My mom lives in a memory care unit. Tonight my sister reported she did not get her bath. She was told the water was turned off. She did not get the dental treatment prescribed by her dentist. Nor did she get cream administered to her bottom for a diarrhea issues.
I sincerely hope that all of your issues will be resolved. Don’t give up. Sometimes there are protocols that must be followed and it takes a bit of time to follow through with procedures. Reports have to be made and so forth. They will investigate the facts. It helps to know as much as possible before filling a report.
There are always going to be issues in facilities due to one reason or another. I think you have to feel good about what is being handled well and address issues as they arise.
When my mom was in rehab in a nursing home a few issues came up. One serious, an overdose of meds, the others I would consider not quite as bad. One was gross, my mom freaked out about her roommate using her toothbrush and water cup. Usual stuff, clothes missing, staff taking awhile to respond to call button, roommate’s television blaring, etc.
It’s awkward for the residents and family. I am sure it’s hard for the staff as well.
My mom did not want to be viewed as a troublemaker so she was hesitant to even tell me about the circumstances. I was like you. I was cautious.
I think it’s good to be cautious instead of a hot head that flies off the handle quickly. I showed appreciation for what had been handled correctly and then I went forward in filling a complaint about mom being over medicated due to an LPN not wanting to make another trip back to mom’s room for her final dosage of her Parkinson’s meds.
I was really surprised that the nurse told my mom, “Here, take two pills now so I don’t have to make a second trip back to your room.” Crazy, huh? Mom is sharp! She immediately told her, “That is twice the amount and might hurt me. Will taking two pills at once hurt me?” The nurse replied, “No, won’t hurt you. Take them both.” As I said, mom not wanting to be a troublemaker did as she requested. I was so upset with that nurse.
I realize they are short handed but they shouldn’t modify a resident’s meds!
Hugs 🤗
If your mom is refusing to take a bath, or have her dental treatment, the staff can not force any treatment on her. That being said they do need to encourage her to take a bath, have her dental work and let them apply the cream. Staff should offer the treatments more than once, have different staff approach her and do everything in their power to get her to allow them to do these things.
The number one refused treatment in nursing homes is baths. Residents refuse to take a bath more than they refuse medication, therapy, diets, doctors orders or anything else. When a resident is refusing to take a bath the staff need to try and figure out why the resident is refusing. Some of the reasons I have seen residents refuse to bathe are the time of day, water temperature, water pressure, personality conflict with staff, a dignity issue, cultural issues. When a resident has dementia they may not understand what the staff are asking them to do, they don't process information like we do.
I would recommend you talk to the Director of Nursing and request a Care Plan to discuss these issues.
Always take a gentle approach at first, that's my suggestion. Reporting her care home to the state, the ombudsman, the corporate headquarters, etc, is just a bit of overkill unless there is true negligence or abuse involved, in my opinion. The DON or the ED is usually more than happy to address your concerns and get things handled for you in a professional fashion. If not, THEN you have the option to take things further.
Best of luck!
What sister witnessed may be a more common occurrence than what any of you were aware of and is a good indicator someone needs to be visiting daily to see what is really going on. Patients who do not have visitors are recognized early on and it is very easy to put their care on the back burner.
2 - If the nurse can not resolve the issue, contact the director of the facility. Be specific about the issues that need to be addressed. Give them a reasonable amount of time to address the issues, but you should see improvement within the week.
3 - If no improvement within 3 weeks, report it to the state. I would also consider placing LO into another facility at this point.
Be kind to the staff. Rudeness rarely stimulates the behavior you want.
A thank you, a smile, a box of donuts... goes a long way with kindness.
I saw an aide using a towel to clean poo and the same towel to wipe the body and face ! is there any infection control?any hygienical system ? health is wealth. sad status...also the nursing homes employ less staff and they are over worked.
My mom, with the beginnings of dementia once told me, " you know, I have to manage my own meds in here". The nurse was sitting there and had just given my mom her afternoon medications. When I asked mom what she meant by that, she pointed to the water pitcher with a "significant" look.
From that moment on, I verified what had actually happened before I got upset with staff.
The other two issues are more concerning. Having been through this with my mom in a NH for 4 years, my advice is this: ask for a care meeting! Focus on these two issues--why mom is not getting prescribed treatments.
It may be that mom refuses. It may be that mom doesnt remember getting the treatment. It maybe that although the dentist prescribed the treatment, the med was not ordered. It could be that although it was prescribed in his notes, it never made it into the DON's chart.
We found that there multiple ways that mom's treatment could get screwed up. Fixing it remotely never worked. Having a meeting where all the players were in the same room worked every time and helped us understand better how the system worked.
It IS exhausting! Good luck, and let us know how this turns out. We learn from each other.