very irritated with my job!

[asfreeaswelleverb]

So i work in a nursing home right, n yesterday my d.o.n. comes to me and tells me that the residents are no longer able to have trays in their room. On my hall that i always work on there are atleast 3 people that like to eat in their rooms and they eat alot better when they do it that way. So i asked her, so u want me to force them.. she said no encourage.. which is all well n good but thats the thing.. i always encourage them to get out n do more.. but they dont want to.. n if they dont want to thats THEIR right. She claims its a choking hazard.. which is probably true.. but once again.. residents rights. If they wanna take the risk of choking then thats their RIGHT. i know that may sound horrible but its true. Its their home and Im totally against telling them they HAVE to do this.. or they CANT do that.. its just so wrong to me.

[tomc5555]

I love that you have the pt's back on this!

[fuzzywuzzy, CNA]

You gotta love that line. "Don't force them to do anything, but it still BETTER GET DONE OR ELSE."

[y&rfan84]

One of my residents did not want to get up in the morning. I went, and told the nurse. Thankfully, she didnt make ME force him to get up! They bug him all week for therapy, and appointments he deserves to have a nice day and relax.:)

[Aanuszczyk]

I have heard of this issue as well. My friend just had to pull her grandfather from a nursing home, because they would not let him eat in his room. What happened? He would not eat. After losing weight, and dwindling down to 84lbs, she moved him to a different home.

[yousoldtheworld]

It happens a lot. And it frustrates me, too.

And the hard thing about it is, it's not a black and white issue. I love the idea of "don't make them do anything they don't want to do"...but at the same time, if you didn't "make" some residents do things, they would never be bathed, changed, fed, etc. etc. etc. On one hand, yes, sure it's their "right" to sit in their own waste for days on end. At the same time, the facility is being paid to take care of them, you know? I can never decide how I feel about it.

Of course with something as simple as eating in their rooms, that SHOULD be 100 percent their choice. It's not like it hurts anyone.

[tigerkate]

They should be able to eat in their rooms! You should also be ensuring that they are sitting up properly and not in a position in which choking is more than likely to happen. A slouched over little lady, whose bed is at 30 degrees, with a tray shoved under her chin... Probably not so wise. But an elderly man sitting upright, able to eat his food without too much trouble? Not a problem to me.

I say this also because, as a pt, I don't expect to always go and "be social" all the time. What if I'm grumpy and really don't want to one day? Don't force me! You get more flies with honey, right? At clinicals, one man was such a grouch and always ate in his room. After spending some time chatting with him, after a week, I got him up and over to the cafeteria room. A nurse was shocked, but I had no clue he never ate in the cafeteria. I guess he was just in a good mood.

[karamarie91]

That frustrates me as well, because I'm thinking, "How can I give proper care, when they(the resident, especially demented or with Alheizemers) keep refusing? But I'm continuing to learn different techniques for each person to ensure they do what they need to be to be well.