janwebsa

Stan Tomandl has just written a book about Alzheimers called Alzheimers " a surprise party". its a very sensitive book written by a psychologist and counsellor who worked and related to his own father as he lived in the altered state of consciousness which we know as alzheimers. I recommend it for its humanity and supportive suggestions

Dear Gwenith I am really grateful for your reply which shows your years of experience and expertise. I will bring these suggestions forward. One of the disturbing things is of course that the nurses who do this are being taught this at learning institutions and through the example of the neurosugeons on ward rounds. I feel so distressed when as a potentially abusive attempt to elicit a response so often there is no recognition of the time delay for any response and the whole group moves on as the poor patient then flickers an eyelid or the breathing changes or there is another sign which isnt even seen. A young student asked about the time delay and was told, Well if you dont move smartly when your nipple gets twisted that proves there's very little there" ....yike! Thanks again and i really appreciate the wisdom and humanity I have witnessed on this string jw

Dear all I am a coma care communications trainer and counselor in a neurosurgery ICU in a large state hospital in Africa. It is an under resourced and highly stressed environment. We work following minimal signals from people in altered states of consciousness - acknowledging and helping amplify these signals. Our aim is accompaniment and completion of inner process which will hopefully lead to an easier death process (we have one of the highest global rates of AIDS deaths) or recovery process from TBI. Many of our patients are inidentified young men and women who have entered ICU through violent attacks. It is important for me that their experience of hospital is not one of secondary violence. Those that have recovered and can remember their experience say how important it was in their recovery and rising to consciousness that they were treated kindly and positively and that they " distanced themselves" when they were treated harshly. The nursing staff in our unit test for response to pain in the Glasgow coma scale through nipple squeezing. I want to challenge this practice and would like advice on how this is approached in other hospitals. With thanks JW