I suffered through one Hospital in MA as the care was far less than perfect. The RN who was responsible for the daily management was co-operative in many ways such as placing felt where 2 metal surfaces hit whenever a self closing door closed and made a loud and startling noise. The psychiatrist was mainly interested in establishing a conflicted relationship to make certain that I was aware of her power and possible legal action including involuntary placement before I even said hello.
I then transferred her to a nursing home closer to my home and was disgusted by the "crude & unsympathetic uncaring attitudes " of the lowest staff members and the decision to place a single nurse on each shift who was hidden outside the main room where most activities were performed. Therefore they were unaware of how disgusting the staff treated these dementia patients and the endless acting out amongst themselves as if their role was to laugh and have loud conversations amongst themselves in a foreign language I would guess no patient understood further confusing what they were hearing and possibly causing unnecessary confusion and stress not healthy for them. In addition the staff refused many requests from patients such as bathroom requirements or getting their teeth at meal time while seated about to eat. Any time a patient did something deemed unacceptable like standing up in their chair the response by staff was immediate and totally unacceptable. It was as if I was watching an angry parent admonishing a bad child by talking down to them, using strong words and threats, embarrassing the patient in front of 40 others ignoring the reality that this patient was not connected to reality as no dementia patient is thus creating a trauma then and there that I would label not just cruel and unnecessary but I would label such actions as elder abuse possibly a felony but certainly inappropriate if not criminal! When I reported one loud threatening interaction between a staff person and a patient I was informed by the nurse who had entered the room after I went to her Nursing station outside of this large room and limited to hearing about 2% or any words or noise in the large room I was informed that that type of action never occurred to which I replied I witnessed it and am telling you what I saw while you were unable to see or hear everything I just reported to you. On 3 more occasions I reported to the nurse about the same staff actions and in addition the 5 or 6 staff members were so loud yelling to easch other constantly that the patients were unable to hear the tv movie they were sitting there before supper to enjoy. The nurse then had the head nurse from another floor come into the room and merely stand there and observe the now quiet staff members, never even looked at me and never said a word to anyone. The nurse prior to this head nurse appearance had entered the room all 4 times I reported unacceptable behavior and never said one word to one person! I typed a list of 25 recommendations and presented it to the administrator whose only response was to threaten me with calling the police should I ever ?????* * I apologize--it was so bizarre I forgot it as soon as she said it and it was nothing that I had said I would or could do---this was created out of whole cloth!------and to my knowledge never decided to enact any of my suggestions and even lied about placing felt on door striking faces as the previous Hospital had done to reduce unwarranted sudden loud noises that startle patients and any visitors. There were many other incidents that I may add some other time. All of this led me to take her home AMA and become her Primary caregiver for the past year. This is not what I signed up for in 1963 but I have become a hell of a housewife at 79 and love the work that I do 24/7/365 until death do us part!
I then transferred her to a nursing home closer to my home and was disgusted by the "crude & unsympathetic uncaring attitudes " of the lowest staff members and the decision to place a single nurse on each shift who was hidden outside the main room where most activities were performed. Therefore they were unaware of how disgusting the staff treated these dementia patients and the endless acting out amongst themselves as if their role was to laugh and have loud conversations amongst themselves in a foreign language I would guess no patient understood further confusing what they were hearing and possibly causing unnecessary confusion and stress not healthy for them. In addition the staff refused many requests from patients such as bathroom requirements or getting their teeth at meal time while seated about to eat. Any time a patient did something deemed unacceptable like standing up in their chair the response by staff was immediate and totally unacceptable. It was as if I was watching an angry parent admonishing a bad child by talking down to them, using strong words and threats, embarrassing the patient in front of 40 others ignoring the reality that this patient was not connected to reality as no dementia patient is thus creating a trauma then and there that I would label not just cruel and unnecessary but I would label such actions as elder abuse possibly a felony but certainly inappropriate if not criminal! When I reported one loud threatening interaction between a staff person and a patient I was informed by the nurse who had entered the room after I went to her Nursing station outside of this large room and limited to hearing about 2% or any words or noise in the large room I was informed that that type of action never occurred to which I replied I witnessed it and am telling you what I saw while you were unable to see or hear everything I just reported to you. On 3 more occasions I reported to the nurse about the same staff actions and in addition the 5 or 6 staff members were so loud yelling to easch other constantly that the patients were unable to hear the tv movie they were sitting there before supper to enjoy. The nurse then had the head nurse from another floor come into the room and merely stand there and observe the now quiet staff members, never even looked at me and never said a word to anyone. The nurse prior to this head nurse appearance had entered the room all 4 times I reported unacceptable behavior and never said one word to one person! I typed a list of 25 recommendations and presented it to the administrator whose only response was to threaten me with calling the police should I ever ?????* * I apologize--it was so bizarre I forgot it as soon as she said it and it was nothing that I had said I would or could do---this was created out of whole cloth!------and to my knowledge never decided to enact any of my suggestions and even lied about placing felt on door striking faces as the previous Hospital had done to reduce unwarranted sudden loud noises that startle patients and any visitors. There were many other incidents that I may add some other time. All of this led me to take her home AMA and become her Primary caregiver for the past year. This is not what I signed up for in 1963 but I have become a hell of a housewife at 79 and love the work that I do 24/7/365 until death do us part!
