My Grandfather is in a rehabilitation center is smells like urine when u walk through the door. They are always late with his medication because of under staff. It takes about 30 minutes to answer when he calls for a nurse. He takes a shower only twice a week. There is a really bad bug problem. I killed a spider on his pillow and many others in his room also waterbugs. What can I do? No one in the family goes to see him but me and my aunt sometimes and she controls everything so I can't move him.
How does your grandfather feel about the place? Is the staff kind to him? How does he feel about the frequency of showers? Twice a week (with wash-ups on other days) is pretty normal for the elderly. In fact, left to his own preferences he, like many older people, may choose to not bathe at all. Bathing becomes a very vulnerable experience when you're old. And, their skin can't handle frequent baths.
Ask the director what's up with the pee smell. My thought would be that people are sitting in their soiled Depends, but maybe there's a disposal issue. Staff may be leaving the door of the trash room open.
My advice is don't go in with guns blazing, certain of your impressions about the place. Be open-minded, expect answers to your concerns and expect to walk out of the office with a plan for addressing the ones that impact your grandfather's care.
It's often a family's first response - "let's get him out of here". Sometimes it's warranted, but other times it may be the family's first experience with a nursing home and they'd do better to work with where they are before upsetting the situation entirely. It should be kept in mind that a frail person doesn't make transitions easily.
JAD711