Lacking Vision
The Communist's vision was getting more and more blurred in his left eye and suddenly he couldn't see at all.
The nursing home called Dr Death - the doctor whose general policy of "take half an aspirin and come back if it's not better in a year" nearly caused the Communist's demise last summer. Emily had visited the Communist and told him to put a rocket up Dr Death to get him to Do Something.
Much to our amazement, Dr Death did. He sent the Communist to hospital yesterday, and Emily kindly volunteered to go with him.
Of course, it took all afternoon, and the Communist was completely exhausted when he got back, and they still don't know what it was but think it might be, perhaps, a bleed in the back of the eye. The Communist's diagnosis (he was a pharmacist, of course) is that this could have been caused by the Warfarin he's on to thin his blood and prevent clots.
This morning, when I visited the Communist, he was finishing his breakfast and when we went back to his room the remote control for his television was missing.
I searched the room, the drawers, the floor - - everywhere. No sign of it.
Well, of course, he can't read really as he can't hold a book steady and anyway his eyesight's very bad at the moment so he really needs his television. It's one of those that can't be turned on and off easily without the remote control.
Unwilling to leave him sitting there in his wheelchair, alone in his room with absolutely nothing to do except think about the loss of the sight in his eye, I found several nurses and care assistants and told them about the missing remote control. I could tell they didn't think it was a priority, so I went and found the manager.
I told her I had searched the room to the best of my ability but there was no sign of it. I pointed out that there was no way the Communist could have lost it, since he can't move. And - warming to my task - I asked why his glasses were still missing, and had been missing for over two weeks, and explained that lots of other pairs of glasses had appeared in his room but none of them was his.
She was a bit taken aback and asked me to show her. I went up to the Communist's room and counted the little pile of spectacles, which I had placed on top of the bedside table about a week ago, pointing them out to a nurse at the time.
"One - - two - - three - - four - - five!" I said with triumph. "But none of them is his. So there must be five people here without their spectacles, and nobody seems to have noticed."
The manager looked a bit sheepish and picked them all up. I decided to press home my advantage.
"So please could you ask someone to search for the remote control now? It's really important as he hasn't anything else that he can do at the moment, apart from watch television. Could you ask someone to ring me when they've found it?"
They rang me about an hour later to say that it had been found under the mattress on his bed. Hmmm. So how did it get there, then?
The - mostly well-meaning - staff constantly unplug the Communist's phone to plug other things in and then leave it unplugged. They put everything he needs - tissues, water, remote control, spectacles before they got lost - just out of his reach.
It's not deliberate, I know. It's just thoughtless.
Thoughtlessness, I think, can make all the difference between a quality of life that's acceptable and one that feels unbearable.
The nursing home called Dr Death - the doctor whose general policy of "take half an aspirin and come back if it's not better in a year" nearly caused the Communist's demise last summer. Emily had visited the Communist and told him to put a rocket up Dr Death to get him to Do Something.
Much to our amazement, Dr Death did. He sent the Communist to hospital yesterday, and Emily kindly volunteered to go with him.
Of course, it took all afternoon, and the Communist was completely exhausted when he got back, and they still don't know what it was but think it might be, perhaps, a bleed in the back of the eye. The Communist's diagnosis (he was a pharmacist, of course) is that this could have been caused by the Warfarin he's on to thin his blood and prevent clots.
This morning, when I visited the Communist, he was finishing his breakfast and when we went back to his room the remote control for his television was missing.
I searched the room, the drawers, the floor - - everywhere. No sign of it.
Well, of course, he can't read really as he can't hold a book steady and anyway his eyesight's very bad at the moment so he really needs his television. It's one of those that can't be turned on and off easily without the remote control.
Unwilling to leave him sitting there in his wheelchair, alone in his room with absolutely nothing to do except think about the loss of the sight in his eye, I found several nurses and care assistants and told them about the missing remote control. I could tell they didn't think it was a priority, so I went and found the manager.
I told her I had searched the room to the best of my ability but there was no sign of it. I pointed out that there was no way the Communist could have lost it, since he can't move. And - warming to my task - I asked why his glasses were still missing, and had been missing for over two weeks, and explained that lots of other pairs of glasses had appeared in his room but none of them was his.
She was a bit taken aback and asked me to show her. I went up to the Communist's room and counted the little pile of spectacles, which I had placed on top of the bedside table about a week ago, pointing them out to a nurse at the time.
"One - - two - - three - - four - - five!" I said with triumph. "But none of them is his. So there must be five people here without their spectacles, and nobody seems to have noticed."
The manager looked a bit sheepish and picked them all up. I decided to press home my advantage.
"So please could you ask someone to search for the remote control now? It's really important as he hasn't anything else that he can do at the moment, apart from watch television. Could you ask someone to ring me when they've found it?"
They rang me about an hour later to say that it had been found under the mattress on his bed. Hmmm. So how did it get there, then?
The - mostly well-meaning - staff constantly unplug the Communist's phone to plug other things in and then leave it unplugged. They put everything he needs - tissues, water, remote control, spectacles before they got lost - just out of his reach.
It's not deliberate, I know. It's just thoughtless.
Thoughtlessness, I think, can make all the difference between a quality of life that's acceptable and one that feels unbearable.
posted by Daphne at 12:48 pm
6 Comments:
Decent training for this job would be an advantage, I think, and sometimes, a better calibre of applicant for the jobs, but then the pay is not wonderful.
Hello. Just watched the canal barge video as recommended. Very lovely indeed.
Den and I were just talking yesterday about how we'd run a nursing home if we owned one. After working together in the one in FL last winter we saw so many things that were upsetting. The caliber of employees most of them seem to hire is well below standard as far as I'm concerned. We both decided the way to run the home would be to sit down a prospective employee and say to them "You will treat every resident here as if they were your own grandparent or parent. If you can't do that, you're in the wrong place. You get no warnings. This is what I expect and if you can't do it you will be terminated immediatly. You will not let any of the residents here know you are here working for the money. You will make each and every one of them think there is no other place you'd rather be than with them at that moment."
Good grief where's the compassion? These people have earned respect and compassion and caring. They don't deserve to be pushed off to the side and ignored. Yes, even the ones that don't realize what's going on. Maybe even especially them.
Remote control, glasses, false teeth, whatever is missing is terribly important to the one that's missing it and it should be treated as such.
Climbing down off my soap box now.
Jenny, you're right - more training is needed - and if we as a society valued our old people more then the pay would improve.
Tim - glad you enjoyed it!
Debby - oh, stay on that soap box - I couldn't have put it better and I agree with everything you say!
Old people, young people, and sick people are distinctly and decidedly undervalued. It shows in the pay. The only reason children get better care in daycare than adults do in care homes is because they're not there overnight and their parents can come and take them away almost immediately. Childcare seems expensive to most parents but it's really not - the pay of the staff is risible. I assume adult carers are lower-paid, given the higher carer-to-caree ratios and lower cuteness factor.
It terrifies me that my mother thinks she will go to a Perfectly Good Nursing Home Thank You, when I'm fairly sure there's no such thing. I'd far rather she were a "burden" on us, if we're capable of it.
Your post angers and saddens me but doesn't surprise me which is even more saddening. Send my love to the Communist - I will try to visit next time I am up, I feel ashamed that I have neglected him the last couple of times I have been there.
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