The Aides come in to my sisters room and remove the dementia patient and even put a stop sign up across the door but nothing seems to work. What else can we do? This situation is frightening my sister.
What exactly is your sister frightened of? Has she expressed fears to the staff? Have you spoken with the administrator about her fear and this continuing to happen? As you can imagine, it is impossible to post a guard at her door. Most such facilities have those who wander and guard rails and any restraints are almost illegal universally at this point. She should speak first with staff. She should request emergency summoning light. She should request room near nurse stations or medication carts so she has good traffic of nursing staff. Sorry you are dealing with this.
One of the patients on my sister’s floor was slapped by a demented patient. My sister has woken during the night to have a man standing over her bed. There is a woman who comes in regularly and tries to take her things. That is what she is frightened of. Staff is aware of what my sister is going through but after my sister rings the bell they come in and remove the patient. Good suggestion about having her room changed closer to the nurse’s desk. Thank you.
I'm a little confused why there are so many dementia patients in rehab? Is her door lockable? In my MILs nursing home they put stretchy gates across people's doors to keep the wanderers out.
Sounds quite annoying! How long will she be in rehab?
This rehab center does not sound like it’s a safe place for your sister to be. You mentioned patient being slapped and your sister woke up one night and saw a man in her room. This is a scary situation that needs urgent attention because the situation could potentially eventually be tragic.
You need to speak to the person who is in charge and relay your sister’s fears and your fears of the unsafe scenario that you mentioned and demand that something be done to protect your sister.
Is there another floor that is more locked down than the floor your sister is on? If not, it sounds like it is time to move sister to another rehab facility. The current rehab facility apparently does not keep close enough tabs on their "wanderers."
Do it now, before someone gets hurt or your sister is permanently paranoid.
I'd be scared, too, if that happened to me--especially waking up to find a man standing near my bed! I would be really uncomfortable with this situation. There must be some way to prevent such occurrences. Changing her room needs to happen. If not immediately possible, installing a gate or a lock on her door (accessible to staff) might slow down unwanted traffic. Are rehab patients routinely co-housed with dementia patients?
In my father’s rehab the whole nursing facility was locked and there was not a specific separate area for dementia patients. So, all residents who were mobile had the freedom to wander the halls of the whole facility.
She should talk to administration. She should be in an area that is strictly for rehab patients - no Alzheimer's patients should be in that area. She has a right to uninterrupted, safe sleep.
In my father’s rehab the whole nursing facility was locked and there was not a specific separate area for dementia patients. So, all residents who were mobile had the freedom to wander the halls of the whole facility.
Grandma, the rehabs near me are one floor. In the one Mom was in Rehab is in an area on the back of the building. The hall way goes around the inside of the building and residents are allowed to walk in the hall. This hall ends in the Rehab section and for some reason, the doors are not kept shut so those with Dementia cannot enter.
My grandmother had a similar situation at her facility. An older gentleman with dementia would come into her room and use her bathroom. The gentleman used a walker. My grandmother would wake up to the “scuff scuff” sound and then hear him peeing. After complaints to staff, they attached some jingle bells to his walker and then were aware of his movements.
I agree with others: if possible, get your sister moved to a different facility since the dementia patients at this one seem to be running roughshod over vulnerable people like your sister. I am sorry that per your profile it looks like this is a long term situation for your sister. She deserves to have her own things, and not feel threatened in her own room.
In the meantime, while waiting to find a more suitable location, is she mentally well enough to be able to activate a personal screeching loud alarm when unwelcome visitors scare her and/or won’t leave? Do a search for “runner’s alarm” or “personal safety alarm”. The loud screech will certainly bring the staffers quickly, and might scare the interlopers into quickly leaving on their own,
Perhaps you could buy her a flashlight (I have a very lightweight plastic one that has such a bright blinding illumination when turned on) so she can startle intruders who sneak in in the night, and she will then be able to also identify who the sneaks are.
Regarding the theft of sister’s belongings, could you mark them directly, or use heavy duty masking tape with her name and room number written on it in Sharpie so staffers or you can identify and return to your sister the stuff swiped by the light fingered ones?
I send you and your sister my best wishes and hope you can find a solution.
Kathy327: Have her room changed to be closer to the nurses' station. It's no wonder that the "stop sign" didn't work because the individual viewing it suffers from dementia.
Talk to Social Worker about room change to different floor. If sister will be there long term, you want to handle this problem asap. They’re not gonna do anything about “The Wanderer” ..they’ll say there’s nothing they can do but “redirect” him or her. However that never works since it will happen over and over again. See if changing the room to different floor is helpful before considering changing facilities. Hugs 🤗
Reminds me of when I was in the hospital for surgery after a bicycle accident. There was debris in the road that I didn’t see and I hit the pavement hard.
I had an open compound fracture and had metal rods placed in my arm. A mental patient ended up in my room. It was awful.
I was in tremendous pain and had a morphine drip which didn’t even take the edge off.
The woman didn’t speak English. I didn’t speak Spanish! My orthopedic surgeon came in to check on me the next morning and said, “You look awful! Did you get enough rest last night?”
To which I replied that I didn’t sleep at all because a mental patient was coming towards me and was very angry! He said that he wished the staff would have called him because he would have had me moved to another room.
Speak to the staff. It is disturbing if strangers walk into your room.
I pushed the button for the nurse to come get this woman out of my room. The nurse ran in and said that she had escaped and was roaming around the hospital! I asked the nurse to drug her! LOL 😆
The nurse looked at me and said. “Honey, we gave her a huge amount of drugs, that would most likely be a lethal dose for you or I. This patient’s mother was visiting her earlier and she ran out of her room. I was asked to work over time and I always do but this time I am refusing to do so.”
Communication with facility staff, floor supervisor, facility administration and if the facility has an 800 number for complaints, use all of these and document the communications. Request that your relative be moved to area where dementia pts are not . Confer with facility Social Services and or ombudsman to get solution in place for the SAFETY of your loved one. If all fails, or even simultaneously speak with attorney and, start looking for new a different facility that does not house dementia patients.
It seems to be a regular problem in nursing, rehab, and hospital facilities. In my early twenties, I was hospitalized with pneumonia and severe asthma for a week. They put me in a room with an elderly lady with Alzheimer’s. She called me Bill all day and night. It was her deceased husband. She also pulled off all her clothes and defecated on herself. It was so awful with the smell and being awakened all night that I left the hospital still very sick. They all need to keep those patients in their own section of the facility. I do feel that lack of rest can slow your recovery. I would complain to the Administration and get an attorney if you will be there for awhile. They need to do better. I hope it gets better.
Has she expressed fears to the staff?
Have you spoken with the administrator about her fear and this continuing to happen?
As you can imagine, it is impossible to post a guard at her door. Most such facilities have those who wander and guard rails and any restraints are almost illegal universally at this point.
She should speak first with staff.
She should request emergency summoning light.
She should request room near nurse stations or medication carts so she has good traffic of nursing staff.
Sorry you are dealing with this.
Sounds quite annoying! How long will she be in rehab?
This rehab center does not sound like it’s a safe place for your sister to be. You mentioned patient being slapped and your sister woke up one night and saw a man in her room. This is a scary situation that needs urgent attention because the situation could potentially eventually be tragic.
You need to speak to the person who is in charge and relay your sister’s fears and your fears of the unsafe scenario that you mentioned and demand that something be done to protect your sister.
Do it now, before someone gets hurt or your sister is permanently paranoid.
or tell her to get a sense of humor.
my cousin has same issue.. her place has a call button.
audes don’t respond quickly to that.
I agree with others: if possible, get your sister moved to a different facility since the dementia patients at this one seem to be running roughshod over vulnerable people like your sister. I am sorry that per your profile it looks like this is a long term situation for your sister. She deserves to have her own things, and not feel threatened in her own room.
In the meantime, while waiting to find a more suitable location, is she mentally well enough to be able to activate a personal screeching loud alarm when unwelcome visitors scare her and/or won’t leave? Do a search for “runner’s alarm” or “personal safety alarm”. The loud screech will certainly bring the staffers quickly, and might scare the interlopers into quickly leaving on their own,
Perhaps you could buy her a flashlight (I have a very lightweight plastic one that has such a bright blinding illumination when turned on) so she can startle intruders who sneak in in the night, and she will then be able to also identify who the sneaks are.
Regarding the theft of sister’s belongings, could you mark them directly, or use heavy duty masking tape with her name and room number written on it in Sharpie so staffers or you can identify and return to your sister the stuff swiped by the light fingered ones?
I send you and your sister my best wishes and hope you can find a solution.
rhat happened eith mt GM back in the ‘70’s.
BIG BOLD SHARPIE With her NAME on BACK OF SHIRT.
she won’t see it, but the people stealing it will not want to wear it.
do the same with her shoes…
everything..
ir make it look pretty so shecc c will be proud to wear it.. nobody else will want to own up to theft.
but your sister will be honored..
Hugs 🤗
I had an open compound fracture and had metal rods placed in my arm. A mental patient ended up in my room. It was awful.
I was in tremendous pain and had a morphine drip which didn’t even take the edge off.
The woman didn’t speak English. I didn’t speak Spanish! My orthopedic surgeon came in to check on me the next morning and said, “You look awful! Did you get enough rest last night?”
To which I replied that I didn’t sleep at all because a mental patient was coming towards me and was very angry! He said that he wished the staff would have called him because he would have had me moved to another room.
Speak to the staff. It is disturbing if strangers walk into your room.
I pushed the button for the nurse to come get this woman out of my room. The nurse ran in and said that she had escaped and was roaming around the hospital! I asked the nurse to drug her! LOL 😆
The nurse looked at me and said. “Honey, we gave her a huge amount of drugs, that would most likely be a lethal dose for you or I. This patient’s mother was visiting her earlier and she ran out of her room. I was asked to work over time and I always do but this time I am refusing to do so.”
Confer with facility Social Services and or ombudsman to get solution in place for the SAFETY of your loved one. If all fails, or even simultaneously speak with attorney and, start looking for new a different facility that does not house dementia patients.