Am I asking for too much

Specialties Geriatric

Published

Before I start I want to make it known that I hate conflict, I hate being a bug. And I know that the Nurses and CNA's that work in LTC do not have it easy, and I know many of you are under staffed and very busy. Hense why I don't like to be a complainer. I don't want to be one of those family members that give people a hard time.

My mother in law is in a LTC as a rehab patient, and Well needless to say we have been concern with her level of care there and wondered if we should pull her out and find something else, or is it like this everywhere as far as LTC go.

Is it too much to ask that a nurse help my mother in law find something without getting snippy with her and say listen I am not coming in here every 5 minutes, and then blame her when she gets into trouble for her attitude

Is it too much to ask that my mother in laws room have some air ventlation without the DON saying something about the kitchen is pulling all the air and they are looking into it. while by the way there are empty rooms avalable that DO have some air venting and are less hot. My mother in law has COPD and CHF which is not helping with her room being hot and humid and her oxygen level was at a 85. Oh and when we talked to the doctor on staff about it that the humid room is making my mothers breathing worse he tryed to say oh that is not true. Well I have a slight asthma problem and I can tell this doctor that humid air DOES make it harder to breath.

Is it too much to ask that when her lunch tray comes and the person accidently spills her juice all over her bed and says she will come back after the trays are past out that she NOT forget my mother. The poor thing had her leg in wettness for three hours without anyone cleaning it up. And at last when they did put her in her wheelchair and changed the bedding they did not wash her sticky leg off. which normally no big deal but my mother has diabetes, and history of infections on her legs including the flesh eating bacteria that almost took her life in 2000.

The Don when seeing us go in my mother in laws room came up to us and tried to smooth everything, saying we are fine we are doing great, before we even knew what was going on. By the way All this happened in LESS then a 24 hour period!!

So what are all your thoughts about this. Those that know what is going on. Am I being way to overly concern, and over protective and this was just how it is. Or are these signs of run and don't look back

I am a nurse in LTC and you have every right to feel how you feel. I would be upset too. There is no reason for how you or your family member were treated. We are here to serve the resident and their family. I live by the motto: treat others how you want to be treated. I would go above the DON's head with your concerns. If the facility has an ombudsman (spelling?), contact them also. Good luck and take care. I hope it turns out better for you and your family member.

Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

I have to disagree, politely of course, with misted. We are NOT here to SERVE the resident and their family. We are here to CARE for them. There is a huge difference. I suggest,politely of course, if someone wants good service, they try a weekend stay at the Four Seasons.

I've worked in LTC for the last 3 yrs. I've worked the rehab, long term care, and memory care units. I'm assuming your MIL came from a hospital setting to the facility you are referring to. In that setting, the patient to nurse ratio is about 1:3-6. I'm in a small facility and our ratio is 1:26. The CNA to resident ratio is 2:26. You said the spilled juice incident happened with service of the lunch tray. Generally, the rehab residents in our facility do not join the rest of the residents in the DR, but choose to eat in their rooms. This choice is generally made either due to mobility issues or because they find it distasteful to eat among residents who miss their mouths, can't speak in the normal fashion, have some abnormality that is not pleasant to the eye, etc. Its their choice, and we strive to honor their wishes. However, 1 of the 2 CNAs on the rehab unit is required to go to the DR to pass trays/feed. Its necessary for them to go because regardless of how distasteful the situation may be to the observer, those residents deserve to eat warm food just like the ones on the rehab unit, and their situation is permanent and steadily declining, Our goal is to make their final days as pleasant as possible. Generally, the residents on the rehab unit are capable of feeding themselves, generally have all their faculties, and can voice their wants/needs. The purpose of their stay is to rehab to home. I understand they are there for help/therapy until they can get there, but the purpose is for them to learn to do for themselves again. Its not The Hilton and although the CNAs are frequently treated like personal servants, they are not. During meal times, as I said, the ratio drops. However, the work load increases. Not only are they passing trays and assisting residents with meal time activities, they also perform a lot of other duties. Just because its meal time doesn't mean they don't have to assist with toileting, transfers, pulling people up in bed, logging meal consumptions, etc for those left on the unit. Additionally, the residents who do go to the DR are being returned to the unit and need put back to bed, toileted, cleaned up, etc. Every one keeps mentioning inadequate staffing issues, but did you stop to think how much your MILs stay would cost if there was "adequate staffing"? I'm sure she was covered by either Medicare/Medicaid/private insurance, but if this cost had to be supplemented out of pocket with what you might consider to be adequate staffing, your MIL probably would have been rehabing at home because only the very wealthy could afford the care. Honestly, I'm sure it was simply an oversight on the part of the CNA, but its also a matter of time management and sometimes, spilled juice just isn't the top of your list of priorities. Safety issues always come first, but that usually means protecting someone from a fall that would result in further injury and a longer stay, etc. As for the room conditions, I'm sure the facility was doing all they could to remedy the situation. I don't know where you are, but I'm in the midwest and we have had record heat/drought conditions most of the summer. Our AC just couldn't keep up with the demands placed on it. We were providing fans, placing wash basins full of ice behind the fans, etc to keep our residents comfortable. The conditions were never below the state's regulations, but we went over and above what the state requires. Try to cut the staff a break, and I sincerely hope the situation has improved for your MIL, but please keep this is mind while forming your opinions of the facility. Remind your MIL to use her call light for future situations and if you can, time your visits so you can be available to assist during meal times as these are by far the most hectic times for all concerned. Patience and respect for the caregivers will really go a long way to improve the situation.

Wow I did not even know people were commenting on this yet. Wow people must still be under the impression that we chewed the facilities butt about all this. But we did no such thing. All we did was observe. just a little update. My mil has been there for a month now and we are moving her home on Tue. Everything went well for the most part untill she got an infection a week ago and the doctor at the facility ordered a med that she was allergic too. the nurses and the doctor did not notice it in her chart. (Which it was there.) There was an entire sheet of all her meds and allergies. it was the pharmacy that caught the mistake, so thankfully she did not get it, but my FIL was not pleased to know they did not double check that, and that she could have been given it. Again we are only concerened family members wanting to make sure our mother is taken care of

Specializes in Oncology.

Usually nurses check before an antibiotic is given, I know I do. And I've had pharmacies call about orders another nurse put in for antibiotics, while I was not aware of a cross-allergy to that med from a different allergy the patient had, however, if it's the first time anything is given, I always cross-check any allergies and my meds. Any good nurse does. She didn't get the med, there was no problem. I'd like to see you try to keep up with all the meds of all those patients and all their allergies, smarty-pants.

I'm surprised by the negativity towards the OP.

I like the advice about quietly talking to the CNA when you cleaned your mom-in-law up. When our family members are inpatients it can be hard to sit back and watch them be treated disrespectfully.

I don't think you've done anything wrong here. I hope it works out for you all taking mom-in-law home.

Best wishes.

Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

time out guys,

OP came for support however we can't always comment on individual homes or facilities. I know how things are in LTC as I work LTC although in Canada and yes we are not there to serve and we are not there to cater for demanding clients and families but we all know it happens and people have high expectations. This doesn't mean we can throw around comments which are demeaning to client and family.

Closing this thread for a time out

+ Add a Comment