Stepmother has been in a local SNF for about four months. She was sent there from the hospital - she had gone to the ER for a pelvic fracture. They wanted to release her back to the memory care facility where she was at the time but they could not care for her. About 12 hours later I was told that in about an hour she was being sent to SNF X, which I knew nothing about. Discovered that I had no recourse because she was not admitted to the hospital, just under observation even though she had been taken to a regular room. Bad on me for not asking the question; I know better but was not thinking straight. Fast forward to now - she is moving into the final stages of dementia. (I don't blame the facility for that, she has been in decline for years.) She is wheelchair-bound but can move around enough to scoot out of bed or the wheelchair. I get a call about once a week that she has fallen but doesn't have serious injury. She is totally incontinent and unable to feed herself or express herself. She's pretty much lost the ability to make complete sentences. She babbles or sings to herself a lot. (She hasn't recognized me for 2+ years which is just fine with me.) Anyway, at SNF X I'm not satisfied that she is being offered fluids often enough, isn't being turned or moved around enough, and doesn't get enough assistance with feeding. As I've mentioned here, I used to work in SNFs so I know what good care looks like and I'm not just looking for stuff to complain about. I have escalated my complaints to management and am always told that the situation will be fixed but the staff "on the ground" never seems to get the messages. I'm debating whether I should look for a bed in other local facilities that have better rankings on the state surveys. Moving her will be a certain amount of trauma for her, and staff at the new facility will have to learn her quirks all over again. I'm not even sure that she will be around much longer and I'd hate to put her through it just for a couple of months' stay. Mostly just venting but would appreciate your thoughts/experiences.
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