i really need the opinions of everyone who knows someone with dementia that is either in a care home or that you care for yourself at home.honesty is a must!!!!
i work as a night senior carer in an emi home for older ppl with dementia & older ppl with mental health probs.the home is a specialist home(although,not recognised as 1)as we look after ppl who can present very challenging behaviour either through violence or by being very vocal or by showing bizarre behaviour,we accomodate ppl that no other carehome will.my home is run by a large non-profit making company who have all their own policies & procedures all inline with the national standards.
anyway,we have recently had a new admission,he has dementia & came from another carehome but they couldn't meet his needs as he was showing signs of aggression.since being with us(6wks now)he has assaulted staff & residents alike.he is not always like this,he can be very lovely but with dementia,as you all prob know things can be pretty unpredicable at times.there is no trigger & we have all been made aware of what signs to look for & of how to try & deal with him when he starts to become anxious but nothing or no one can stop his behaviour we just have to let it 'run it's course'.
a few weeks ago i was doing my night shift & this man had been awake all night,which isn't unusual,at about half 4 in the morn i could see he was becoming anxious so i kept my distance & avoided eye contact like we are supposed to.he was walking back & forth down the corridor when another resident in a wheelchair came out of his room,the man started to attack the other resident by punching him in the head & trying to pull him out of his chair.i went to intervene & got in between them both resulting in me getting punched & throttled by the man,as we as carers are not allowed in anyway to physically manhandle or restrain a resident i had no choice but to take the assault until a carer could distract the man.when this happened i quickly took the other resident into the lounge followed by the other carer & closed the doors,the lounge doors had 2 handles which can confuse residents as they don't know that they have to use both to open the doors,so the man couldn't get in the lounge & we were safe but he could see us & was picking up coffee tables & throwing them at the doors to try & get in.all this was very frightening for the other resident & also the other carer as she was new & it was her very 1st shift!!!
we were in the lounge for half an hour waiting for the man to calm down but he didn't so i had to use the crash call to get assistance from the other staff upstairs as we needed to get out of the lounge to check on everyone else.
with the help of the other staff the man was distracted long enough for us to get out of the lounge but as he was still being 'challenging'after staff tried all they could to calm him down i had no choice but to get him to go in the lounge himself & close the doors so he couldn't assault anyone else.i could only think of the safety of all the other residents at the time.
i documented everything in detail as i was supposed to & when the morning staff arrived the man was still throwing furniture about & trying to smash windows.apparently,he calmed down about an hour later.
i'm sorry this is so long but i'm getting to the point now!!!
on my next shift i noticed that 1 of the lounge door handles had been taken off which i found odd & then on tues night the area manager was at work when i got there & called me into the office.
someone(another member of staff)had reported me for using restraint against the man by keeping him in a room he couldn't get out of.
i was dumbstruck but no matter what i said to defend myself the area manager still said i was in the wrong & that no type of restraint what so ever is to be used in the carehome at any time.
she was adamant i could of handled the situation differently but i know i couldn't.all i see is that i had to protect other residents & myself also & keeping him confined to 1 room was the only option i had at the time.
i haven't been disciplined or had a warning or anything but i've made a complaint to head office cos i think i've been treated unfairly.
now,my question to everyone.......
did i do the right thing???
i work as a night senior carer in an emi home for older ppl with dementia & older ppl with mental health probs.the home is a specialist home(although,not recognised as 1)as we look after ppl who can present very challenging behaviour either through violence or by being very vocal or by showing bizarre behaviour,we accomodate ppl that no other carehome will.my home is run by a large non-profit making company who have all their own policies & procedures all inline with the national standards.
anyway,we have recently had a new admission,he has dementia & came from another carehome but they couldn't meet his needs as he was showing signs of aggression.since being with us(6wks now)he has assaulted staff & residents alike.he is not always like this,he can be very lovely but with dementia,as you all prob know things can be pretty unpredicable at times.there is no trigger & we have all been made aware of what signs to look for & of how to try & deal with him when he starts to become anxious but nothing or no one can stop his behaviour we just have to let it 'run it's course'.
a few weeks ago i was doing my night shift & this man had been awake all night,which isn't unusual,at about half 4 in the morn i could see he was becoming anxious so i kept my distance & avoided eye contact like we are supposed to.he was walking back & forth down the corridor when another resident in a wheelchair came out of his room,the man started to attack the other resident by punching him in the head & trying to pull him out of his chair.i went to intervene & got in between them both resulting in me getting punched & throttled by the man,as we as carers are not allowed in anyway to physically manhandle or restrain a resident i had no choice but to take the assault until a carer could distract the man.when this happened i quickly took the other resident into the lounge followed by the other carer & closed the doors,the lounge doors had 2 handles which can confuse residents as they don't know that they have to use both to open the doors,so the man couldn't get in the lounge & we were safe but he could see us & was picking up coffee tables & throwing them at the doors to try & get in.all this was very frightening for the other resident & also the other carer as she was new & it was her very 1st shift!!!
we were in the lounge for half an hour waiting for the man to calm down but he didn't so i had to use the crash call to get assistance from the other staff upstairs as we needed to get out of the lounge to check on everyone else.
with the help of the other staff the man was distracted long enough for us to get out of the lounge but as he was still being 'challenging'after staff tried all they could to calm him down i had no choice but to get him to go in the lounge himself & close the doors so he couldn't assault anyone else.i could only think of the safety of all the other residents at the time.
i documented everything in detail as i was supposed to & when the morning staff arrived the man was still throwing furniture about & trying to smash windows.apparently,he calmed down about an hour later.
i'm sorry this is so long but i'm getting to the point now!!!
on my next shift i noticed that 1 of the lounge door handles had been taken off which i found odd & then on tues night the area manager was at work when i got there & called me into the office.
someone(another member of staff)had reported me for using restraint against the man by keeping him in a room he couldn't get out of.
i was dumbstruck but no matter what i said to defend myself the area manager still said i was in the wrong & that no type of restraint what so ever is to be used in the carehome at any time.
she was adamant i could of handled the situation differently but i know i couldn't.all i see is that i had to protect other residents & myself also & keeping him confined to 1 room was the only option i had at the time.
i haven't been disciplined or had a warning or anything but i've made a complaint to head office cos i think i've been treated unfairly.
now,my question to everyone.......
did i do the right thing???