Hi all, I wanted to hear other's thoughts and perspectives about a question I had. I believe the procedure for checking residents for toileting and diaper changing is every 2 hours, and I was wondering if it's OK to call the nursing station when my grandma at the nursing home says that she made a BM? My grandma is bedridden and can't walk anymore and it seems not ideal to wait around 2 hours at the most after making a BM for health and hygienic reasons, so do you all think it's OK to call the nursing station to bring it to someone's attention? What do you think about calling again if someone hasn't helped in 30 minutes or so? I'm more concerned about this for when it happens during the middle of the night since there may be less staff working, and residents would normally be asleep and maybe the aides don't want to disturb residents in fear of waking them up. Thank you
As to calling the facility from your home, if your grandmother is in good enough condition to call YOU, then she is certainly in good enough condition to notify her caregivers that she needs a change.
I would discuss all this with the administration at grandmother's facility if you are her POA. Wishing you the best.
Turns out they couldn't toilet him. He was huge and it was hard to lift and maneuver him in his bathroom, even with 3 aides assisting. So the procedure was, he poops in his diapers, he lets them know ahead of time or right after, and they whisk him off to his room and clean him up, no toilet involved.
Different procedures for different residents. Be aware that what we think is standard procedure isn't always the procedure for everyone, and for good reason.
My FIL used to call myself, my DH and my SIL upwards of 25+ times a day. claiming he hadn't had his incontinence underwear changed in HOURS. (it would differ depending on his mood and how often you actually answered the phone - anywhere from 4 to 18 depending on his mood. ) He had TERRIBLE time dilation and honestly, he could look at the HUGE clock that said 2pm and think it was 2am or 12pm or 5pm or am. And then he would look again and let's say the clock said 2:10pm... he would think it was 10pm. So, 10 minutes had elapsed, but he would either think or just say that that 8 hours had.
My SIL started out calling every time and I begged her to stop. We were quickly becoming 'that family' and my FIL didn't need any help in that department, he had already established himself as a troublemaker (in a very real way, not just being needy). So she stopped. And he started calling his sister 10 hours away and SHE called.
We told the staff they could ignore his sister entirely. They could flag her number. Whatever it took. Because FIL would also say that no one had been in his room for hours - while they were literally IN his room trying to take care of him.
Often, especially in residential care like that - it is hard for residents to really get a good grasp of time to begin with. AND in cases like my very large FIL, it took TWO CNAs to change him. So if they were with him, someone else wasn't getting their needs met at that exact moment and vice versa. That is a hard pillow for some people to swallow, patient and caregiver alike.
If you are not physically there and grandma tells you this I would not make a call to the facility and say that grandma needs to be changed.
I can tell you personally that while my Husband was awake during the day I would check him every 2 hours and I would have caregivers do the same. It was not 2 hours on the dot but 30 minutes either way was fine. HOWEVER at night if he was sleeping soundly I would not get up every 2 hours and check and or change him. If he woke up and was making noises then that would wake me and I would get up and check/change him.
Nighttime, I would not push the every 2 hours.
I would hope that since grandma is bedridden that she has an alternating pressure mattress or some airflow mattress.
The idea behind checking/changing briefs every 2 hours is more for changing position of the person not specifically for checking for a soiled brief. This is even more important during the day when they are either in a wheelchair or sitting in a recliner.
I would be less worried about skin breakdown due to a soiled brief than breakdown due to being in the same position for a long time. The briefs are absorbent so they do draw moisture away from the skin to a great extent.