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As someone who worked in a few nursing homes, I say please visit them as often as you can. The resident who never have visitors, the staff becomes their family but we don't have the time for much personal contact. Attention and touch is so important for both their mental and physical health. I always felt sorry for the residents who only had visitors on Christmas and Easter.
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When you have a loved one in a nursing home who is suffering from dementia, it is IMPERATIVE that you visit them as often as you can. They are in a strange place, there are NO memories there for them to hold on to. The nurses and CNA's are strangers as well.
One thing I can't express enough is when you have a loved one in a nursing home, ask the CNA's or nurses to roll them over, if they are not able of course, and check their body for skin ulcers (bed sores), my Dad had FOUR on his body, one of which was a stage 4. Needless to say, he passed away from sepsis. He was so sick at the end and we did not know why he started pocketing his food. It was because he had an infection in his blood from the sores.
We have a lawsuit pending on this.
TRUST ME, nursing home staff DO NOT care for your loved one like a family member would.
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Anne
Are you and your mother happy in each other's company or is this a chore ? What does nh staff say about her leaving with you?

My mom 93 is very dependent upon me - since her move to memory care in February I visit her min 3x a week usually at night after work and stay til she's asleep in bed
On Sunday I try to take her to dinner and sometimes a movie
Today I got there at 7 am gave her a shower took for lab work out for breakfast
Back to facility did jigsaw puzzles got her snacks and snuck out during her nap

My brother and sister never visit and if they did it would only be for a short time

I put myself in her shoes - I know how scared and alone she is but I'm exhausted all the time - it's getting to be too much after 9 mos
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As a former CNA, I worked at two LTC facilities. Each CNA had 10 residents on the Evening shift, dinner and bed time. 10 residents is very doable. You want to avoid places that CNA's have 15 residents as a norm. If co-worker goes home their group gets split up. As a CNA it was the best experience I had. I noticed that some residents didn't have visitors at all, some had visitors everyday/all day. We had a lady on a feeding tube, she had zero body movement and zero communication. Zero visitors..her Obituary listed at least 25 family members. All she had was staff. We would knock on her door before walking in, say hello, and we would still have a one sided conversation with her. I had great co-workers, teamwork is key. Our families in both facilities were wonderful.

My mom is now in LTC after being in Assisted Living. The staff starting with the ladies at the front desk all the way to nursing staff are friendly and helpful. They are great with the Residents. I visit Mom once a week and I stay as long as she lets me. If I get there after dinner, she tells me she's tired and ready for bed. If I get there during the day she has some activity to go to so I better go she tells me.
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Does this person look forward to your visits? Or enjoy them while you are there? If so, go as often as you can! My mom has dementia (early) but really seems to enjoy my company when I visit.
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I can only tell you about my experience. My mother has been in a nursing home (alzheimer's floor) for the past 3 months. I visit every day for about 2 1/2 hours.
It is still important to her . . . and to me. She still remembers me which helps and she can carry on a conversation, repetitive as it may be.
A friend of mine who is 59 years old is at the same home on the same floor. Although he hardly speaks anymore and walks around in a daze it still helps him to have visits on some level. It doesn't matter that he probably can't remember me, although sometimes he seems to - quality of life should not change just because you're brain isn't up to par anymore.

I am also self employed which really helps.
My advice is to make your decision dependent on what other responsibilities you have and what you feel is best for both of you. I would lean towards what is best for the loved one ;-) no matter how sad it may be.

Here's a really interesting link - http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=125869707 - which validates that visits matter.
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I agree Mami. It is important that the staff see we haven't just dumped our parents off and leave them to the wind. Should that happen, and I doubt it will, but never say never, I would be there at all different times of the day and night so they wouldn't know when to expect me. That way they'd have to be on their p's and Q's.

Seems inportant to our parents that they know that we are still there for them anyway.

Again hasn't happened and I hope it doesn't, but should it, I will be there as often as possible.
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Hi there,

My Father had Parkinson's and Demenia and we had to put him in a Nursing Home about 9 months before he passed away. (We were unable to pick him up if he fell at home.) My Mother and I spent about 3 hours every day with him but we were fortunate to be able to share the responsibility and that made it more tolerable.

Even though we researched and chose the best nursing home we could find, I truly feel that patients with visitors are treated better by the staff. I can't even begin to tell you how many things I've had to correct for my Dad (he wasn't able to communicate well) on a daily basis with the nursing staff. From the type of food he would eat, bi-weekly showers, and even how often his diaper was changed!

Their were exceptions but it seemed that many of the nurses and cna's were short staffed, tired, and overworked. This was the same through the 4 different nursing homes we were at.

I felt good knowing that I could help my Dad even if he wasn't quite all there in my time. He knew he was loved most of the time.

Cathy
Merritt Island, FL
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I have my mother, who has dimentia, for dinner every Sunday. She comes early enough to watch a movie she enjoys and have some tea and dessert. About an hour after dinner, my husband drives her back to the nursing home.
I go to visit usually once a week, and take lunch got us both to share. I stay for about 4 hours. Every two weeks, I take her out with her walker and go to whatever stores she likes, take her out for dinner, then take her back home.
My sister says that I go too often, and stay too long, and that I should not get her USED TO all this time with me. My mom lived with me and my husband for 41 years, by the way. Is my sister right? I don't go because I want to... I go because it makes my mothers life happier. Perhaps my sister is right... I don't know! If I knew the answer.... I would be so much happier! Please be honest! I NEED to know who is right... me or my sister. Please help.
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A lot depends on the patient and the visitor if this is something that is working for both of them. My Mom was in the last stage of dementia when she went into long-term-care and could no longer walk or feed herself. My Dad's caregiver would take Dad over to see Mom daily, usually around lunch time so the caregiver could help feed Mom.

Mom would recognize me, but communications was difficult being Mom was now deaf and her eyesight was so poor, she was 97 at the time. My visits were around a half hour as Mom would fall asleep.

Eventually I stopped going daily, I cut it back to every other day. If I was younger, I would have had more energy but I was pushing 70 at the time and still had my career.

Now when my Dad moved into senior living, I use to go there daily as I know everything was life changing for him since my Mom had passed. He still had his caregiver so it wasn't like he was totally alone in a strange place. He loved where he was :) Eventually I cut back to every other day, then once a week on Sunday. A former neighbor in the old neighborhood would also visit him once a week and they would talk old times.
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