Monday, February 22, 2021

THE BIRTH OF A BEDSORE

One afternoon I arrived at work and discovered inspectors from the state bustling around to see what we were up to. They made random observations, usually once a year.

I walked past them down the hall toward Vivie's room. I greeted her and she pointed toward her bottom and said, It's gooshie.

Gooshie? I took her into the bathroom, where I discovered she'd had diarrhea. I cleaned her up, replaced her "diaper," and saw that her bottom was red.

When we left the bathroom, Bernadette from activities accosted me. What's going on? she demanded.

I needed to get Vivie cleaned up, I said, and wondered where the conversation was headed.

That happened this morning, Bernadette said. We had a hymn sing. Vivie was there and the odor was so bad I had to keep spraying air freshener. When we finished, I told the nurse at the desk that she needed to be cleaned up. The nurse said it would be taken care of and it wasn't done. She's been sitting in that mess for hours. You should take that diaper and open it up right in those inspectors' faces.

I am not doing that, I told her. I would be fired, and I'd deserve it. (I wouldn't have been fired for showing the diaper to the inspectors, but the Director of Nursing would have found some other way to get rid of me for such a betrayal.)

But I did take the plastic bag with the diaper in it to the nurses station, where I saw the Director of Nursing, Lynn. I told her––quietly––what had happened and then tossed the plastic bag into a bin in the Soiled Utility Room, where trash gathered in one bin and soiled linens went in another.

Lynne sent Donna, the night supervisor, to talk to me and fill out a report. I was glad I had flatly refused Bernadette's demand and followed the chain of command, but giving Donna the information was the easy part. Vivie's trouble was just beginning because of her red bottom and someone's failure to provide necessary care.

20 comments:

  1. Awful. I witnessed that kind of care when my father was hospitalized years ago. He had private insurance that included a 24-hour private nurse. His doctor insisted he would prefer to have him on the ward that he managed. My mother agreed. A nightmare. Plus, it turns out the doctor made more money himself, if his ward had more patients.

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    1. That doctor sucked. Your father should have had the private nurse.

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  2. Poor Vivie. When I hear stories like this I hope that some day the people responsible receive the same level of care that they were happy to dish out.
    And thank you for your integrity.

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    1. Even the best places have some people who don't do their jobs or don't notice that something is wrong. Bernadette made a mistake by telling the nurse about Vivie. She should have told the GNA on that hall--the person who provided the direct care.

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  3. Oh, poor Vivie. I suspect these sorts of things happen way too often.

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    1. Every time we sent someone to the hospital, the person came back with bed sores.

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  4. This is all getting a little too graphic for me.

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    1. I understand. When I got the job, I didn't know if I'd be able to deal with the sights and smells.

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  5. This is seriously depressing as it reflects something possible in all our futures...
    Your caring must be its own reward. Your unlikely to get any other. :'(

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    1. So true. Either we die young or we face the realities that come with age.

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  6. Before Mom went on hospice she had bed sores, I guess. Now what happened after that I have no idea. But before hospice she was on her own except for people who brought her meals...but someone helped her bathe once a week and they should have reported that. Maybe they did. Living over 250 miles away you never know what goes on and no family could visit her most of last year regardless. Sucks to get old. You do need people who can be around and fight for you. Covid has probably done a lot of damage in that way. Besides people dying of loneliness like my mom did.

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    1. In my experience, it was impossible to get rid of bed sores. Most of the time, they were on people's bottoms. We turned them from side to side at night and put a protective cream on them. I never saw one heal, I'm sorry to say.

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  7. How terrible and how painful, thankfully my Nan was in a good nursing home and was well carred for but I also think the fact that my aunt called in every single day

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    1. It helps if the family is involved and can check for problems.

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  8. Kudos to you for being there for Viv and cleaning her up. You can only do so much and you are one person. I bet there are not enough staff to deal with the number of people on your floor. Poor Viv must have gotten (bad grammar? Sorry) bed sores which are horrible. My mom was in a very good long term care home but even there they faltered when it came to her toenails. I thought they were looked after until my mom complained her shoes didn't fit. I thought she had a rolled up piece of paper in her sock but when I took off her sock I was horrified at her toe nails. The rolled up "ball" was her big toe nail that was a dark yellow and so big but her other nails were long and curling to the one side! The PSW's were not doing their job, didn't tell the nurse who would have told her higher up. I made it very well known how upset I was and they took care of it right away. They did lose the toenail person but just got another and my mom was ok with her. That is the other issue, my mom, who was spunky, would often not allow them to touch her nails so it took a while to gain my mom's trust. Anyway, I think every home has something and unless you are rich and can afford private nurses etc.. you will be in a long term care facility if you live to the point where you must be cared for. I commend you for having such a stressful job because that is truly very difficult especially if you have to deal with politics afterward.

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    1. We could trim fingernails if the patient didn't have diabetes. With diabetes, a nurse was supposed to do it. No one was allowed to cut toenails. A podiatrist came in occasionally but during a visit would only take care of 10 people out of more than 100. I never saw anyone with the kind of toenails you're describing, though.

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  9. Replies
    1. I'm concerned about continuing to tell nursing home stories. A few are happy, but more are sad. We don't need more unhappiness during these times of COVID. Maybe we never need the sad stories.

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