I spent 17 hours in AE refured there by 111 for pain relief . My husband has bowel cancer and although undiagnosed obviously in the late mid stage of dementia. Why do staff repeatedly ask the same questions DOB ,Address , present month.and so on plus’s his notes show memory problems. When they have these details already . After having blood tests a canular inserted and a head scan arranged we were still there hours later .This caused him distress and brought on a furious outburst because he couldn’t understand why all the question were being asked and he almost walked out I managed to restrain him and settled him back down . Finally at 4 oc the following day he received some pain relief and told to go home to rest . He was tired and freaked out by the experience .
Repeated questions
- Thread starter Fmarg
- Start date
The pain is horrendous for him and his current meds are useless. We have contacted palatine care team who will be calling on Tuesday
I understand that but we were moved to a small waiting ward with around 10 outhers the staff called him by his first name each time so they certainly knew who they were talking to
Yes they did give him morphine in the end. But my gripe is they come with a file full of forms with all his details concerning the many tests they did .Why on earth can’t they just ask if the person is consenting to the next test. My husband can’t remember what happens a couple of hours before but his awareness in the moment is fine . We only went for pain relief for the bowel cancer no one seemed interested to bother with that only because he fainted with the pain at home they wanted to do all their tests . Seems to me they should be aware of the distress caused by repeated questions to someone who can’t answer them because they don’t remember.
Go down my road and ask for Dave there's at least 4 of them that I know of, correct identification of a patient is critical doesn't matter who or what is going on, get it wrong only once and second could die.
Work with them not against them, it's so much easier when you're on side. K
Work with them not against them, it's so much easier when you're on side. K
I’m not knocking the staff they have to follow procedures . The ones on duty were kind and understanding . As a carer the strain of keeping a frustrated man calm is difficult at the best of times more so when they don’t understand the reason behind questions or are in pain. There were only six other people in that particular section all female. I just think that procedures could be modified a little to accommodate disturbed patients.
💗 I empathise with you xx Hospitals are not great places for anyone with dementia think we can probably all agree on that. Not sure how we can make the procedures better but certainly a little kindness and more patience/understanding of dementia can go a long way. Hope your OH is more settled and in less pain today.
Yes, I totally agree, we all need to work together.
Both sides are doing a difficult job in an impossible situation!
Colin.
I’m so sorry you and your dad went through this. Although staff are well meaning, repeated questions can put the person with dementia under a lot of stress. For next time, you could have a little card printed out that says:
My companion has mid to late stage dementia. Repeated questions about address, DOB etc. are likely to trigger agitation and anxiety. Please keep any questions focused on symptoms he is experiencing now in the present moment.
Followed by a sheet with all of the usual info address etc. printed on it.
My companion has mid to late stage dementia. Repeated questions about address, DOB etc. are likely to trigger agitation and anxiety. Please keep any questions focused on symptoms he is experiencing now in the present moment.
Followed by a sheet with all of the usual info address etc. printed on it.
