You find yourself in strange company in care/nursing homes. Here, we have at least one suspected alcoholic and one who appears to be on the threshold of possibly her third nervous breakdown or personality realignment within two years. (Does one cause the other?) I'm talking about the care staff, not the residents and God knows how much worse it is going to get as more and more of them, particularly the agency carers, have communication difficulties with the natural English speakers -- nearly all the residents are English speakers but only around half the care staff. (For statistical reasons only, I'm classifying carers from Scotland and Yorkshire as English speakers. Oh yes, I can do controversial.)
To protest about the language and communication problems can be difficult. Nearly all those who demonstrate some difficulty in fully comprehending a particular request or statement are African and the prevailing political-correctness means you have to be very careful not to imply that we have an "African problem". When 99% of the residents are English-born and English-speaking, I think that fluency in English should be an absolute minimum requirement for working with individuals who are disabled, dependent on the carers for personal requirements, while they have their own communication or speech problems resulting from strokes or cerebral palsy. Hey, I can feel my testosterone kicking in here! I'd better go and have lunch before I lose my temper and ask one of the carers to throw something at the television for me.
Lunch.
Much better now, thank you for asking. The healing and therapeutic properties of chilli cannot be praised too highly.
Thursday, 26 March 2015
GENERAL OBSERVATIONS IN CAREHOMES
OBSERVATIONS
You do notice the little things. In themselves, they might not be very important but it is what they represent that is significant. After strokes, MS is the most common disabling factor that has led to our residents needing this accommodation. In a peculiar way, it is like the way some people are just after they buy a new car: you suddenly notice every time you see another one on the road -- there's another -- there's another -- there's another etc. It's one of those conditions or diseases that causes you constantly to make comparisons between your situation and others'. Have you lost any sensation here/there? Do you have difficulty doing this/that? What were your first symptoms? How long have you had MS? What medication are you on? Does it work? Have you ever considered suicide? That's just the tip of the iceberg: there are always new questions you think of asking. We all have our own distinct variation on the theme which is why it is so frustrating -- especially for those of us with Type 'A' MS, a minority who present differently.
We do have a suicide prospect. I mean that the poor sod creates alarm and a search party is organised every time he goes wandering outside. Why? Because he might try and motor into the pond, trundle in front of a passing car or find access to a pair of scissors. Or something. Okay, he is utterly hacked off with living in a nursing home and often expresses himself in "I wish I was dead" terms. Sounds like a beacon of sanity to me. That, and the fact that he has encountered carers with questionable comprehension skills or basic empathy with disabled people. In nursing homes, that's a given. (Do you detect a general cynicism in these matters? Well done.)
You do notice the little things. In themselves, they might not be very important but it is what they represent that is significant. After strokes, MS is the most common disabling factor that has led to our residents needing this accommodation. In a peculiar way, it is like the way some people are just after they buy a new car: you suddenly notice every time you see another one on the road -- there's another -- there's another -- there's another etc. It's one of those conditions or diseases that causes you constantly to make comparisons between your situation and others'. Have you lost any sensation here/there? Do you have difficulty doing this/that? What were your first symptoms? How long have you had MS? What medication are you on? Does it work? Have you ever considered suicide? That's just the tip of the iceberg: there are always new questions you think of asking. We all have our own distinct variation on the theme which is why it is so frustrating -- especially for those of us with Type 'A' MS, a minority who present differently.
We do have a suicide prospect. I mean that the poor sod creates alarm and a search party is organised every time he goes wandering outside. Why? Because he might try and motor into the pond, trundle in front of a passing car or find access to a pair of scissors. Or something. Okay, he is utterly hacked off with living in a nursing home and often expresses himself in "I wish I was dead" terms. Sounds like a beacon of sanity to me. That, and the fact that he has encountered carers with questionable comprehension skills or basic empathy with disabled people. In nursing homes, that's a given. (Do you detect a general cynicism in these matters? Well done.)
HEALTH AND BLOODY SAFETY!
How, in the name of everything or anything that is holy, has the human race made it this far? Without the phalanx of health and safety experts, would we ever have known that hot things can cause burns, that sharp things can inflict skin damage, that balancing precariously on top of unsecured ladders or furniture might be dangerous and allow you to fall down with painful results? Dear (insert the name of your chosen deity, icon or favourite fetish), how lucky was my dad to survive without them to help him? He even managed to survive a world war!! Did nobody even bother to warn him about the dangers before he went?
And today, the health and safety advice panel here tells me that I am not allowed to have control of my own medication! No, it must be issued to me by the designated carer in charge of medication! What's more, I'm only allowed things that have been specifically prescribed for me by the doctor. That ruling extends to a simple 75mg ('children's) aspirin and even to over-the-counter products like cough medicine! Apparently, I might overdose without realising it! On antibiotics! Aspirin! My very own Famel!
It seems that I'm not permitted to ask one of the carers "would you give me two of those ampicillin or one of those aspirin please?" This is, apparently, to protect both me and the carers: I can't be trusted to be sufficiently aware of what I'm doing to be control of that request and that they cannot be trusted to respond appropriately. Look, I'm thinking, if they can't be trusted to do that, why the hell are you employing them in the first place? And in any case, how dare you take away my control of me? In my book, I am in control of me, as far as my mental functioning goes, even though I may need physical assistance to give effect to my wishes. Even having fun, however you define it, you need assistance from carers etc.
Don't you believe everything the pro-lifers tell you -- quadriplegia isn't always fun.(and this is one of the better-renowned care home groups!)
And today, the health and safety advice panel here tells me that I am not allowed to have control of my own medication! No, it must be issued to me by the designated carer in charge of medication! What's more, I'm only allowed things that have been specifically prescribed for me by the doctor. That ruling extends to a simple 75mg ('children's) aspirin and even to over-the-counter products like cough medicine! Apparently, I might overdose without realising it! On antibiotics! Aspirin! My very own Famel!
It seems that I'm not permitted to ask one of the carers "would you give me two of those ampicillin or one of those aspirin please?" This is, apparently, to protect both me and the carers: I can't be trusted to be sufficiently aware of what I'm doing to be control of that request and that they cannot be trusted to respond appropriately. Look, I'm thinking, if they can't be trusted to do that, why the hell are you employing them in the first place? And in any case, how dare you take away my control of me? In my book, I am in control of me, as far as my mental functioning goes, even though I may need physical assistance to give effect to my wishes. Even having fun, however you define it, you need assistance from carers etc.
Don't you believe everything the pro-lifers tell you -- quadriplegia isn't always fun.(and this is one of the better-renowned care home groups!)
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