Is this a cultural thing?

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I just started a new job in LTC and there is a female resident on my unit that frequently needs toileted. She is continent, however, when she feels the urge to go, she calls out "I need to go to the Matilda". She does have periods of confusion so I can't figure out if matilda is a term used in another culture for the bathroom or if it is just some aphasia. Nobody else seems to know why she calls the bathroom matilda but she wheels herself to the bathroom door when she calls for the matilda. I have ruled out Matilda being a former caregiver for her but I don't know enough about her background to know if she is from the United States, etc.

Has anybody ever heard of bathroom being called matilda? If it is a cultural thing? Can I get any more info on it? I want to be able to meet her needs and understand what she needs if I can, but I've tried every search I can think of and can't find any culture that calls bathroom matilda, and family doesn't come to visit on my shift.

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It's just what she calls it. If you know what she means you're fine.

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Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.

Hmmm, is her speech clear? I know of "Letrina" for outhouse/bathroom but never matilda.

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Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.

Read # 16 http://www.jldr.com/faqs.html

Maybe this is what she means?

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Specializes in LTC, Memory loss, PDN.

If you can't ask the resident, perhaps a family member knows. If you can't find the answer - what sue said.

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Thanks for the link. It was enlightining. She speaks clearly and doesn't seem to have any other form of aphasia. I just feel it's cultural and wanted to know more about it but I can't find "matilda" anywhere so I guess it's just her word for it :) Thanks so much for looking into it :)

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I think it is just her word for it, as many, many people seem to have "words for it". The patients I recall as having aphasia had difficulty with so many words that it was quite apparent they were suffering from aphasia. Does not seem to be the case here.

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Specializes in PeriOp, ICU, PICU, NICU.
Thanks for the link. It was enlightining. She speaks clearly and doesn't seem to have any other form of aphasia. I just feel it's cultural and wanted to know more about it but I can't find "matilda" anywhere so I guess it's just her word for it :) Thanks so much for looking into it :)

Your welcome. :)

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