your very own personal crusade

[goats'r'us]

i think everyone has a personal little cause - that little thing that's really not a big deal, but is a huge deal to you - and i want to know what yours is.

mine's pads. pads, not nappies.

only babies wear nappies, and i think that saying an adult wears a nappy takes away so much dignity! it's not that hard to just call it a pad and let the person have that one little bit of dignity. i mean, heaven knows if you're in hospital in need of a great big pad, you probably don't feel that dignified, without being popped into a nappy like a little baby!

i used to work in disabilities, where i helped out in a group home with some profoundly disabled teenagers. they basically needed full assistance for all care, but it was so important that we were support workers, not carers, and they wore pads, NOT NAPPIES!! it just makes sense to me. i mean, you play down stuff all the time to save people's feelings - the lady hurling up her guts is 'feeling a bit off', the man covered in poo is 'in a mess' and just needs 'help to clean up', people who die slow painful deaths miraculously 'pass on gently' when their family ask if they suffered. i don't care if the person in front of me needs a big-mama super absorbant nappy-type creation, i'll still say 'i'll just grab you a pad' every time.

see - smallest thing to everyone else, huge deal for me! what's yours?

[DusktilDawn]

Nothing bothers me more than seeing an elderly person w/ terribly dirty eyeglasses. Even when visiting at a nursing home, if I see dirty glasses, I wash them! Not only is it a safety issue, it shows the owner of the glasses that you care!

Another huge issue for me.........unshaven men. Now if a man has worn a beard/mustache his whole life...no worries. But it is the responsibility of his care givers to ensure that it stays neatly trimmed and please make sure that there is no "midnight snack" left after eating. Also, if an elderly man was clean shaven his whole life then he should be shaved daily. (The shaving issue might be contraindicated if they are on blood thinners.)

I'm not disagreeing with shaving or making sure a beard is neat, Barber syling is a skill I learned many years ago and actually enjoy when I have the opportunity. However at the former facility I worked with there was a big issue over a nurse trimming a patient's beard because she felt it was unkempt, apparently according to this patient's religion/culture beards were never trimmed or shaved off. Just a word of caution about beard trimming, no reason we can't keep it clean though.

[Nurse Ratched, RN]

Amen to no adult diapers!! :)

Hate that. Just sends chills up my spine.

Also, when my elderly patients needed the adult equivalent of a "bib" - it's not a bib - it's a cover, it's an apron, call it anything but a bib like they're drooling little babies.

*I* feel better .

[Fraggle]

While we're on diapers... please do not send your residents to us in the ambo double-diapered or with chux or washcloths stuffed down them. This is why we change briefs on occasion.

My husband's great aunt was brought to a family picnic with a chux stuffed in her diaper, too. Her daughter, not an uneducated woman, thought that was what you do, since it's always like that at the facility.

Okay, one more. Families, please by your elderly women bras that fit. I once had to stuff an DD or larger, wheezing COPD into a 36 C underwire, b/c she refused to go braless and that's all they gave her. I was new, I should have told her "no," but mom shouldn't get your leftovers.

[meownsmile, BSN, RN]

Ill add another amen to all of the above and add. I'll even acknowledge the word "attends", "adult brief", but DONT refer to them as diapers please.

If your resident has been hygenic enough to care for their teeth and they still have them, PLEASE offer them a toothbrush on a daily basis.

I hate seeing people go into LTC just to have their oral hygiene ignored and end up losing what they took enough pride in to care for all their lives.

My grandfather went into a nursing home with all his own teeth. When he died 10 years later,, he had like 3 left. He took care of them for 85+ years why couldnt someone help. Please consider the health issues when you dont give good oral care, they may eat better too if they had a clean mouth to actually taste their food, not to mention the irritation and infection a person can carry when they dont have a clean mouth.

[allele, LPN]

I have a few "minor" crusades, but a couple of things that make me cringe....many of our younger (and some older!) CNA's/RN's call our patients "Honey" or "Sweetie"....sounds so disrespectful! From CNA class I was taught to always call patients/residents "Mr.", "Mrs." or "Ms." so-and-so.....and 13 years later I still do until the patient tells me different. I also hate it when they just call the patient by their first name without permission. Now, I'll do if I have an 18 year old patient (I'm 33), but some call people in their 80's and older by their first name!! Especially if the patient is confused. Just doesn't seem right to me.

[Stephanie in FL]

I'm an RN and CDE (Certified Diabetes Educator). I dislike when a patient is referred to as a "diabetic". I prefer "person with diabetes".

Stephanie RN CDE

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

I agree that using the term "pad" instead of "diaper" ( term diaper used here instead of nappie) sounds a little more dignified for an adult. "Brief" is another term used instead. I have a friend who was born with Spina Bifida and she prefers "brief." The "briefs" come in different sizes by colour, for instance a small is white, medium is blue, large is yellow. So it will usually be "Could I have a blue brief please?"

Now I've never heard the term "product" used before.

Hairdressers use the term "product" all the time to mean shampoo, conditioner, mousse, etc.

I have the same problem with people saying "diaper" for an adult incontinence pad.

I'll have to think about some others.

steph

[LydiaNN]

I'm an RN and CDE (Certified Diabetes Educator). I dislike when a patient is referred to as a "diabetic". I prefer "person with diabetes".

Stephanie RN CDE

Oh... now you've opened up a whole can of worms for me, lol. In general, I believe in People First language, which reflects your way of referring to the person first and the disease or disability next. I also have a real problem with the terms "cripple", "handicapped", "lame", or the use of the diagnosis to refer to the patient (ie, "the CP in Room 4"), etc. And unless you're really interested in reading a novella, best not to get me started on terms like "stricken with", "victim of", "afflicted", "wheelchair bound"... Nuff said!

[Spidey's mom, ADN, BSN, RN]

I have a few "minor" crusades, but a couple of things that make me cringe....many of our younger (and some older!) CNA's/RN's call our patients "Honey" or "Sweetie"....sounds so disrespectful! From CNA class I was taught to always call patients/residents "Mr.", "Mrs." or "Ms." so-and-so.....and 13 years later I still do until the patient tells me different. I also hate it when they just call the patient by their first name without permission. Now, I'll do if I have an 18 year old patient (I'm 33), but some call people in their 80's and older by their first name!! Especially if the patient is confused. Just doesn't seem right to me.

We call some of our patients in acute, who end up staying with us awhile, honey and sweetie. Most of these folks are people from our community that we've all known for years. They don't have a problem with it - we've asked.

I've been asked what if a surveyor comes by and hears it, won't the hospital get into trouble. I just say "no, I would just say this is my grandma and I can call her honey if I want to". And the truth is, since my husband's family is a pioneer family here and related to almost everyone, it would almost be true that the patient is a relative.:)

As to pads, at home we call them mouse mattresses.

I also hate to see dirty glasses - I clean them up too.

We also shower, shave and help brush teeth/dentures before family and visitors come by - the patients usually feel much better just getting OOB and cleaned up.

steph

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

I always asked for a "clothing protector", not a diaper.

[Marie_LPN, RN, LPN, RN]

My crusade is mouth care, and faces. I cannot STAND it when we get a pt. and it looks like their face hasn't been wipe off for DAYS.

[lpn1313]

I have to agree with all of these- adults use depends and clothing protectors not diapers and bibs. Shave your men...but don't forget the women! Some of them don't like wearing a goatee. Clean the glasses and teeth, make them clean their hands. And one of my biggest sore spots...just because you think that Mrs. Jones would look cute with pigtails does NOT mean that you should comb it that way!!!Take a look at the pictures in their rooms. Do you see them looking like that at any point in their life? If the answer is no DON'T DO IT. I can't count the number of times I've walked into a room and seen an 80 or 90 year old with pigtails. Age appropriate hair styles please or I will come find you and give you a lecture about it.