Dear God, Help me

Specialties Geriatric

Published

I just listened to this for 12 hours- almost literally non-stop. I just felt the urge to put it in an online forum full of nurses who may sympathize with my numb brain. God Bless Alzheimer's.

Specializes in Psych ICU, addictions.
I used to give the confused little old ladies who wander at night baskets of linens to fold.

We do something similar in psych: we've give our non-suicidal manic patients towels to fold. Most were very eager to have their hands occupied and it kept them out of trouble. Mind you, listening to them talk as they're folding laundry was exhausting :)

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There's this one little gentleman, who daily wheels up to the dining room, sits and continually says, over and over, "coffee, coffee, coffee." Most of the time he gets it, but until then he makes sure that he is putting in his order :)

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Yes, that works like a charm!

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We have one that yells, "Help, help, please help me!" We gave her a handbell to ring instead of calling out so now she rings the bell as she's yelling, "Help, help, please help me!" Some days, I don't even turn the radio on in the car on the way home just so I can listen to silence while riding! Poor things! They don't even know they're doing it sometimes!

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Specializes in LTC, Hospice.

We have one lady who alternates between "coffee!! coffee!!! coffee!!!!" and "bathroom!! bathroom!!! bathroom!!!!"

Then there is the one who is repetitively asking "Where am I?" And God forbid you don't answer her, cause she just gets angrier and louder. But when you tell her, she doesn't believe you and just says "bullsh!t", and the questioning starts again.

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Specializes in Dialysis.

Give her a map. Doesn't matter where.

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Ah...God Bless my little 16 bed sub-acute wing.

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Specializes in Med/Surg/Tele/Onc.

Don't you wish we could pre-program our own dementia world? I want the vacation one....

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I just listened to this for 12 hours- almost literally non-stop. I just felt the urge to put it in an online forum full of nurses who may sympathize with my numb brain. God Bless Alzheimer's.[/quote

I got yelled by the DON and Nurse Manager because of those behaviors in a Dementia Unit.

They told me it is failure from the Nurse in charge if resident has those behaviors because "studies have showed that those behavior are the result of pain"The use of antidepressant and antipsychotic in my facility are lower than average. I feel bad because I have not been able to stop those behaviors I have tried many non- pharmacological methods, pharmacological methods tylenol every 8 hours as needed. It is more stressful because I have to deal with the behaviors of 30 residents and my Nurse Manager and DON yelling at me and doing all my duties as a charge Nurse and on the top of that short staffed. Sorry just venting. Thanks to all nurses for the opportunity to vent I still love my residents and their family members, I really care for all of them.

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Specializes in CCM, PHN.

Ahhh the stories so many of us could tell from LTC! My fave was when I worked a memory unit and had a super old (100+) year old lady who had been a nurse in World War I. Her family had owned slaves. She would sit in her Geri chair in the hallway yelling and swearing all day, every day, calling names and cursing, yelling how God was gonna strike people down, etc. One day she motioned for me to come over to her, curling a finger at herself, like she wanted to tell me a secret. I leaned down to hear. She whispered "you're a good n*gger." Before I could do anything she suddenly threw her arms open, shoving me out of the way, and proclaimed at the top of her lungs "YOU'RE ALLLL GOOD N*GGERS!!!!!!" There were two black dietary aides who froze, the whole nursing station froze, then EVERYONE pretty much fell to the floor laughing. Luckily the two Dietary workers understood. It was so awful but so hilarious. What can you do. It was the only praise she ever doled out.

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At our LTC facility, we used to have this resident who continuously called out "Nurse! Oh, Nurse!" One day while I was in the dining room during a meal, she started calling out. Within a few minutes a few others started mimicing her. Soon a whole chorus of "Nurse! Oh, nurse!" was reverberating from all corners of the dining room. It was hilarious but I had to leave.....with a smile on my face :-)

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