Prayers please for my dad
- Thread starter hickslawns
- Start date
Keeping your dad and family in my thoughts, Phil. Did he have an alarm attached to his clothing to notify the nurse aides that he fell?
We were told it is now against Ohio law to use bed alarms in nursing homes. Hospitals can do it but not the nursing homes. We asked for some bed rails. They said they cannot unless the doctor writes it up as a requirement. It is a monthly prescription which would need to be renewed. My father has NO feeling on his left side. How is he to know if he is about to fall out of bed? I think it is BS but these are the the laws they must follow.
That's crazy, we used them when I was a nurses aide but that was 13 years ago, we had alarms for the bed and wheelchair. I would definitely look into bed rails.
I'm with you. Completely agree. Monday when we speak with neurosurgeon we will have it addressed. Hoping no more issues before then. It is pretty scary.
Until then I would pack pillows on his left side to try and prevent it from happening again, if you haven't yet.
They brought a different mattress which has elevated edges to keep him centered. I'm sure it will help but don't think it will be a lot better. Just a little.
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They want it written up as a script so they can charge insurance as a billable extra. It's not laws it's greedy caregivers trying to Nickle and dime for everything and the insurance companies requiring proof that it's needed.
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In therapy he walked around 40 steps today with the aide of a walker and the physical therapist. The therapist was mainly there for balance support. Dad did most of it on his own. He had done about 20 steps the other day so this was pretty huge. He was pretty tuckered out from it. My cheeks hurt when he was done. I had the biggest smile on my face for the entire time I watched.
Truthfully it is bittersweet. It is AWESOME watching him make the progress. It sucks he was walking on his own power four weeks ago. 7 weeks ago he was still walking the halls of the hospital while volunteering. Tough to watch for sure. As long as he is making progress we won't worry about what he "used to" do. That was then. This is now. Now we focus on the positives rather than dwelling on the past.
Dad had his fourth radiation treatment today. He also started chemo pills yesterday. Has some confusion that is tough to deal with at times. Part of the process. Hard to say if it is due to swelling from the radiation, some of the meds he is taking, or a new issue. Doctor seemed to think it was due to the radiation causing additional swelling on the brain. She increased the steroid he takes which is specifically for swelling on the brain. Hopefully that works. His neurosurgeon took him off the Keppra yesterday which might help. It was to prevent seizures. Since it has been a month and he hasn't had any seizures he felt it was time to take him off this medication.
No new falls fortunately. Bed rails are not an option. Even with a prescription from his neurosurgeon, the nursing home will not put the bed rails on. Apparently there have been some people get their heads through the rails and suffocate. They need to figure out something. I doubt a bed alarm would help. With one nurse and one or two STNAs on the night shift, I'm not sure anyone would see the bed alarm light/warning going off. If they don't get something figured out I am going to bring in some straw or something to put on the floor to break his falls. lol Okay, maybe not. Mom and I will have a serious chat with the nursing director though. 3 falls in a week is BS. I get it. He is confused. He tries to get out of bed without assistance. That caused one fall. The other was because he was sat up on the edge of his bed to pee and they left him unattended. Completely avoidable! The third was from him reaching for his glasses on the edge of his bed. Why was someone not in there if he was on the edge of his bed? His own doing? Left unattended again? I don't know. Certainly they have had to have dealt with this in the past. There HAS to be a solution.
Truthfully it is bittersweet. It is AWESOME watching him make the progress. It sucks he was walking on his own power four weeks ago. 7 weeks ago he was still walking the halls of the hospital while volunteering. Tough to watch for sure. As long as he is making progress we won't worry about what he "used to" do. That was then. This is now. Now we focus on the positives rather than dwelling on the past.
Dad had his fourth radiation treatment today. He also started chemo pills yesterday. Has some confusion that is tough to deal with at times. Part of the process. Hard to say if it is due to swelling from the radiation, some of the meds he is taking, or a new issue. Doctor seemed to think it was due to the radiation causing additional swelling on the brain. She increased the steroid he takes which is specifically for swelling on the brain. Hopefully that works. His neurosurgeon took him off the Keppra yesterday which might help. It was to prevent seizures. Since it has been a month and he hasn't had any seizures he felt it was time to take him off this medication.
No new falls fortunately. Bed rails are not an option. Even with a prescription from his neurosurgeon, the nursing home will not put the bed rails on. Apparently there have been some people get their heads through the rails and suffocate. They need to figure out something. I doubt a bed alarm would help. With one nurse and one or two STNAs on the night shift, I'm not sure anyone would see the bed alarm light/warning going off. If they don't get something figured out I am going to bring in some straw or something to put on the floor to break his falls. lol Okay, maybe not. Mom and I will have a serious chat with the nursing director though. 3 falls in a week is BS. I get it. He is confused. He tries to get out of bed without assistance. That caused one fall. The other was because he was sat up on the edge of his bed to pee and they left him unattended. Completely avoidable! The third was from him reaching for his glasses on the edge of his bed. Why was someone not in there if he was on the edge of his bed? His own doing? Left unattended again? I don't know. Certainly they have had to have dealt with this in the past. There HAS to be a solution.
Great news on your dad's progress with his walking! Phil, when I was a nurses aide those bed alarms I was talking about were audible alarms, loud as hell. If I was sitting at the nurse's station I could hear one go off from any room.
Good update Phil.... From my recent experience with hospitals with my brother it seems like they're too busy doing look busy work and not actually taking care of he patients..... Lookin at their phones and socializing with each other way too much.... But (and there's always a but) there's always one person that seems too care and runs their selves ragged too pick up the slack....
Dang Phil thats BS about the bed rails - don't seem right - i was in rehab at the cleveland clinic after ny knee surgery for 10 days and they had bed rails and used them always - prayers for your dad
Hard too believe in this day and age they don't have safety rails that are actually safe.... SMDH.....
