The resident with no family.

[LightX]

I work as a CNA in a LTC facility. One gentleman who has lived there for more than 20 yrs (he has severe Cerebal Palsy). He has no family or anyone who visits him. His (few)clothes are basically rags. He is independent in his specially designed wheel chair and is very socialable.

There are days where he "has" to stay in his room because the few clothes he has are in the laundry.

Yesterday, I bought a pair of sweat pants at a yard sale and took them too him. My hallmate (a CNA also) saw me bring them in and told me that I shouldn't bring things in for the residents because it wasn't "appropriate" and could be looked at as a favortism!

REALLY!??

Was I wrong? I didn't make a display about it. I didn't even tell him I got them FOR him, I just showed him so he knew he had them and hung them up.

[Nurseinthemaking20]

I don't think it's wrong at all! I work in LTC also and some of my coworkers have done the same thing for one of the residents who has very few personal belongings and no family that visits him.

[loriangel14, RN]

You are an angel.There is absolutely no to feel like you did anything wrong for doing something out of the kindness of your heart.You are treating as you would want to be treated by others. Don't ever feel badly for doing something nice.Your coworker has no heart.Seriously, would you really get in trouble for this?

I work on a floor where we have many seniors waiting for nursing home placement.One lady has family that never visits. She has no clothes of her own but we dress her every day from our supply of extra clothing. We buy her gifts,cut her hair, do her nails and make sure she gets lots of attention.We've had her for over a year and we all treat her like family.

Would the facility not do something about the state of his clothes? In my area they would make sure he got some decent clothing.

[amoLucia]

To OP - please talk to your Nurse Manager and/or Social Worker as they should be able to make arrangements to purchase some new clothes for residents. Often they have no clue until someone observant like you is able to tell them. And it was very gracious of you to try to provide some needed clothing, but it seems like your coworker may have a valid point. I am very careful when I bring things in for pts too. Tell your Nurse Manager what you did just so everything is on board.

[mskrisCNA2bRN]

Technically you really aren't supposed to do it but being the caring person you are I see why you did it. I've been tempted myself to do things like that too. However you should alert social services at your job as well as your nurse manager so that they can make arrangements to do something for him especially if he's in need. Being a caregiver with a heart as big as yours it's hard to choose how to go about situations like that. You want to do so much but you have to abide by the rules. It sucks sometimes

[Kitsey]

Good for you! We have done things like this at my LTC facility and I have never heard or even thought there could be something wrong with doing so. One resident with long hair had literally one single nasty hair tie with a rats nest of hair stuck to it, so I bought her a pack of new brightly colored ones. My coworker and I have also been buying conditioner for another resident for 2 years who still gets her hair dyed cause the facility only provides shampoo. My coworker also bought 5 or 6 pairs of fancy grippers for a resident with no family because she was just being left with her toes sticking out of her ted hose and she was always cold. I see nothing wrong with it, just slip things into their room and don't make a big deal of it.

[loriangel14, RN]

How can being generous with another human being be wrong? I once bought a whole bag or clothes and a pair of shoes for a patient being discharged to a nursing home because he had nothing.

[KelRN215, BSN, RN]

So this gentleman has no family- there still has to be someone who is ultimately responsible. The state? If he doesn't already get disability checks, I imagine he'd qualify for it and if the facility is receiving this money, they should be using it to buy him clothes. I agree to get the Social Worker involved.

[Irish_Mist, BSN, RN]

I can't say whether or not this was "appropriate" but I can say that you are in fact a caring, loving person. What you did was show simple, undeniable kindness and love to a man who has no family. This means so much to me. In fact, I am in tears as I write this. So many elderly people are in this situation. Their situation begs for kindness from staff members. My great-grandmother spent the last year of her life in a nursing home in Washington state. I live in Texas so I could only visit occasionally. Kind people like you are what make their living situation compassionate, human, and all the better.

[stephanie.]

Isn't it a shame, as caregivers, we have to question if we may or may not get into trouble for bringing a patient a pair of sweat pants?

In this day and age people can't make a nice gesture without others questioning motives or pulling the "what about me" card.

I applaud you and would have done the same.

[LightX]

Thank you everyone! I am a fairly new CNA and never even thought about talking with the social worker. I have no idea who the social worker is or where to find them in this facility, but I will ask my charge nurse who is an awesome person herself!

And I will still bring clothes into this resident or anyone else who needs something and can't get it on their own. I couldn't do this job if the ability to help someone in such a simple way was taken away....noone has to know it was me who brought it in. :)

[MrsCuoco]

I was a CNA in a somewhat sub-par nursing home where we had many residents with either little or no family and some of them had pretty threadbare clothes or they'd gain weight and bust out of what they had. The facility took donations of clothing for these people, but a lot of us CNAs also brought in clothing, sometimes to be put in the general stock and sometimes something for a specific resident. I believe there is nothing wrong with that.