New Ohio law would let families put cameras in nursing home rooms

[Nursingstudent___]

https://www.wtsp.com/article/news/local/ohio/ohio-bill-would-allow-families-to-place-cameras-in-rooms-of-elder-care-patients/95-b3c950eb-8b44-433c-a963-856761865991?fbclid=IwAR2ZNhc4oynwA1NHzwjsC4qP5hWXrbZNlVyctY_hFe3CeAE9nw2KT7GEpUE

What do you think of this law that would allow families to place cameras in the rooms of elderly patients. I'm pretty against it mostly because we do a lot of cares in the patient's rooms and I think it violates the privacy of the patient. I mean does anyone want to see their demented parents throw their feces across the room because they were confused? Doesn't the patient have the right to have privacy and dignity when they have dementia or are going through delirium. I also worry about OTHER resident's privacy. Many times we have one resident go into another resident's room to hang out and talk or do whatever. Does that random resident have the right to be recorded.

I can also see the flip side in concerns about abuse. I'm wondering what you all think about this new bill?

[Sour Lemon]

On 1/1/2020 at 12:40 PM, Nursingstudent___ said:

I know it happens I reported an aide for abuse when I saw her pick up a resident and throw her onto the bed. I just don't think this is the only answer. We should be paying CNA's more, having safer staffing ratios, and make it harder to become a CNA because honestly to many uneducated people are in this profession.

"Pay me more and I won't strike your father."

"Give me a five dollar raise, and I won't spend three hours in the supply closet ignoring call lights."

I'm always puzzled when I see people suggest higher pay and more education to combat abuse. There are people who work as volunteers and would never harm anyone, and there are highly educated and well-compensated individuals who are flat-out sadistic.

Better staffing would certainly help with issues of unintended neglect, but it doesn't take a Master's degree to know that we're not supposed to rape patients.

[ComeTogether, LPN]

37 minutes ago, Sour Lemon said:

"Pay me more and I won't strike your father."

"Give me a five dollar raise, and I won't spend three hours in the supply closet ignoring call lights."

I'm always puzzled when I see people suggest higher pay and more education to combat abuse. There are people who work as volunteers and would never harm anyone, and there are highly educated and well-compensated individuals who are flat-out sadistic.

Better staffing would certainly help with issues of unintended neglect, but it doesn't take a Master's degree to know that we're not supposed to rape patients.

I think the idea is that paying CNAs more would mean we could retain high quality staff and not be stuck with the bad eggs. The issue is that when we get great CNAs, they often move on because they can't afford to stay in the field or they become nurses.

[Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN]

8 hours ago, Asystole RN said:

You are viewing the legally appointed decision maker as some kind of odd 3rd party. However the legally decision maker was decided, they are now the primary patient's advocate and allowed full access to the patient unless otherwise stipulated in the contract. You want to protect the patient from their guardian when in reality the guardian is trying to protect the patient from you.

I’ve taken care of countless patients who have legal decision makers.... but I always have them wait in the waiting room when bathing or providing incontinence care. Just because they can’t make their own decisions doesn’t mean they don’t deserve dignity... if anything I feel more responsibility to maintain dignity in a vulnerable adult.

[Nursingstudent___]

1 hour ago, Sour Lemon said:

"Pay me more and I won't strike your father."

"Give me a five dollar raise, and I won't spend three hours in the supply closet ignoring call lights."

I'm always puzzled when I see people suggest higher pay and more education to combat abuse. There are people who work as volunteers and would never harm anyone, and there are highly educated and well-compensated individuals who are flat-out sadistic.

Better staffing would certainly help with issues of unintended neglect, but it doesn't take a Master's degree to know that we're not supposed to rape patients.

It's more so that you can attract higher quality aides not necessarily bottom of the barrel. I've worked with so many great aides who have left the industry or are looking to become nurses because there is no way to support yourself on barely minimum wage. I get paid 10 dollars an hour taking care of people and passing meds, but I could get paid more than 10 dollars an hour working at MC Donald's flipping burgers and have tons less responsibility.

If we want good aides you need to pay for good aides.

[Nursingstudent___]

1 hour ago, Sour Lemon said:

"Pay me more and I won't strike your father."

"Give me a five dollar raise, and I won't spend three hours in the supply closet ignoring call lights."

I'm always puzzled when I see people suggest higher pay and more education to combat abuse. There are people who work as volunteers and would never harm anyone, and there are highly educated and well-compensated individuals who are flat-out sadistic.

Better staffing would certainly help with issues of unintended neglect, but it doesn't take a Master's degree to know that we're not supposed to rape patients.

I also wanted to add--

I learned so much more about proper body mechanics, how to look for side effects of medication, and about skin care in nursing school than I did when I took my CNA class (obviously). The information I learned in nursing school really opened my eyes and showed me the "why" I do things as a CNA. I wish I would have learned this stuff when I was a newbie CNA but I felt that even though I had a 100% in my CNA class that my education was lacking. I think that more education will also weed out abusers.

[Asystole RN]

15 hours ago, Sour Lemon said:

"Pay me more and I won't strike your father."

"Give me a five dollar raise, and I won't spend three hours in the supply closet ignoring call lights."

I'm always puzzled when I see people suggest higher pay and more education to combat abuse. There are people who work as volunteers and would never harm anyone, and there are highly educated and well-compensated individuals who are flat-out sadistic.

Better staffing would certainly help with issues of unintended neglect, but it doesn't take a Master's degree to know that we're not supposed to rape patients.

It is not money per say but rather caregiver stress and strain which has a well-known link to abuse rates.

The theory is that the worse the staffing is the more the stress and strain on the caregiver, the more stress and strain the higher the risk of abuse.

[Asystole RN]

14 hours ago, Here.I.Stand said:

I’ve taken care of countless patients who have legal decision makers.... but I always have them wait in the waiting room when bathing or providing incontinence care. Just because they can’t make their own decisions doesn’t mean they don’t deserve dignity... if anything I feel more responsibility to maintain dignity in a vulnerable adult.

I absolutely agree that the patient deserves dignity, especially vulnerable adults, and we should always ask visitors to wait outside.

That being said, legally appointed guardians (depending on the legal authority appointed them) have every right to be in that room should they request. Just as a parent has the right to be in the room when their child has a procedure done.

We should always ask for privacy but when it comes down to it the legal guardian can tell you to pound sand.

[Patricia Nuckols]

I personally feel that cameras should be allowed. If you have a facility that is providing proper and appropriate care, they should not be worried about being viewed when providing care. For my family situation, we asked to install a camera to monitor the safety of our 94 year old grandmother that is prone to falls. We set a night time alert to allow us to be notified of movement at night, and in her case, she has had 5 falls in 4 months. The camera has allowed us to get someone to her within minutes. Otherwise, how long could it have been before some discovered that she had fallen? Hours most likely. As far as privacy, I have had to provide personal care to my grandmother on many occassions, so it is nothing I have not seen before. Nothing could affect me that I might see on the camera, unless I see evidence of abuse.

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

I think cameras in patient rooms are a great idea - where a patient has privacy concerns they can always ask to have them turned off. When it comes to personal cares it can be done in a manner that preserves privacy and dignity even with a camera turned on. When I did bedside cares I always had a warm bath blanket on hand and only uncovered the area that was being cleaned/tended to.

There is nothing I do for a patient that can't be done in full view of a camera

Hppy

[JKL33]

So, @Patricia Nuckols, you first say:

17 hours ago, Patricia Nuckols said:

If you have a facility that is providing proper and appropriate care, they should not be worried about being viewed when providing care.

And then you say:

17 hours ago, Patricia Nuckols said:

The camera has allowed us to get someone to her within minutes. Otherwise, how long could it have been before some discovered that she had fallen? Hours most likely.

1. Do you or don't you have your grandmother in a facility that provides proper and appropriate care, then?

2. Why would you think that a facility that doesn't staff well enough to have someone regularly checking on your grandmother is a place in which employees should feel good about being filmed by 30-50 different families (potentially) for their own purposes? Not maintaining enough staffing is doing something wrong--but the employees aren't the ones responsible for that.

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

20 hours ago, Patricia Nuckols said:

As far as privacy, I have had to provide personal care to my grandmother on many occassions, so it is nothing I have not seen before.

The issue isn't whether or not you are comfortable with it, but whether or not your grandmother still deserves that dignity and privacy during personal care.

Which the answer is yes, she does, if that is what she wants.

[Steve Piskor]

The issue is not about seeing you wipe their ***, it's about not seeing you abuse them, keeping them free from abuse and treating them with dignity and respect, stop hiding behind this fake privacy law that continues to allow abuse, this is not happening, get over it.