maybe being half a sleep the resident is easier to deal with. I will tell you if me, I would not like it. Its hard for me to fall asleep and I am a light sleeper, so please don'tvwake me up. It does seem weird.
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When my Husband was in rehab if I found out that he was being awakened at 3 am to have someone give him a shower I would have a fit.
I am wondering if it is this particular resident or if this is also the schedule for other residents as well.
Was this a 1 time thing, like this person had an early Dr. appointment.
Do they routinely have people showered at that time.
Or heaven forbid was this a form of "punishment" for this person?
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