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Hi. My 74 year old father is in a nursing home right now for some physical therapy. He has parkinsons disease and also has NPH and has a VP Shunt on the right side of his head. Last wednesday morning (around 2am) he got out of bed and went into the bathroom and fell and hit the sink.. He had a huge goose egg above his right eye.. (I don't know when the night staff realized he fell) The day shift nurse called me at 9am that wednesday morning and told me my dad had fell during the night and had a pretty bad bump on his head.. I asked if he seemed like he was ok and she said yes.. Then I asked if he could have a CT scan to check the VP shunt to make sure it was ok.. She told me that the doctor said it didn't need to be check and then proceeded to tell me that insurance wouldn't cover the CT scan.. (Even though in the past when he has fell at home I take him to the er and they always do a ct scan.) To make a long story short yesterday the nurse called me and told me my dad wasn't doing very well and said he was having a hard time walking.. I became very upset and went right to the nursing home to see him and on my way in the DON stopped me and asked if anyone had called me about my dad.. I asked her if they were going to call the doctor and let him know about him and she told me that there was nothing to do.. I told her that if they didn't do something that I was going to take him out myself and take him to the hospital and have his neurologist check him out and also told her that the shunt in his head should have been checked to make sure that it was ok a week ago when he fell.. She just looked at me and rolled her eyes and walked off... (I'm not a doctor and I don't know if this even has anything to do with him falling but, its just very upsetting.) I feel kind of bad today but, I feel that if I wouldn't have said anything then who knows what could happen..
I work as a charge nurse in a LTC. I understand what someone above is saying about having to fill out any extra forms. Anytime a incident happens in our facility that might results in an injury, the state of michigan has to be notified and they investigate the facility and what they did to correct the mistake. I hate to think that they would choose your dad's well being over doing a little extra paper work but worse has happened.:angryfire
We all know that if the charge nurse on the floor would have listened to you in the first place, then he would have gotten his tests and no questions asked. You can't leave you dad in place that you don't trust so I would transfer him to a place where you feel comfortable leaving him. Because if your not comfortable with him there, then odds are that he isn't comfortable either. Good luck on finding a new place. Many LTC offer physical therapy so you should be able to find help. :icon_twis
My suggestion to you is to find another LTC facility he can rehab at. When the DON rolls her eyes at you ... you have become road blocked by your last defense. If you cant seek the DON for help... there is no help. I transfer people everyday from medicare facility to medicare facility it can be done ... so look into it. You only have one dad!!
Exactly my suggestion. When you place your loved one in a nursing home you expect that he/she will receive the care they need. When you get the eyerolling from the DON of all people, that's a red flag for me and my cue to get him out of there and into another facility.
As the supervisor of an LTC, I would not only have welcomed your opinions but wholeheartedly agreed with them. In fact, with a VP shunt and a blow to the head I would have sent him out immediately upon finding out about the fall. I don't play around with head injuries. I think it is absolutely apalling that you got this response. I can guarantee you if that DON had treated me and my family that way she would have been reported to the administrator faster than you can say "negligent."
Newmom- I'm on a Neuro floor and if that happened to a patient with a VP shunt (or really any patient who hit their head) we would have sent them to get a CT immediately. Otherwise, how can you possibly know what is going on? You were definitely not being too pushy. Since they're not getting him a CT scan, I would suggest that you take him to an ER or a hospital where he can have one ASAP. How has your father been doing?
txspadequeen: I don't have a reply to what you wrote but I do have a ?, seeing as how you are from the lonestar state. I moved here from Iowa 3 yrs ago. In Iowa they used RNs, extensively, in LTC. I always wanted to work in the hospital but, once I had worked LTC for several years, I was repeatedly told by the hospital human resources dept. that I had "no experience" and they would not hire me. Now,as I said, I live here. I did spend the last two years working as a director in an adult day care, interesting, but have not applied to hospitals. All the ads I see ask for "peds". "ICU", etc. I have not applied to any hospitals because I feel they are only looking for experienced RNs who have worked in these areas. Am I wrong? If you, or anyone can give me insight, please let me know. Honestly, I am not even sure if I still want to work as a "floor nurse" in a hospital or LTC. Thanks, MLF
Just an update... I called my dads neurosurgeon and he will be out of the office until tuesday but, the nurse in the office told me that she is scheduling a CT scan and then an appointment for my dad to see the doctor after the scan... I have been going and checking on my dad 4 to 5 times a day since this past wednesday and he is doing ok and walking around and hasn't had any falls.. I asked the DON if they were going to make any changes like a bed alarm so that they would know when he gets out of bed and she told me that they couldn't do that.. She said that the best they could do is check on him every 30 minutes.. The way she acted towards me made me feel 2 inches tall. So, I am checking him out on Sunday morning and I'm going to have my sister help me with him. I almost think I could either get him out patient physical therapy or maybe home care..
Oh My Goodness! I think I just hit the roof!!! Why in God's name can't they do a bed alarm? Or even a tabs alarm? Don't even beleive that they will check on him every 30 minutes!!! I feel like calling her up and yelling myself. Okay...not yell, but discuss this in a professional way. This type of thing gives LTC a bad name.
It is their DUTY to adjust the plan of care to prevent further falls/ injury. Maybe they have, but a bed alarm is cheap and easy and will let the staff know when he is making a move to get out of bed. Do they honestly think that their staff is gonna check on him EVERY 30 minutes? That is a big promise to make and keep.
Just an update... I called my dads neurosurgeon and he will be out of the office until tuesday but, the nurse in the office told me that she is scheduling a CT scan and then an appointment for my dad to see the doctor after the scan... I have been going and checking on my dad 4 to 5 times a day since this past wednesday and he is doing ok and walking around and hasn't had any falls.. I asked the DON if they were going to make any changes like a bed alarm so that they would know when he gets out of bed and she told me that they couldn't do that.. She said that the best they could do is check on him every 30 minutes.. The way she acted towards me made me feel 2 inches tall. So, I am checking him out on Sunday morning and I'm going to have my sister help me with him. I almost think I could either get him out patient physical therapy or maybe home care..
Hey new_mom26,
I'm glad your Dad's condition hasn't worsened and that he will be having a CT scheduled (finally)! :)
Something you might want to consider is placement in a better facility.
I was going to suggest visiting him frequently (which it looks like you're already doin'). This is something we used to do when my grandmother had to be placed in a LTC facility (after I was able to get her moved out of a very poorly functioning facility that her sister put her in). What we would do is visit at unpredictalbe (sp???) times, that way she wasn't getting cleaned up and prettied-up just on Sundays or something, you know? Also, sounds like you can enlist your sister in helping with these visits as well. Do you have any more family members who can support you with this?
Another thing we did was: be kind to the staff. We'd bring in cookie trays, etc. and really tell them (all of them) how much we appreciated the work they were doing.
Hang in there, my prayers are with you and your Dad.
Kelly_the_Great
553 Posts
new_mom26,
Do NOT feel guilty for advocating for your Father's best care.
It's unfortunate, there are tons and tons of resources out there on how to properly care for children. Yet, virtually nothing as a resource to the children of aging parents who are experiencing a role reversal.
It is very difficult and you can feel intimidated and alone in your quest to do the right thing for your parent. Also, I don't know if your screen name denotes your age or not but most younger ppl are not having to deal with this issue yet, which can lead to further isolation.
I urge you to continue doing what your doing.
P.S. How is your Dad doing now?