The blog continues with tips for monitoring a facitlity for quality of resident care. The healthcare industry is often seen as intimidating because of our unique language and skills set. Given that we do have a different language, we often do not do a good job of tanslation. Don't allow the failure on our part to limit your participation. We need your input to be able to tailor our plans of care for our charges.
Behaviors are often a part of the cognitive loss process regardless of the etiology of the dementia. On a recent occasion while visiting a memory care facility, the following occured. A female resident walked to the front lobby of the building and was crying and looked frightened. She was talking aloud and there was no one in the vacinity. I approached her to ask her what was wrong. She proceeded to tell me that she had just been raped, the person was still in her room and she was frightened to go back to her room. She did not know where she would be sleeping that evening. On hearing this, I approached the next staff member who passed by. The response from the staff member was a smile and information that this "happens all the time" and that "there was nothing to be concerned about". The staff member approached the resident, told her not to worry that she had not been raped and then walked away. The resident continued to cry and ask for assistance which I provided. I redirected her and was able to sooth her fears. As soon as I completed this intervention, I told the executive director of the facilty about the occurrence. She shrugged her shoulders and said she would have someone check into the situation, but showed no concern for this resident and her problems.
I was concerned for the psychological well being of the resident, but was also concerned about the rape allegation. Even when there is dementia, delusions and sexual boundary loss, this kind of allegation must be taken seriously with documentation and investigation to assure that there was not any inappropriate behavior. There are not only staff in the building, but there are contractors, families and visitors that are unknown entities.
There were familes in the lobby during the time of this behavior episode. It is outside of my scope of care and services to approach other families. However, it is within my scope to approach staff and management about care issues that I observe. This was significant enough that I could not ignore the situation. None of the other visitors seemed to note the occurrence.
When you are in the facilty, keep your eyes and ears open. When you see things that you are not comfortable with, ask about it. You are the advocate for your loved one and you can anticipate that what you see happening when you are in the facility is occurring when you are not there. You can help not only your loved one, but others who may not have the abiilty to visit as frequently nor have the same comfort with intervening.