I've got issues at work. I work in an Assisted Living facility, in a secure Alzheimers/Demetia unit. One particular resident refuses to bathe. He's not oriented to time, or place. He stinks, none of the other residents want anything to do with him. He hoards his Poise pads, can't find them, so he stuffs toilet paper(and i mean half a roll to a full roll) into his underwear. Is this not great breeding grounds for a UTI? This man has had UTI's every month for the last three months straight, and off and on for the past year. I've tried everything I know to get him in the shower. His family members have tried talking him into it over the phone, as they live out of state. I've tried bribing him with his favorite snacks, catching him while he's already in the bathroom. I even went as far as reasoning with him, but he's already beyond the reasoning stage of Alzheimer's. So, the other night, it was his shower night. It had been one week and three days since he had had a shower. He stunk of urine and filth. His hair was so full of grease that it was matted to his head. His teeth had some severe plaque build up. He has almost a full beard from not shaving. His pants were on backwards and had not been changed since he had had his last shower. So, I tried everything I knew to get him in the shower. He still refused. So I made him get in. I forced him. He screamed and yelled and bellowed the whole time. Even took the shower head off and beat the aide with it. This guy has nothing to give as far as Ativan, Haldol, etc. I've been a nurse for a whopping two years now. I felt absolutely horrible by doing this to this man. I called my administrator, she said, it was OK, but since we are assisted living she was going to call the corporation and see what else could be done. I told her the other shifts are afraid of him, so they won't touch him. They won't clean his room because it stinks and he gets mad. They basically neglect him. He hoards things, his room needs to be checked everyday. I'm the only one that goes into his room and removes TRASHBAGS FULL of shredded newspapers, napkins, and toilet paper.
Well, I go into work today and find the nastiest note haning for all to see about how first shift does not neglect anyone. It also stated that they do give him showers and they do clean his room everyday, etc etc. So why am I being corrected? Did I do the wrong thing? Should I have just let him go for another week until he decided it was time to get into the shower?
