What can I do to get better care for my mother's incontinence at her nursing home?

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Bugaboo10 Asked July 2019

What can I do to get better care for my mother's incontinence at her nursing home?

For over 6 weeks my mother's laundry has been reeking of urine odor. Sometimes it is damp. Our family sees her very often. It is rare that two days go by without one of us picking up her laundry. I have spoken to the staff and director of nursing about this. Promises of things to get better, but they are not. My mom had dementia and is non verbal, wheelchair bound and in hospice care. I know nursing homes are often short staffed, but it makes me furious she is not kept dry and clean. Is there a government agency that I can go to and push their hands to provide better care?

Care Plan Incontinence Skilled Nursing Facility

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score 2 · Answer 1

Sorry, Bugaboo, I only just saw your last post! Completely different issue!

Straight to the ombudsman, I'd say. For a person as vulnerable as your mother this standard of care is completely unacceptable, and you want someone with clout on the case.

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score 0 · Answer 2

Go back to the Director of Nursing. This time, you do not want her to promise things will get better. You want her to explain what the problem is, and explain what they are doing about it, and provide a realistic estimate of how long it will take to put right.

The likelihood is that they have just lost a key member of staff and are struggling to find a good enough replacement; but there could be issues besides. E.g., just guessing - a new policy about the use of driers, to save electricity. A broken drier, and trouble getting it replaced. A change of their sundries supplier. Whatever. Once you know what's causing the trouble, you'll know what needs to happen to solve the problem and then you'll know whether you're satisfied with their response or not.

Meanwhile, it might be best to assume there needs to be a family rota so that you can at least be certain that your mother is okay while the NH gets its act together. Do you pay them a fee for this service? - or can you exert any kind of financial leverage on them?

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score 1 · Answer 3

Thank you for your answers. Yes mom is in disposable briefs and we do her laundry. She is in hospice care. Recently Hospice found her in a "POOL", of urine. She is NOT being changed frequently enough. Hospice tells me such patients are to be checked every 2 hours. This weekend they did not change her clothing from Saturday to Sunday. I get pass the buck when I speak to the staff at the facility.

I've tried to go up the ladder in authority, but in the end it is the staff that are responsible for mom's care at the facility. There is such a shortage of caregivers it seems those in authority are reluctant to hold their staff responsible for the quality of their work.

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Have you called a Care Meeting? You are entitled to have one every three months, but in my mom’s case, the DON told me I could call one whenever I felt the need. Sometimes when you meet with the people responsible for your loved one’s care as a group, plans are put into motion that might help. You can also speak with the Hospice Nurse as she might have a little more “pull” with the staff.

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score 2 · Answer 4

Do you do Moms laundry? At Moms NH laundry was taken out of the room every day. I allowed them to do it because whatever detergent they used took out ALL the smells. I just made sure what went out came back.

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In the skilled nursing facility we were in, the family was responsible for doing the laundry.

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score 1 · Answer 5

Is Mom wearing Adult Incontinence Briefs? If not, that could cut down a lot on the wetness. There are ones made now that look very much like underwear.

I can attest to the fact that facilities are severely understaffed. My husband, in rehab, recently had to wait 45 minutes for a bedpan. His aid had gone home at 11PM and had to return at 7AM.

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score 1 · Answer 6

There is an ombudsman, here is a link

https://www.aging.pa.gov/aging-services/Pages/Ombudsman.aspx

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What can I do to get better care for my mother's incontinence at her nursing home?

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