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firstly I live in nova scotia. my daughter age 38 is a resident at this nursing home for the past 10 years; as a result of a car accident. she has a brain injury. whenever I visit my daughter and ask her where she wants to sit today. she usualliy picks that she wants to sit in the chairs up by the front door . there is a lot of activitly here with people coming and going and my daughter does not get much stimulation besides this. yesterday when I visited my daughter and we went to the front where the chairs are; the chairs had been removed. I asked the secretary where the chairs went and she told me that they wanted to redecorate the area. also for the front offices to have more privacy. when I asked the supervisor she told me that the chairs were dirty and it was embarrassing when people came in to the building. wo she wants the entranceway to be bright and welcoming. I asked her about cleaning the chairs but she said 'no.i then suggested that I could take a small chair from my daughters room and use it and when I go home I could put the chair back. she said no.i honestly think based on the conversation and the answers I received that the reason is that the supervisor does not want people to be met with my brain injured decrepit face. this sounds sad and unbelieving but it makes sense to me. the supervisor here is not a woman to compromise. she is the boss and what she says goes. I have had a meeting with the patient advocate but this feel on deaf ears.
does anyone here in nova scotia have any idea who I can turn to next so my daughter can enjoy sitting in her favorite spot. thanks

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Um. Move one of the tables to where your daughter's chair used to be?
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hello folks: I have a little update to my daughters plight with the nursing home. as we know they hired a new secretary who sits in the front office where my daughter sat outside of. I believe this girl wanted more privacy around her office so she went to the lady in charge and took the chair away from where my daughger sat. however they only moved the chair about 5 feet. the problem now Is that they wedged the chair between 2 tables. therefore my daughter canot put her wheelchair there because I cannot sit beside her to do things with her. other residents who are mobile can use these chairs but my daughter because of her wheelchair cannot. I am at a loss. does anyone have a possible reason why this is happening to my daughter. help
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thank you guys so very much. I have found positive ideas in all of your letters. as far as my daughter is concerned I truly believe that the administrator is just wanting to get the residents away from the entrance of the building and placing them all either in the dark pods or in their rooms. it doesn't look good for the home to have old decrepit people or in my daughters case a person with a brain injury. I have spoken with the patient rep who is the girl who can help you. what she does is speak with the administrator and asks her why she is doing this. if the administrator gives the rep a logical the rep agrees with her. I have phoned the 'ombudsman here in nova scotia. I have spoken with the social worker. the social worker is much like the patient rep. that is what the administrator says is what is going to happen. so the administrator runs the home with no challenges. my only hope now is to speak with my political representative. he actually went through school and university with my daughter. or if I sense that the administrator is trying to 'hide' the residents in either their rooms or pods I could maybe phone the ''civil rights people. thank you again folks and please if you have any more ideas for me please drop a line to help. I am desparate.
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caperguy, I can fully understand why residents of a nursing home would want to be outside, and out front where there is more action to watch. In the sunshine which can make anyone feel a bit better. I would want to do the same thing. Some places have nice courtyards in the middle of the building, but if there isn't anything to watch, that could be boring.

We also need to think about privacy and safety issues. Could be at your daughter's nursing home residents would go out without any Staff to oversee them, accidents could easily happen. A wheelchair could go over a curb and tip over. At my Mom's long-term-care facility I use to worry about this one young man, who had a stroke, who use to wheel his chair down to the end of the walkway, I had visions of him going over the curb and down the hill into traffic.

My sig other eventually kept making excuses not to visit my Mom when she was in long-term-care, he was so very uncomfortable about people who had medical issues, didn't matter if the residents were sitting outside or inside in the common area. But that was just the way he was, there was no way to change his mind.
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My sister works at a retirement home that has undergone numerous changes of ownership and upper management. I expect this is an attempt by the DOC to put a different slant on the nursing home, so often when you come in the doors the lobby is crowded with residents who amuse themselves by parking themselves by the door and watching the world go by. This can give an impression that everyone is bored and is not an image that they want to project so they make an effort to herd the residents into other common areas or back to their rooms. I doubt it has anything to do with your daughter's appearance.
As for the chairs being filthy, I wouldn't ever sit on an upholstered chair in a nursing home or assisted living without checking it first. Incontinence and draining wounds are commonplace and difficult to clean up after, especially in mobile residents and if not noticed immediately by staff.
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I've worked with adults with brain injuries for much of my adult life. First on a rehab floor where the patients were acute and just waking up and then later I worked in an adult daycare for people with brain injuries. There's a special place in my heart for anyone who's had a brain injury or a family member of someone who's had a brain injury.

I don't live in Nova Scotia. Maybe there's someone around here who does. I hope so. Is the patient advocate you spoke to like an Ombudsman? Here in the states an Ombudsman is like a patient advocate for nursing homes.

You said your concerns fell on deaf ears with the patient advocate. Did the patient advocate say that they're in fact redecorating that area? Did the advocate say he/she would at least look into it?

You've spoken to the supervisor and the patient advocate. I'm not sure who else you can go to. Have you tried the social worker?

Have you noticed anyone else sitting there since this happened?

I hope you can find an explanation. Maybe your daughter can pick out another spot to make her own in the meantime.

Let us know how it goes.
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