Friday:

         My mother moved to a different extended care hospital last month. 
It's called a "residential home" now because the government has
decreed extended care is "outmoded".  I could go on at length
about that.  But the important factor is that my mother is dependent on
other folks to bathe her, dress her, get her in & out of bed, etc. 
This means she is at the mercy of individuals who believe they know better
than she does how she should dress & whatnot, while she doesn't have
the energy to argue with them.  So it's part of my job... (sigh).

         A week ago we got a call from one of my mother's nurses... would I
sign a form authorizing her to go to the hairdresser?  I can't imagine why
she'd want to do that.  She has never been to a hairdresser in all of her
ninety years, and there is an extra charge for the hairdresser (hence the
need for my signature on the form).  At her previous location, the PCA's
and/or the LPN's washed & combed my mother's hair and she apparently
saw no need for more than that.  I asked the nurse why she thought it
necessary for the hairdresser to be involved.  She told me in broken
English that my mother can't have tub baths any more because of the
condition of her skin (i.e. the tissue deterioration & infection, I
guess, which I already knew about).  Nobody else had ever told me my mother
couldn't have tub baths, but... so what??  Although Nora couldn't have tub
baths when she'd broken her ankle & it was in a cast, I figured out a
way to wash her hair... as did the nurses at BCCH when she couldn't sit up.
 I asked this individual whether it was a rule that only the hairdresser
may wash hair in such circumstances.  No reply. So I asked the social
worker, who said (essentially) "Don't worry about it."

         We weren't done yet, though, as I found out when Dallas & I
went to see my mother shortly afterwards.  She said "they" want
her to get some new clothing like the blouse supplied by the hospital which
she'd worn the previous week.  To my jaundiced eye it's a hospital gown...
fancier than what one usually sees, but a hospital gown nevertheless.  My
mother's room mate told us the gift shop sells these things.  I found the
nurse & asked her to take (or arrange for a person to take) my mother
there, let her pick out something for herself, and put it on the account. 
If this nurse is the one who's bothered about what my mother wears she can
fix the problem... I don't have time for such nonsense.  She probably
thinks I'm being quite unreasonable, in which case maybe my mother will get
somebody we can communicate with!  When I told Nora's OT about this blouse,
she said "Why??" A good question, IMHO.  I didn't ask the nurse
because I can't follow her logic. I suspect what it amounts to, however, is
that it would make her work easier.  I heard later from another source that
she has fifteen patients at present whereas she'd normally have eight. 
Okay.  My mother can have some new clothes, and when she dies I'll donate
them to the hospital.  That way at least I might be able to help other
patients & their families.  I'm sorry this person is overwhelmed, but
staffing assignments are not my responsibility & I'm overwhelmed
myself....  :-/




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+