Nursing Home procedures

[bazouteast]

Mum was diagnosed with AD 4 years ago. Recently she had a serious medical condition and has been in hospital for 10 weeks. She has become bedbound, doubly incontinent, unable to feed herself and her dementia has deepened dramatically. The hospital want her out now and I am now sourcing a Nursing Home. It’s all new to me and I have a couple of points raised by a registered child minder friend.

1) Do NH's maintain detailed daily logs about the patient, as a registered childminder do? If so, are these available to relatives?

2) One hears stories of abuse. Has any NH ever offered a video link so a relative can monitor their loved one? There are all sorts of privacy issues there but a next of kin might get great comfort. The thought of secreting a camera seems almost paranoid and anyway, if someone wants to abuse, they'll know where to look for hidden cameras.

 

[chickenlady]

Mum was diagnosed with AD 4 years ago. Recently she had a serious medical condition and has been in hospital for 10 weeks. She has become bedbound, doubly incontinent, unable to feed herself and her dementia has deepened dramatically. The hospital want her out now and I am now sourcing a Nursing Home. It’s all new to me and I have a couple of points raised by a registered child minder friend.

1) Do NH's maintain detailed daily logs about the patient, as a registered childminder do? If so, are these available to relatives?

2) One hears stories of abuse. Has any NH ever offered a video link so a relative can monitor their loved one? There are all sorts of privacy issues there but a next of kin might get great comfort. The thought of secreting a camera seems almost paranoid and anyway, if someone wants to abuse, they'll know where to look for hidden cameras.

A good home will not worry about you asking questions, discuss your fears with the home manager and only consider a home where you feel there is a happy atmosphere. Registered nurses are obliged to keep records of care in progress notes so a nursing home will have these and should be happy to read you a summary if you request it, residential homes do not always have a registered nurse on every shift. Check out the latest Cqc inspection report of any potential home, you'll find it on line. The CQC inspect for good care and also for good leadership, they look for the training given to staff including safeguarding training.

 

[Kevinl]

Well the answer to the first question is yes, there is a log on the window ledge in my wife's room, it records when she goes to bed, hourly observations, when she gets up and records her morning washing, teeth cleaning and all the rest.
The hourly observation records move around the home a bit but usually say things like "11am, having tea in dining room", "1.00pm walking in corridors, seems agitated", "3pm in lounge sleeping in chair" and the like. Her medical records are in the office, I can read them but usually (via a system of posit note) the staff tell me about any medical issues they've noticed. They've referred her to the GP twice for an ear infection and a rash both of which were treated successfully.
I can if I want look at the records of her bowel and bladder movements too.
You could ask for a video in her room and they might agree, but in the common areas: dining room, lounge, corridors! I wouldn't be happy that a stranger was watching my wife wandering the home all day, it's also the case that some of the residents (men and women) do expose themselves from time to time, for their dignity and privacy I don't think the home would agree and neither would I.
Finding a home is difficult so go and see as many as you like most will show you round on the spot I've found and get a feel for the place, remember that the best ones usually have a waiting list, one contacted me recently saving I was near the top of the list and was I still looking, 4 months after I went there.
K

 

[sue38]

This fact sheet has some tips on questions to ask, and things to look out for

https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=150

 

[Jessbow]

1) Yes

2) for exactly the reasons you state, the answer would usually be no.
Yes you do hear of abuse, but how frequently? ( Yes I know once in a while is too often but...). If you go into a home and don't like the feeing, don't place your Mum there. At some point, you are going to have to put your trust in them.

Ask your childminder friend how she'd feel about camera's for parent comfort. I'm sure she'd say just the same, ''why, don't you trust me?''

 

[bazouteast]

Thanks

Thank you all for the very helpful comments.

 

[bazouteast]

Aggressive Hospital Discharge Team

wrong place for this post. posted elsewhere

 

[Lorna44]

Post deleted