Mother covered in faeces in Care Home

[blueorchid]

Hi,
My mother is currently bedbound following a fall and multiple operations on hip. She's doubly incontinent and currently wearing loose pads as the incontinent pants were cutting into the incision on her hip.

However I've noticed prior to her fall that mum had faeces up her finger nails when I visited. She gets very agitated when being cleaned and I put the fingernails down the staff carrying out the best of a very difficult clean up op.

However, I had an unscheduled visit to the care home this week and I could hear my mother in distress, I looked through her window and could see she had faeces down her leg and on her hands. The door was shut and no-one could hear her as her room is some distance from the main area.

She has daily bowel movements and I'm concerned that her being smeared in excrement is a daily occurance. Do I have to accept that as she is bed bound, with advanced dementia and wearing loose pads that this is inevitable?

Your thoughts are appreciated,
B.

 

[jennifer1967]

Hi,
My mother is currently bedbound following a fall and multiple operations on hip. She's doubly incontinent and currently wearing loose pads as the incontinent pants were cutting into the incision on her hip.

However I've noticed prior to her fall that mum had faeces up her finger nails when I visited. She gets very agitated when being cleaned and I put the fingernails down the staff carrying out the best of a very difficult clean up op.

However, I had an unscheduled visit to the care home this week and I could hear my mother in distress, I looked through her window and could see she had faeces down her leg and on her hands. The door was shut and no-one could hear her as her room is some distance from the main area.

She has daily bowel movements and I'm concerned that her being smeared in excrement is a daily occurance. Do I have to accept that as she is bed bound, with advanced dementia and wearing loose pads that this is inevitable?

Your thoughts are appreciated,
B.

no and really the door should be opened or another way of checking on her. is she being turned to different position. i wouldnt jump to conclusions but have a talk to the manager to see what they have in place for your mum.

 

[Helly68]

I agree wth Jennifer, have a chat to the manager.
Quite late on in my Mum's dementia, she had to have a stoma after emergency surgery. She hated it and would try to pull the bag off, with inevitable results. It is hard for the staff to deal with things like this. I found that in Mummy's care home, they checked her regualrly. We tried a variety of underwear (as you say, the wound makes things more difficult) but Mummy was always agitated about personal care. Fortunately her obsession with the stoma bag did lessen over time.
It may be worth asking the home if a continence nurse could visit with suggestions about aids/pads which may help?

 

[blueorchid]

Thank you. It's all hideous isn't it. I think I'll also look at clothing that zips up so that she can't get her hands dirty - I saw this mentioned as a possible aide on another thread.

 

[Jessbow]

Could they not pull nets or something like cycle shorts over the pads

 

[blueorchid]

The issue has been the large incision that clothing was cutting into. I'll see whether incontinence pants are ok again.

 

[Canadian Joanne]

As far as the faeces under the nails, we had this issue with my mother, but it was because she was thrusting her hands into her diaper. The staff would do their best to clean her hands but she was very determined. Eventually this behaviour did stop.

 

[Bre]

Hi,
My mother is currently bedbound following a fall and multiple operations on hip. She's doubly incontinent and currently wearing loose pads as the incontinent pants were cutting into the incision on her hip.

However I've noticed prior to her fall that mum had faeces up her finger nails when I visited. She gets very agitated when being cleaned and I put the fingernails down the staff carrying out the best of a very difficult clean up op.

However, I had an unscheduled visit to the care home this week and I could hear my mother in distress, I looked through her window and could see she had faeces down her leg and on her hands. The door was shut and no-one could hear her as her room is some distance from the main area.

She has daily bowel movements and I'm concerned that her being smeared in excrement is a daily occurance. Do I have to accept that as she is bed bound, with advanced dementia and wearing loose pads that this is inevitable?

Your thoughts are appreciated,
B.

Hi B

 

[Bre]

Hi B

B,
God no that is in NO WAY ACCEPTABLE care! Go directly to the top, not a nurse or anyone but the director of the facility.. I would also contact an attorney and make it clear to the facility that you have obtained counsel. No one should be treated like that ever it’s not right and it’s also illegal. My heart breaks for you and your Mum.

 

[Helly68]

Might be worth asking the GP/district nurses if a waterproof or padded dressing could be used over the incision to give it more protection and make things more comfortable. As @Canadian Joanne says, the urge to touch things is very hard to stop. We tried fiddle mats etc and also cycling shorts/restrictive underwear but these were not always comfy and anyway Mummy had all day to find ways to circumventwhatever we put in place. Fortunately the phase passed. Might also be worth looking at different types of incontinence pants.
You have my sympathies. My Mum was quickly discharged from hospital and the care home were left to cope wth her recovery and issues like these. I was lucky in that they worked hard despite her challenging behaviour. To be fair, she had a very great shock (emergency surgery) and I was amazed that she recovered as much as she did.

 

[Frank24]

Hi no would not be happy with this. Straight to the top as someone else has said. It may be unavoidable at this stage sadly but you need to know you’ve raised it. I found I would speak to staff and nothing happened when I spoke to the manager I got a satisfactory response x

 

[Bre]

Hey Frank I think I may be talking to many people that are not from the US. is this a correct assumption?

 

[Bre]

Hey Frank I think I may be talking to many people that are not from the US. is this a correct assumption?

Agreed if you want any type of results you go up the ladder. I pay $10,000 a month for my moms care and if she was covered with feces for whatever I would die! Everyone deserves respect and dignity

 

[Bre]

Agreed if you want any type of results you go up the ladder. I pay $10,000 a month for my moms care and if she was covered with feces for whatever I would die! Everyone deserves respect and dignity

I really hate to say this but that’s why as medical professionals in the States despise social medicine. Wish y’all the best. satisfactory care not enough

 

[Louise7]

Hey Frank I think I may be talking to many people that are not from the US. is this a correct assumption?

Hello Bre, welcome. We have had some members here who have posted from the US (and other areas of the world) but the majority of members here are from the UK although everyone is welcome regardless of where they come from

Here's a couple of links to dementia organisations in the US which you may find helpful as your care and legal system is quite a bit different from that in the UK:

https://www.alz.org/

https://alzfdn.org/

 

[Jessbow]

B,
God no that is in NO WAY ACCEPTABLE care! Go directly to the top, not a nurse or anyone but the director of the facility.. I would also contact an attorney and make it clear to the facility that you have obtained counsel. No one should be treated like that ever it’s not right and it’s also illegal. My heart breaks for you and your Mum.

I did wonder if you were from US Bre. There would be little to be gained from contacting a solicitor because someone had dirty nails. She isnt beng mis treated, shes soiling them herself. Granted someone should be paying more attention to keeping them clean,

 

[blueorchid]

I did wonder if you were from US Bre. There would be little to be gained from contacting a solicitor because someone had dirty nails. She isnt beng mis treated, shes soiling them herself. Granted someone should be paying more attention to keeping them clean,

Thank you all. I think if I hadn't got to this stage with Mum and experienced the reality of her situation I would probably be pretty alarmed too. But now I've had time to think this through, there isn't much that can be done unless someone is checking on her every 10 minutes. We've now moved back to incontinence pads but there are still issues.
There was an interesting article on the BBC this week regarding the 'pad culture' in care homes & hospitals. Not sure if it'll allow me to put a link here but it can be found on the health page of the BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-61826067

 

[blueorchid]

I really hate to say this but that’s why as medical professionals in the States despise social medicine. Wish y’all the best. satisfactory care not enough

I don't understand the sentence 'medical professionals in the States despise social medicine.' What is social medicine? Mum is in a residential care home that we have to pay for. Dementia care in the UK is not free unfortunately.

 

[Frank24]

Thank you all. I think if I hadn't got to this stage with Mum and experienced the reality of her situation I would probably be pretty alarmed too. But now I've had time to think this through, there isn't much that can be done unless someone is checking on her every 10 minutes. We've now moved back to incontinence pads but there are still issues.
There was an interesting article on the BBC this week regarding the 'pad culture' in care homes & hospitals. Not sure if it'll allow me to put a link here but it can be found on the health page of the BBC. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-61826067

That is an interesting article and I feel strongly about this issue. People are being deskilled by hospital stays and it often changes peoples lives and has a big impact on whether they can manage at home