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Frustration with everything. I’m about to lose it

Caregivers | Last Active: Apr 30, 2023 | Replies (47)

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@athena2023

I am so sorry for your father and your situation. My mother was in similar. She was in and out of assisted living and then a level of more care where the staff gave out meds and insured patient took them, and finally she went to the highest level of care (outside memory care) as after back surgery she was having frequent falling accidents.
Our parent/s in this condition is very stressful as I found that to insure her safety and good care I had to be in the care facility checking on her and the staff every single day! When family could not go, we hired a nurse to be with her. In fact we begin hiring the nurse one day a week so family could get time off. This went on for several years until she died. And yet she died in a care facility. At her home place, she politely got up from the table to show another person to a chair and fell and broke her pelvis. Then she had to go to a rehab center care facility. She was on heavy pain killers and the care facility did not provide her with a laxative. She strained having a bowel movement which perforated her bowel and she died of sepsis two days later. I was furious with myself for not staying longer the night it happened and blamed myself for not doing enough. I say this not to depress or horrify you but to help you realize that most facilities are hopelessly understaffed and the staff they do have is often of dubious background and training (would you do the sad and heavily responsible work of care home workers for minimum wage?) That was the loss of my innocence about places that care for the elderly. Enlist family and friends to help you and drop in on your person often and have your friends drop in so that staff realize people are going to insure appropriate care. If anyone notices that a patient is lacking help, go find someone on staff or go to the desk and report the problem. They may not always be happy to hear that the mess your mother made when she was ill the other night is still in the bottom of her shower or that she is saying they never take the time to vacuum her room, or that no one will help her open her window, or that her trash has not been emptied in two weeks, etc. Another thing we did as a family was get to know the families of other residents, especially those who lived around my mother. Often I could help them by checking on their parent when I was there and similarly they would look in on my Mom when I couldn't. I found, after my mother died, that I did not regret one thing I had done for her but only wished I could have done more. Hang in and hang on and take heart knowing that you will be so glad you were there.
And discover where you can get nursing care help--social workers attached to the hospitals often know of options, or sometimes through insurance, county programs or medicare. Our country can do much better in this area, but until they step up we are at bat. ps. I think this was off topic but it seems many of us are dealing with this stressful issue. Blessings to you.

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Replies to "I am so sorry for your father and your situation. My mother was in similar. She..."

Bless you and so sorry for your loss.