Medical and elderly care - keep an eye on your loved one

Thank you for your prayers...my Mom's arm finally healed, she cleared her MRSA infection, and finally she is back into her right mind, at least on a semi-daily basis. With dementia and/or Alzheimer's this is as good as it gets.

One area of concern for all of us in the sandwich generation (those of us caring for our children and caring for our parents)...be sure and keep up with a loved one's Standard of Care while in a hospital or nursing facility. Luckily, I worked in a large cardiac unit in Houston in my early career. Even though I was working in one of the best medical facilities in the country, I can tell you that it is extremely important to keep track of your relatives when they are in the hospital.

If possible, obtain a private room with an extra bed and rotate with your spouse, partner, relatives, or friends to keep an eye on your loved one. At a minimum, make sure someone is checking in on your loved one at least once a day and is visiting for at least one hour during lunch or dinner. It is usually during this time that the nurses are making rounds with medications. You can usually get an update from the nurse, and observe whether or not your loved one is receiving skilled care, getting enough pain medicine, and eating properly.

It's important to be an advocate for the patient, mainly because hospitals are so short-staffed these days. In the old days we had one Registered Nurse (RN), one Licensed Vocational Nurse (LVN), and one nurse assistant (CNA) stationed for 15 cardiac patients. These days, you are lucky if your nurse is an LVN and you have a CNA as a back up.

Now Mom is back in her nursing home for a temporary stay, until we can get her moved back into her regular assisted living apartment. The Standard of Care she is getting in the nursing home is much lower than that she received in the hospital. I observe many nursing assistants (CNAs) and nursing students in this environment.

The bottom line...no matter what the age of the patient, it helps to have someone else around to keep an eye on care.

Stay well, enjoy the moment, and pray for the best. Terre