Re: NH stuff/jan/sharon

[Guest guest]

jan, this all sounds so insane. you keep standing your ground, you keep

praising the angel that keeps you informaed and you rock the boat as many times

you need to for jims care.

they should only dress him in his own clothes unless like my dad he needed to

be in a hosp gown due to his body/leg contortioning. jim doesnt need ot be

sedated 24/7 he is not a problem patient for the most part.

now let me tell you a few things i learned from working in a surgeons office.

the doctor isnt necessarily the one that authorizes medication changes. when

patients/pharmacy/hosp staff called our office, we pulled the record and put it

in a pile where either the doctor him/herself checked it/ or the doctor on call

checked it/ or the nursre practictioned authorized it, and we as secretaries

called it in on behalf of the dcotors/nurse practitioners.

just some info fyi. hope so me of this helps. you go girl. hugs, sharon m

--

Daugher of Leonard, diag May 2004, had lbd since 1993, had hip surgery from fall

7/05, aspiration pneumonia 7/05 with pulmonary embolyis, had aspiration

pneumonia and uti 8/05, died of blood pressure drop on 9/25/05,

may he rest in peace with his mom and dad,

a smile a day keeps the meanies away

---- Janet Colello wrote:

Hi Gerry,

I stand by you that most of the nurses are wonderful

where Jim is, it's the few that make me want to scream

and they shouldn't be in the business. You really have

to keep a watch out for things that don't seem right.

I praise them often to let them know how much I

appreciate their hard work. I admire you for being a

nurse.

It is unbelievable how the nurses told you and Sandie

that you were wrong about who your dads were.

The nurse that did help to find out what happened and

why Jim was sedated felt badly about the nurse that

made the error and was covering for him saying

mistakes happen and that he is the nervous type. That

didn't sound good to me, so I am reporting to the

director and social worker on Monday what happened,

because with Jim it was an error and he will survive,

even though Seroquel is a neuroleptic and I don't know

how much of it he can handle without some side effect,

but the next person may not be so lucky if they are

overdosed with medication. I feel I have to advocate

for everyone at the nh. It shouldn't be taken lightly

when it comes to medication and fooling with people's

well being.

In answer to some previous questions you asked Gerry.

Yes, the night shift was still giving Jim his 9PM

dosage of medication, which meant that JIm was sedated

from 9AM until it wore off around 6PM and then given

his 9PM dosage. He was sedated the entire day except

for about 3 hours!

It had gone on for 3 days that the morning nurse was

sedating Jim. When I visited Jim yesterday, I sat with

him the entire day to see when it started to wear off,

it wasn't until around 6PM that I had Jim back to

where he should be. I signed him out as soon as he

came around and took him out for an ice cream. It was

a beautiful evening and I was glad to get him out of

there for awhile.

The day before yesterday when Jim was sedated I made

the comment to the nurse that I did not want him

sedated in the day time and the nurse said he would

have to fax to the doctor my request for a lower

dosage, the lower dosage came back 50mg and it still

made Jim sleep the entire day. I said I didn't want

him sedated at all and couldn't understand why they

were sedating him with the Seroquel in the day. No one

told me that the doctor had ordered Seroquel for the

day time too. That is when I wanted the number of the

doctor, so I could find out what was going on. The

doctor is to blame for this also, because the doctor

never checked her own orders that it was only for the

evening and faxed back the order of 50 mg to be given

in the day instead of the 75mg that the nurse had

faxed in for a lower dosage. This upsets me too, that

a doctor does not check the records and straighten it

out! It had to be found out by another nurse working

on the floor.

About putting the clothes out for the staff to dress

Jim the next day. I am not sure they just wouldn't

pick the clothes up and put them on another person in

the room or another person on the floor. Jim's name is

in big letters inside his clothes, but they never look

inside the clothes to see who they belong to. I doubt

they would notice even if it was on the outside of his

clothes. They just grab clothes and put them on

whoever happens to be ready to dress.

I think and hope that I will see better results,

because I put up such a stink and I think I starttled

them all that I could get so upset, even though I have

complained through notes and to the head guy on the

floor, the nervous one, I found out. I think he might

be too nervous to upset his staff, so doesn't even

tell them my complaints and they know they can get

away with this stuff, because he is so quiet. Well, I

gave them a talking to and they were telling me to

calm down. I told them I have been calm for months

leaving them notes and speaking to their head and now

I am not putting up with it anymore and they need to

honor my request and not overlook what I am asking.

One of the people that does the dressing and I know

when she has been able to dress Jim, because he is in

the correct clothes and groomed well in the morning

and I put her name in for Employee of the Month. She

keeps me informed of the people that dress Jim in the

wrong clothes and she warns them she says that they

better put him in the correct clothes, since I have

requested it and they all ignore her. When I lost it

yesterday, she told the head guy. " I warned you and

the rest, this ought to teach you a lesson that you

need to listen to the requests of the people. " They

got upset with her! They don't want anyone rippling

their waters, that they would have to go out of their

way to find the correct clothes. And the head guy

doesn't want to upset his staff obviously with any

complaints.

I am sure they wish I would go on another vacation.

I am a regular there and I pop in at all times.

They are asking don't I have a job and saying things

like; no one hangs around like you do.

They are not used to having people watching over them.

Jan

--- Gerry Deverell wrote:

> Sandie and Jan-

> I hate to get on nurses, since I am one myself. The

> vast majority are great nurses, who want to give

> safe and wonderful care to their pts. Most work

> their butts off.

> My story is simillar. After my Dad's head trauma

> and before we ever knew he had LBD, I was called

> sometime after midnight by Dad's nurse to come sit

> with him as he was restless. When I arrived at the

> nurses station, I was told Dad was sitting across

> the way in his wheelchair. I walked over. It was

> not my Dad. I couldn't find him. I told the nurse,

> that's not my Dad. She said yes it is. I said no

> it isn't. She went and got the patient and brought

> him to me. I still had to argue it was not my

> Father. I then proceeded into Dad's room. He was

> sound asleep. The roomate's bed was emptied. I was

> called from home on my one night off to sit with

> his roomate. If I made such an error, I would have

> died a million deaths. Not this nurse! She

> snickered at her blunder.

> Another incident, same hospitalization, I informed

> the admitting nurses NO Morphine. Again, I did not

> know Dad had LBD, but with a previous

> hospitalization he was comatose for days after

> getting Morphine. I discovered Dad was medicated

> with Morphine. I was livid. I spoke with the nurse

> who gave it. She was it was ordered for pain. I

> said where is his pain. She did not know where, as

> he did ot have any. She just wanted a quiet shift.

> Dad was out of it for exactly one week.

> The evaulation that I filled after Dad's discharge

> was very colorful. However, praise was given where

> deserved. I am extremely proud of my hosptial,

> which also ranks tops in the nation, but these 2

> nurses could have easily ruin it reputation for

> high standards and most important harm patients.

> Whenever Dad was admitted and there were numerous

> occaions, we absolutely refused to allow him to be

> admitted to this floor.

> BTW., the floor is now an adolescent unit where my

> Grandaughter was a few months ago after her car

> accident. The care was great. It is really sad how

> a few irresponsible and lazy nurses can pull the

> floor down and make it so difficult for the patients

> and families as well.

> Sorry to on for so long, but this is a sore spot

> when nurses make my profession look bad.

> Sincerely,

> Gerry

> Wilmington, De.

> Daughter and caregiver of Dick Deverell, who died on

> 9/11/05 after a more than 4 yr. battle with LBD.

>

>

>

>

> 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

>

=== message truncated ===

__________________________________________________