so they decided to put her in the behavioral hospital to adjust her meds. We asked several times to visit and they always gave a reason we couldn’t. She was there 13 days and then she died. Of a brain bleed. We know very little. We were called by a nearby hospital that she had been brought in and they had hooked her up to oxygen and she had no reaction to stimulus.
We only know that she was able to remember my number and called the night before. She wanted me to come get her. She said she was in jail. I said she was scheduled to come back(to the home) tomorrow and I couldn’t wait to see her. She was not agitated. Just heartbroken. They gave her a shot of something
and the next day they did not check on her. They said, she’s sleeping let her sleep. I believe they didn’t check her vitals all day and she was slowly losing oxygen and dying.
The nursing home has washed their hands of any involvement although they are the ones that sent my 93 year old mom to sleep on a 12” mattress on a floor!we took care of my mom and always made sure she was happy and taken care of. We put her in what we thought was a very nice nursing home.
what do we do? We have asked for medical records to be sent to us and her family doctor.
I’d like to hear feedback on places like this.
They can happen anywhere or any time. If the patient is on any blood thinners they are a notorious and common side effects, but can happen without these meds due to the vessel fragility.
You told us in your last post that your mom was very agitated and was moved to try medications that would calm her. This is stellar care really; usually they don't even bother with such a move, but simply med-bomb people in facility.
The staff said they believed your mom was sleeping finally and did not awaken her given her vital signs were find.
If bleeds or clots are not in the lower portions of the brain the vital signs are often "fine" until brain death.
As I said in your last reaching out to us, Deb, death is, sadly, in the aged "expected" from some cause or another. I did tell you that you could ask for records, but I suspect your mom died in care of a hemorrhagic stroke. She could have had this in ANY care, including were she at home in YOUR care. It is unlikely that the staff caused it, or that meds caused it, or that anyone could have done anything about it.
Behavioral hospitals are used when agitation is so bad that
A) the person cannot be safely (for themselves, staff or other clients) be handled in their care facility or at home
B) Require a trial of medications that can calm them without keeping them in a stupor, with assessment.
You may come to acceptance only with assuring yourself with an attorney that you have no case here, and that there is really no malpractice payout in someone "of an age" (due to life expectancy) and quite ill chronically, and no blame to be placed.
I hope it will be a comfort when I say to you that her care in this facility likely did not CAUSE HER BLEED, nor could early intervention have CURED HER of a brain bleed.
It is known by those dealing with grief counseling that we often go into a state of "blaming" in order not to have to go into the finality of grief. I hope you will seek a support group. I hope you will continue to update us.
As an RN I want to reassure you; I doubt anything caused this, or could have stopped it. I am so dreadfully sorry for your loss.
My condolences on your loss.
Patients with that issue can thrash about and hurt themselves. My mom threw herself off the hospital bed, which at that time was normal height. I was relieved when they brought in the kind of bed that lowers all the way to the floor and surrounded it with foam pads or mattresses. At least she wouldn't throw herself onto the floor again and die of a brain bleed from that.
If they said your mom was sleeping, someone WAS checking on her or they wouldn't have known that.
It's normal to grieve to the point where you want to think that someone else was responsible for her death. But the truth is, your mom was very sick and 93 years old. She'd suffered enough. She's at peace now, and I hope you will come to peace about her passing.
My condolences on your loss.
I have to say at 93, she lived a good long time and every single one of my friends in that age range have shared how ready they are to get out of these old, worn out bodies. I pray your mom was ready and did not suffer needlessly. As far as seeming fine one day and dead the next, it happens like that and can be seen as a blessing.
Hugs to you!
Was she not compliant with meds for her agitation?
"What do we do?" Regarding what? What is the outcome you wish: a lawsuit? Then you need to consult with an attorney to see if you have a case.
To whom was the death certificate sent? Is there a Will and and Executor (this is who would arrange for the burial and receive the death certificate). Was your Mom a ward of the county?
Please provide more information.
I'm so sorry for this loss and how it came about. May you receive peace in your heart.
As for the mattress on the floor, this is very common, as many in a pysc ward thrash around.
My mother is 98, her bed is like 6" off the floor as she kept falling out of bed, she has no mental issues she just rolls around alot. We were happy to do this, as is she. No more trips to the ER.
So sorry about this, however don't what if yourself to death, her time had come.
What do you want to do? She was very old, far outlived the normal lifespan.
https://www.agingcare.com/questions/my-mom-was-admitted-from-the-nursing-home-to-a-behavioral-hospital-to-have-her-medicine-regulated-wh-484618.htm