Residents' Rights is a term established by the regulatory agencies that pay for services in assisted and nursing facilities. While it is important that residents who live in nursing or assisted living facilities have the same rights as those of us who do not, these rights do not hold for every aspect of care.
An example of conflict is demonstrated by the following scenario. A patient who has end-stage heart failure and is on maximum diuretics and heart medication is in a nursing facility. The nurse care manager and family are attending a care plan conference on this resident. On the weekly visit, the care manager nurse notes that the resident has either bacon or pork sausage for breakfast. She has asked/told the facility staff that the salty breakfast meat should be discontinued and replaced with a more acceptable replacement. The resident has dementia, and a beef burger patty looks like a pork sausage patty and could be substituted without difficulty for the resident’s wishes for breakfast meat.
The facility team was unable and unwilling to do this replacement. Their feedback was the resident has a right to have whatever he requested, and they would not replace the healthier option because of this. The resident has a Court appointed family member who is his guardian. The Guardian and other family members understood the severity of their father’s heart failure and asked for the change of food. The facility continued to push back suggesting that they had the responsibility to ask the resident if it is ok to serve him a ground beef patty rather than sausage.
This is not an uncommon situation. While it is understandable that the facility must comply with the regulatory guidelines that determine licensure, the reasonableness standard should not be overlooked at the cost of compliance and the wellbeing of the senior. This senior could have been served another breakfast meat which was important to him and still allowed the facility to comply with regulatory language.
This is only one scenario. There are many others that are unique situations for residents, their families and the facility that they reside in. These situations should be for the well-being of the resident, and at times it requires someone outside the situation to negotiate a settlement on behalf of the senior who cannot speak for him or herself. Do not be afraid to reach out for help when needed.