"Don't bother talking to residents with dementia.....

[Coffee bean]

they don't understand what your saying anyway",I heard an RN tell one of the students from my CNA program this.I was shocked that she would make such a statement,and it's absolutely untrue.I did not argue but told my fellow student that dementia patients can understand but may not be able to communicate.I'm wondering where in the world gave her the idea that dementia patients can't hear or communicate???????I have seen for myself,(grandmother has alzheimer's)but she can communicate and so can most of the residents that I help care for,it just takes them more time to answer.SMH!!!!!!!

[Coffee bean]

I've seen a snack tray but sometimes we don't get to see the care plan to make sure that I'm not giving them something that they should not have,I will ask the charge nurse,thank you for your advice!

[SoldierNurse22, BSN, RN]

I was given this impression as a new nurse, though it was never said outright to me. Like the OP, I was well aware that it was the wrong answer.

One night, I was taking care of an old colonel who had once been a nurse in the Army herself. She had dementia compounded by brain mets. She was dying of cancer, hunched over and spoke in a confused rasp, but she was desperate to talk to someone. And believe it or not, as I sat in there talking with her, she came out of her confusion and told me all about her career. Everything from when she commissioned to where she was stationed to where she deployed. A second lieutenant at the time and not even through my first year as a nurse, I sat in awe of what she told me, slack-jawed at the years of experience she recounted as if it had only been yesterday. She told me about the good times and the bad times, what she hated, what she loved, and after we had talked, she fell asleep.

When I completed a round later that night and found her awake, she had forgotten everything.

Whether you're providing comfort and reassurance or ensuring your patient's safety, never for a second underestimate your patients with dementia. Whether or not they come out of their confusion like mine did or they talk to you all night about the wedding they just came from 40 years ago, they are indeed worthy of respect and still have something to teach/contribute as long as we're willing to hear them.

[Coffee bean]

"Whether you're providing comfort and reassurance or ensuring your patient's safety, never for a second underestimate your patients with dementia. Whether or not they come out of their confusion like mine did or they talk to you all night about the wedding they just came from 40 years ago, they are indeed worthy of respect and still have something to teach/contribute as long as we're willing to hear them"

I agree 100% totally deserving of respect!

[mstearns09]

I've seen even the most regressed demented patient respond to something that triggered that one last memory fragment whilst in the process of dying. It's too bad this person said what she did; it sounds like someone when has been working in that sort of environment for too long or someone who needs some retraining in how to care for patients with dementia.

[duskyjewel]

I believe it. I worked with a LPN who was borderline verbally abusive to a dementia patient. I made sure that I jumped every time his light went off or he called out, to protect him from having to interact with her. I was getting to the point where I was going to report her to superiors, but my agency went through layoffs this summer and she was one of the ones who went. I feel sorry for the patients wherever she lands. She was clearly burned out and should never be allowed to care for a dementia patient ever again, IMO.

My grandma was diagnosed with Alzheimer's this year. My dad is her primary caregiver for now, but I think she'll end up in a facility sometime in the future. I catch anyone treating my grandma that way..... well, let's just say there WILL be consequences.

[Coffee bean]

I've seen some things too since I've been in CNA classes,things that I did not like,not so much physical abuse but mental,mocking residents,teasing them in condescending ways.Talking over residents at the dinner table,ignoring the fact that they are actually sitting next to a living, breathing human being.One CNA actually referred to the residents as "crazy old ladies".My grandmother is also in a home for dementia patients,I shiver at the thought of someone treating her that way,what they don't know is my grandmother was one of the strongest,most caring people I have ever met,that she took in many many young pregnant girls over the years when their parents kicked them out in the street,my grandmother cared from them and their newborns,I wonder if they knew if it would make a difference:(

[applesxoranges, BSN, RN]

I know when I was an EMT for a private I was called a saint because I repeatedly told dementia patients who I was, what we were doing, and where we were going even though I just answered the question.

[breezycna]

That's a horrible and completely inaccurate thing to say, especially to someone who is just starting to train as a nursing assistant. Did you mention this to your instructor? They need to know so that they can 1) decide if it's necessary to bring it up to the facility's director and 2) make sure you and your peers know the RN was misinforming the student.

[liketheairport]

Most people (not all) like to feel like they matter. Even if a dementia patient can't communicate by speaking, they're certainly not less intelligent, they just have a different way of doing so. Body language and tone of voice say a lot.

My father has Alzheimer's (well, at least as far as can be told before autopsy), and I'd hate to think of him being somewhere that tells staff not to "bother" talking to him. Dad's still doing OK and doesn't need round-the-clock care yet, but I can't imagine anything worse than feeling like you can't be "bothered" with because someone thinks you don't understand or can't communicate.

[slilly]

Wow apparently that RN does not realize that some dementia patients are a whole lot smarter than the workers. They do know how to communicate either verbally or non-verbally, or they do both. Just because their mental mindset is slowly going away doesn't mean anything, I have a close family friend who has Alzheimer's and for the most part you wouldn't know it because he talks very normal and for the most part acts like it too, I know he has scared one of his grandkids one time because he forgot that she went out to walk with her friend and the friend's dog and he blasted her as soon as she got back, but the next day he forgot he even did that. I was taught at my line of work *Hospice* that the last sense to leave the body before death is hearing and touch, which is very true because if you spend time with a dying patient and just sit and talk to them they may not show any sign of them actually hearing you but they are and they can feel you when you put your hand on them. I wouldn't listen to that RN who said dementia patients can't communicate because it may be her who has the issue with proper communication with them.

[Bbo.W]

Wow, that RN needs to work somewhere other than healthcare!!!! Even when residents have extremely impaired, word-salad communication , they still understand intent when a kind caring tone is used. I worked with a nurse once who had a similar attitude and she ended up getting fired for neglect. That made total sens to me because if she didn't even speak respectfully, she obviously was not caring for the residents. I was so glad when she was gone!!!!! She actually referred to the residents in memory care as crazies....in front of them. Yuck