has anyone heard of Mercer's disease? and some sad ramblings about my grandma :(

[rehab nurse]

hi everyone,

i'm exhausted from caring for my very ill grandma, who is in a nursing home, and has been so neglected, she wants me to pray that she'll die tonight. i am tired of fighting with fellow nursing home nurses about her care (lack of).

anyways, my aunt was just put in the hospital for what she said is Mercer's disease? i tried a quick search online, but came up with nothing. i am too tired to search, and wanted to know if anyone knew what this was. it must be spelled wrong, or called something entirely different. i don't even have the energy to look in my nursing books. i thought i'd come to the best place, my fellow nurses. i know someone one here knows what it is and can explain it to me! :) they cancelled my aunt's surgery because of it, and she was hospitalized.

sigh. i am thankful for all those nurses who care out there. and i am sorry that some people are so overworked, underpaid, and completely unappreciated as nurses. i am tired of working short, and barely providing adequate care for our elderly patients. and i so very tired of my grandma's so called "caregivers", who don't bother to check on her, or wheel her down to her room when she asks, because her arm is throbbing in such pain, as his her weeping, +3edematous, blistering, painful legs. she would wheel herself down if she could. she wouldn't let go of my hand tonight when i prayed with her before she fell asleep. i stayed there, holding her hand, until she fell asleep.

this morning, PT apparently pushed her outside the therapy room, and told her to wheel herself back to her room (around 3 corners, and about 75 yards away. she had not eaten lunch(and probably wouldn't of eaten dinner, either, if i hadn't gotten there) just left crying in the hallway. no one bothered to wheel her, even though she begged. when i wheeled her to her room, and asked the nurse why she hadn't eaten, i was given the nastiest attitude i have ever encountered. "she didn't eat, because she wouldn't wheel herself down to the dining room.". i asked for her help, and she sent the aide in, who (i'm dead serious here, folks), who came in a few seconds later, and said to her with just about the same nastiness and tone, and told her "you're here for therapy, so you need to do this for yourself".:angryfire with a turn of the heel, she left, and i helped her into bed. i tried the best i could to help her clean up, despite the 10 out of 10 pain in my back, and my nearly numb right leg. i wish i could have brought her home with me. she hadn't had a darvocet all day, and i couldn't bring myself to ask the nurse without saying something terrible to her. i gave her a darvocet (what she's supposed to get every evening at 9 pm, but didn't get, cause i was there from 6 to 11) from her bottle of pills i had with me. i stayed with her until she fell asleep, even though i was asked to leave because i was past visiting hours. i told them no, as i could not expect them to help her, and as the only nurse in my family, couldn't and wouldn't leave her alone. i have the nurses and the nurse aide's names and i will call my state BON tomorrow. i don't know what else to do. my other aunt will be up there at 6 am tomorrow. we've all tried, my family that is, to be there for her, as a nursing home was the last place she ever wanted to be. thankfully, the aide on tonight i know, and she is good. one of the few good one's there. a blessing for sure, at least i know she'll be ok through the night until my aunt can get there.

my whole family is just falling apart. everyone is ill, but we're all trying to help each other as best we can.

ok, off my soapbox now, and exhausted. sorry if i am not making a whole lot of sense in my post, as i was just rambling off thoughts racing through my brain.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

suspect that "mercer disease" is actually mrsa =

methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus - wikipedia, the free ...

increasingly common infection that needs to be treated with iv antibiotics prior to any elective surgery. it is resistnat to many antibiotics and difficulty to treat in some persons with multiple health problems.

hoping that they found this problem quickly and aunt recovers soon.

ps re grandma's care:

1. request to speak with social service to set up family meeting including grandma so everyone is aware of what the care plan is.

2. address issues:

a. no one should be told they have to wheel themselves 75 ft and when period of time passes, they are unable to do so, miss a meal.

b.possitive reinforcement rather than scolding tone will do wonders to improve self esteem.

c.???depression evaluated as never wanted to be in a home, might be lack of interest in rehab program....or might be too sick.

d. + 3 edema and weeping can be realted to protein malnutrition: ask for nutrition consult. albumin stores need to be checked

taking a multivitamin??? --zinc helps wounds heal.

3.. no change: contact local facility ombudsman, number must be posted in every snf and inform them of your concerns.

[rehab nurse]

suspect that "mercer disease" is actually mrsa =

methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus - wikipedia, the free ...

increasingly common infection that needs to be treated with iv antibiotics prior to any elective surgery. it is resistnat to many antibiotics and difficulty to treat in some persons with multiple health problems.

hoping that they found this problem quickly and aunt recovers soon.

ps re grandma's care:

1. request to speak with social service to set up family meeting including grandma so everyone is aware of what the care plan is.

2. address issues:

a. no one should be told they have to wheel themselves 75 ft and when period of time passes, they are unable to do so, miss a meal.

b.possitive reinforcement rather than scolding tone will do wonders to improve self esteem.

c.???depression evaluated as never wanted to be in a home, might be lack of interest in rehab program....or might be too sick.

d. + 3 edema and weeping can be realted to protein malnutrition: ask for nutrition consult. albumin stores need to be checked

taking a multivitamin??? --zinc helps wounds heal.

3.. no change: contact local facility ombudsman, number must be posted in every snf and inform them of your concerns.

thanks karen, duh, i didn't even think about mrsa, though if i sound it out, it makes sense. how many times have i treated mrsa with iv vanco, etc, and i didn't think of it. my brain is fried. sigh.

i think because my family is stuck with so many odd, off the wall and rare diseases that i didn't think of it. uncle has a very rare bone ca, i guess only a few dozen cases. don't know the specific name. never asked, i just know he ended up in isolation for 7 months in his house, and only his wife could be with him. guess i just have a mentality for figuring it would be something fairly uncommon, instead of overwhelmingly common. almost half my rehab pts come to us with active mrsa infections nowadays, and are on iv vanco forever it seems.

thanks for the tips about my grandma. i've been in nursing homes for 8 of my 10 years as a lpn (soon to be rn....yay!) i do know that this facility has 8 hours to investigate c/o neglect, which will be filed first thing in the am with the don and admin. and i forgot about the ombudsman, i have the number for that office as well. thanks for the reminder. :)

thanks karen :) :flowersfo

p.s. grandma used to take vitamins, hasn't since admit to nh about three weeks ago. i'm sure she has some elyte imbalance as well as low albumin. she doesn't like to drink (despite neverending reminders and teaching, she thinks no drinking will make her stop urinating) since she never gets help to go to br. she's due for some labs this week, have to check her inr too. she also has terrible pvd for years now, making wound healing even worse. and np had told nurses to stop using hydrocolloid on the wound on her leg (??) since had made it blister and worsen, but nurse bumped into it other day and reinjured it, and for some reason put it back on her again. have to get that sorted out as well. wound np was very, very nice and took so much time with her.

[LoriAlabamaRN]

I am so sorry about what is going on with your grandmother. I wish I could get her to my facility, we would NEVER allow that kind of slipshod care over here. I would have fired that LPN and that aide on the spot, it is abuse to withhold food from someone who is unable to get themselves to the dining room. I urge you to call the Ombudsman as soon as you can, the info should be posted in the facility prominently. I can't stand to hear about this sort of thing, it gives LTC facilities a bad name.