Can there be a temporary POA if the permanent POA is temporarily incapacitated?

Only the grantor (the person who gave the POA) can issue a new POA, no one else. You cannot transfer your POA to someone else, even temporarily. Read the document, sometimes it names a standby POA.

Since you never know what can happen in life having a secondary DPOA helps eliminate this problem.

Can a POA of Health Care be surreptiously undermined? My Mother is in a Senior Facility in Health Care. An RN who was giving my Mother eyedrops wrong dosages from what was prescribed by the doctor by skipping morning doses of one eyedrop that was to be given twice a day and erroneously giving Mother an eyedrop that is to be given five minutes apart from that eyedrop in the evening in the morning. That was supposed to be corrected but I am no longer there when the eyedrops are given. I have been restricted to being there between 8 am and 8 pm. It is only occasionally that I actually see the eyedrops given. The error occurred for a number of weeks since Mothers transfer to PC. Subsequently, the same RN failed to give my Mother her pills one morning at breakfast, she swore my Mother was not at breakfast but Mother was at breakfast, I have a note from a resident that she was at breakfast. The same RN would not give my Mom her pills or eyedrops because we went out without her. We told a Nurses Aid Mother had an appointment close by and we would be back early after breakfast, that we could not find a Nurse on the floor to let them know. I did not know at the time that Mother had not received her pills or eyedrops. I always let the RNs or Nurses Aids know when we are leaving. The RN blew up at me when we got back. She said she was not going to give my Mother Meds or her eyedrops as we were outside the window of med distribution. (Meds and eyedrops have been given later at the RN's convenience on occassion - this window was news to me). We had words. There was an Ombudsman there that morning that tried to mediate this. She was there when the RN told me that I was no longer the POA of Health Care and when the RN allegedly read off vitamins, to represent the pills that were missed as inconsequentil anyway which was not the truth. . . Mother receives heart, blood pressure etc med that are vital to her. The RN said that there was a POA in her files in the Nurses Station and that further my brother was now the POA of Mothers Financial Matters. After this incident I was put on an 8am to 8pm schedule. Prior to this I was arriving at 7:00 am and stayed until 11:30 pm because I was suspicious that Mother was not receiving her eyedrops or receiving them incorrectly. That is how I found out the eyedrops were being incorrectly given in the first place. My brother who lives out of town denies that he had any POA changed. I asked the Administrator about the assertion by the RN that I was no longer the POA of Health Care. She said no, that any change would have to go through her hands and she was never given any change to the POA of Health Care. My Bother and I were giving Mother time to heal from injuries and pnomonia which she has mentally healed as she does have and still does not want to give up her independence..She is near 100 years old. When my Mom was forced into PC the facility gave me the admittance papers to PC to sign. They would not permit me to hold the papers in my hands or to read it on my own or to take it to an attorney to review it with me if I were to so choose. They took hours of 4 or 5 Administration people meeting with me for hours over two days telling me that they would explain it to me and they went over it again and again. I said No I want to be able to read the whole document on my own overnight in quiet and then if I had any reason to do so to take it to any attorney before I signed it. They said ok and instead of giving me the document the Facility Administrator, said no she had another idea. My Mother was placed in her apartment and nothing more was said. Months after her admittance my brother told me he signed the admittance. I informed him at the time what was going on and as a retired attorney myself, I could not sign a document I was not permitted to read on my own. This was outragious with me being in my early 70s and fraud laws giving elderly the right to review any contracts with an attorney. I asked him to send me a copy. He said he did not have a copy. He said he signed it and sent it back. This is so convoluted. Where do I go for help? I love my mother. Please God send me your message through someones advice.

I would suggest that you hire an RN Geriatric Care Manager and an Elder Law Attorney and move your Mom out of this care situation. The RN Geriatric Care Manager can address the care related issues and the Attorney needs to enforce the health care POA. It sounds like this situation can not be mediated by you with this care facility. An RN Geriatric Care Manager would help to support and guide you in the medical protocol.

There should already be a secondary named for contingencies for which you have described. Get a copy of the original POA and see who is named.

When my dad did his POA he made me POA but we added my daughter incase im not around etc & something needs taken care of like a back up POA.

This sounds like the tactics of one of the two largest corporate owned Assisted Living/Memory Care facilities I had the misfortune to place my Mom in. When I had a day neck surgery that went bad and ended up on a respirator and having rehab for months, they wouldn't honor the alternate POA. I could tell Congress stories of neglect and patient/resident abuse and medication theft and faulty administration you would find difficult to believe. When I got well enough, I moved my Mom to a small, family run, nurse owner home for 16 patients. She was on 19 medications; 6 were contraindicated and all prescribed by a PA under a Dr. Nobody ever saw on the premises for over the year and a half my Mom was there. I had 22 years hospital, clinical teaching and dept. administration experience. My brother-in-law, a renowned medical school professor and large hospital practicing doctor, was the POA alternate the facility wouldn't acknowledge. Sometimes it's better to just cut your losses. Albeit, there usually is a period of adjustment at a new facility. My Mom adjusted within days and I was there 4 hours each day the first couple of weeks but she is happy as a clam at 96.

The elder has to make the POA change.

Let me clarify, in CA and Texas the original POA can have the primary and alternate(s) selected and listed on the document and signed by the elder grantor. Since "stuff" happens I advocated my Mom select at least one alternate POA agent. The states document and instructions cover this option.

Never heard of a nurse or administrator changing a POA or medical POA. This can only be done by the person who authorized it. I agree, you need a lawyer to sort this out. Don't let them intimidate you. Just had an RN try that on me. Got my way but my RN daughter was able to do more. If u feel something just isn't right, it probably isn't.