I work in a Nursing Home and recently, we had a man being admitted into our facility. He is completely confused due to senile dementia and, what's worse, he is a wanderer! He recently tripped and fell about 2-3 times in the same week! Nurses cannot care for him 24-7, they have other patients to attend to, it's a large nursing facility with 400+ beds. What do you think should be done about this?
2006-07-09 07:03:51 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Mental Health
Have the family hire a nurse or have them take turns staying during the day. Sedate him at night. I don't like restraints. What if there is a fire, flood like in N.O., or other emergency and it takes too long to undo the restraints? MY mom developed the same thing within a six mo.period and it was bad. She started leaving the nursing home also, once my niece found her a few blocks away and the home didn't know she was gone! The 4 of us made sure that we were checking in on her frequently daily but we were lucky that we all live in the same town and were self employed so we could go at any time. I would only use restraints during the day if the patients are going to get hurt or hurt someone else and there is no family or hired person to help watch. Each case would be different. It would be great if a device could be designed to help keep these poor souls secure but not be demeaning or threatening to them. Some way that they could be active and participate or at least see other people. Iknow I would cause all kinds of ruckus if I got tied down, right mind or not!
2006-07-09 07:26:31 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 7⤊ 1⤋
This is a real problem nursing homes have on a regular basis. Restraints of any kind like chemical, physical, locked doors or others must be used sparingly. Does your nursing home have a restraint policy, does your state and have they had a family meeting to see what the other relatives would be comfortable. The guiding principal has to be safety of the person, the other resident and staff. Restraints should not be used as a convenience for staff.
2006-07-09 14:10:23 · answer #2 · answered by Kenneth H 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You don't say what state you live in. Different states have different rules regarding restraining. Most states it is illegal without a doctors written order. I used to work in a nursing home and we could use passive restraints (like the contact alarms on wheelchairs) but that was all. Even side rails on a bed are considered restraints now.
It is up to the family to decide if they want their loved one restrained or not.
2006-07-09 14:10:31 · answer #3 · answered by CG234 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋