Mom fell and broke her hip because of a cord left in an area she was permitted to access. Her only solace was walking and now she is confined to a wheel chair or a "comfy chair". She had to have a plate put in her hip and now she can no longer walk. She is confused and combative because she doesn't understand that she can't just get out of her chair and walk. The nursing home dumped her on the local hospital emergency room and expect them to find a psychiatric geriatric unit to help adjust her meds so she won't be so agitated. The nursing home says, they do not have the staff to watch her constantly so she doesn't get up and fall again. They put her in this situation with their negligence and now they don't want to deal with her issues. No one will take her due to her medical condition. They truly just dumped her. This is heartbreaking, she is so scared and confused. I have no idea how to help her. She is in the hospital and they are trying to find placement for her in a geriatric psych ward. I do not understand how a dementia ward in a nursing home can not deal with a dementia patient!! Would really like to hear if any one else has dealt with this issue.
If it is because she is a high fall risk, then find a nursing home with a public dining room in the middle of the action. A newer facility is a likely candidate. Then it's wheelchair to the dining table, tucked under and locked. The patient then can't get up. Look for a facility that uses the dining room as a common room -- it'll have a big screen and they'll use it for activities.
In many states, nursing home patients cannot be restrained with a safety belt or food tray to keep them from injuring themselves. In SOME states with that restriction, a doctor can prescribe restraint. Find out if your state is one of those from that nursing home meeting.
I wish you success.
Sending hugs to you and your mom.
The hospital,rehab & especially the nursing homes(NOT ALL OF THEM) are in the business of making $$$$$....I wish it went't so but it is.
If you have the funds, please get legal advice. I so pray that things will change.
Dumping PEOPLE into the system with no help or funds, warehousing the elderly who have no where to go is INSANE....I see this as an of terrorism with in our own society here in the USA, propitiated by the almighty dollar.
This question has hit a very personal point in my life....I have no answers....THIS IS NOT HOW IT WAS WHEN I WAS A CHILD.....one reason I moved into the medical profession but I tell you, I am now feeling lost with in it. I am a dying bread lost in the same problem.
GOD WATCH OVER YOU & LEAD THOSE WHO ARE IN A POSITION TO HELP~TO HELP.
Temporary placement for her in a geriatric psych ward might actually be a good thing. Often this is used to sort out the drugs the patient is on and make adjustments to help her be less confused, scared, and combative.
Has she been in the "memory care" unit of the nursing home?
Seriously it seems they don't want to do the extra work or THEIR JOB.
Shameful.
Maybe get a hidden camera (they have teddy bears with cameras) and place it in her room. I betcha there is more to this story.
Llamalover47, we changed nursing homes.
This was procedure, not dumping.
She required a secure/locked unit because she was an escape risk, so she came back to a special dementia unit instead of the skilled nursing unit she had been in.
The whole facility in that unit is built for dementia patients with behavioral problems. The staff are trained for it. They aren't considered a problem in that area because that's what it's for.
There are dementia patients *not* in that unit because they don't have the behavioral problems that put themselves and other patients in danger.
Mom's geriatric psychs were miracle workers. In 5 days they got her down from being absolutely wild & out of control to being pleasant. Her permanent dosage is somewhere in between those two levels. It controls her anger, paranoia, and the violent behaviors that go with all that.
Not every nursing home or skilled nursing unit is setup to handle difficult dementia patients. And you can't know if you're going to be one or have one until it's happening.
Most long term care facilities try really hard to care for their patients. It can be very difficult both physically and mentally on these care givers, and most need to be applauded. In the case of PAcaretaker, if you really feel the facility was neglectful, feel free to take legal action, and of course, you don't want your mother there anyway. There are good facilities with good people working in them, you just need to keep looking, as they are out there. I am in the midwest of USA, maybe facilities are better here than else where. I can only speak from my experiences in this area.
Use your eyes, ears, nose, and good sense to evaluate what you see. It is next to impossible for a facility of any size to put on a show all the time, every day. If the residents don't look clean, the place is a mess, it's not orderly, bright, and cheerful, then those would be red flags to me.
It's not going to look like a resort full of vacationers. The people in there have serious illnesses. Some of the are going to be asleep where they sit. Some are going to be feisty and arguing like little children. Others are going to be talking to somebody invisible. Yes, some will holler and yell. Especially in a dementia unit. You will hear somebody calling out "Nurse! Nurse! Nurse!" the entire time. There is a lady on my mom's unit who does this every waking second, every day, regardless of how many nurses attend to her. It is not a sign something is desperately wrong that everybody is ignoring. It means they are not medicating her to the edge of consciousness. Imagine working there all day long.
If the place has been open a long time, that is a good thing.
It's not going to look like the marketing brochures. If it did, I'd want to know why those healthy looking people need to be in a residential long term care place.