Jan - NH stuff

[Guest guest]

Hi Jan-

Wow, what a day you had. So very glad you were there

to get things straightened out.

This reminded me of one of the many terrible situations

with my dad and a NH. Thankfully I was at the NH on

one particular day. The NH had staff from a pool of

nurses. When they are understaffed they call on a

pool and get a position filled. Well, this nurse came in

to give my dad some pills. Of course I THOUGHT

she was the professional. Well, she didn't know my

dad from the next patient and was going from a photo

to determine who the patients were. She almost gave

my dad someone else's pills. A whole lot of pills. I

happened to look at them in her hand and asked what

some of them were. They made no sense, didn't

know what they were. Then she called my dad by

some other name and I freaked out. I told her my

dad's name was Merle and she had the gull to argue

with me. It took all I had not to lay her out. I was

furious. She resorted to showing me the picture

to prove to me who MY DAD was. I told her that

wasn't my dad and ordered her out of my dad's

room. I reported that pronto!! Who know's if that

had happened any other times when I wasn't there.

A nightmare for sure.

So, do stick to your guns. Jim deserves Jim's clothes.

Jim deserves the best care and he deserves the right

to be alert, NOT sedated.

Once again, we are proud of you and all that you

are doing in caregiving.

Hugs-

Sandie and

dad, Merle, passed from LBD 9-20-02, age 65

Mum, Jo, still living in New Zealand with LBD, age 77

-- More Nursing Home Experiences and being an Advocate

Hi,

I decided since my life at home with Jim has now

switched to the nursing home, I will give my accounts

of my experiences there if it could help anyone else

in the same situations.

I have said that when I have a complaint I also tell

the coworkers as well as the head nurse and the

administrative nurse, but I get the best results when

I tell coworkers and the director.

Today, it all confirmed what I have been saying about

tell the coworkers to get results.

Today, when I entered in to visit Jim again I noticed

him not in his own clothes. I really put up a stink

this time and people ran to find who put the clothes

on Jim. This is now 2 1/2 months of complaining and I

am no longer the cool and patient Jan.

I have worked for several years with special needs

kids and know that the parent's word is honored and

that no one is above that word, because they know what

is best for their LO and doctors and nurses and all

staff working with those kids will work together to

make sure that the request is met. And the same should

go for a spouse. If I request that my husband be in

his clothes, then that request should be honored. But

that wasn't the end of my day of complaining. When I

walked in Jim was back to being sedated again for an

entire day and I really hit the ceiling. I asked the

head nurse in charge of the floor at that shift why my

husband was sedated and he said that the doctor

ordered Jim to have 75mg of Seroquel. Now, I knew at

night this was ordered, but not in the day. Jim is out

for an entire day when given that much Seroquel.

I asked for the doctor's number, since it is a doctor

that makes the rounds at the nh and I have never met

the doctor and thought that maybe the doctor did not

know of the effect that Seroquel has on my husband,

since he is highly sensitive to neuroleptics; as LBD

is. Jim can tolerate Seroquel, but that is a lot for

him. 25 mg knocks him out for about 4 hours, so 75 mg

is an entire day. The head nurse said he could not

give me the doctor's number, but would fax the doctor

to lower the dosage on my request. I demanded to have

the doctor's number. I have never heard of keeping a

spouse from speaking to a doctor. I stuck by my guns

and told him he was wrong and that I had the right to

speak to my husband's doctor, because the doctor may

not know about LBD. This nurse argued with me then

finally said, I have to speak to my superior, who then

told him to give me the number, so I contacted the

doctor and left a message for the doctor.

I also again told the coworkers about my upset with

seeing my husband sedated all day. Thank goodness I

did, because one alert nurse took out my husband's

chart and found that the head nurse in charge that day

in the morning, misread the doctor's orders for the

last 3 days giving my husband 75 mg of Seroquel at

9AM, when it is only ordered to be given at 9PM. So

you see how important to let all nurses know. Now, I

know it was the fault of the nurse in charge that

morning, the one that gave me a hard time about

speaking to the doctor. Well, that is not all. The

doctor faxed the nurses back to give Jim 25mg in the

morning instead, which meant that the doctor never

turned to the medical charts to see that she had

ordered only in the evening for it to be given. So the

doctor is wrong in saying to give Jim 25 mg Seroquel

in the day, but because of this one nurse everything

got confused. The one alert nurse faxed the doctor to

point out the error and everything should be cleared

again. But see, not even the doctor knows what the

right hand is doing from the left hand.

Well, this one nurse that caused all this confusion

got me so upset, I also spoke to the administrative

nurse to complain about the overdose of medication and

that nurse said she was going to call in the

psychologist to meet with the doctor in the event the

doctor was not aware of LBD and asked me to call the

social worker at the nh on Monday to alert

her to the psychologist and doctor meeting.

Now, really none of this has to take place at all,

since it was a mistake in the time of the medication

given and the doctor should have been aware of that,

but wasn't.

If the nurses are making mistakes in reading the

correct time that medication should be given, this

could be disasterous for someone else that is being

overdosed with medication, that could be fatal. This

is not good, and I hope that when this nurse that

confused the medication time comes back to find it was

his error will learn from this mistake.

Anyway, be aware of what is happening to your LO and

why. Never be afraid to ask questions. You know your

LO better than anyone and you are their advocate to

speak up for them.

Take care everyone. Jan

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Great hearing from you, too, Jan. Thanks for the

hugs and sending them right back to you-

Hugs and love-

S

-- Re: Jan - NH stuff/ Sandie OT

Hi Sandie,

Thank you for sharing that unbelievable story about

the nurse that said you could not identify your own

father and insisted she knew who he was, but you

didn't. (Still laughing over that one)

I am glad I am telling these happenings and getting

feed back of other things to look for.

It seems they all run on the same kind of mishaps.

There are so many people here that can identify.

Like I've said, the majority of the nursing staff and

other staff workers are wonderful people, but it's

that small handful where Jim is that makes me tear

hair. But I am learning who they are and to keep a

real watchful eye out on them, because they make

mistakes too easily or ignore my requests and I will

be taking notes on them.

You are right! Jim deserves to wear his own clothes,

he deserves the best care and he deserves the right to

be alert and not sedated. And I am going to continue

to fight for those rights for him.

Thanks Sandie for being here. It's always great to

hear from you......Huge Hugs to you S