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QUESTION: Visited my Dad tonight to help him eat his dinner. As soon as I arrived
the head nurse on his wing motioned me over. She said that an aide who
was helping my dad back into back dropped him and he fell on his
tailbone and banged his head on the bed frame. I was furious. Since my
father is a parapalegic we use a harness and pulley to move him from bed
to chair and back to bed. I can pick him up, but I'm 6'2" and I weigh
240lbs. When I went into his room and examined him I couldn't control my
anger. There was a huge welt on the back of his head and he was bruised
up pretty bad. He was in pain and said his backside was killing him. I
called the nurse in and asked if a doctor had examined him. She said no.
I said you have five minutes to get a doctor in her or I was filing a
police report. She got a doctor in their within 20 minutes and he gave
my father a thorough going over. Nothing broken but he was banged up
fairly good. I choked back the tears as I visited and helped him with
his meal.
When I got into the car to come home the flood gates opened up. I had an
anxiety attack which took me by surprise, but I quickly gave myself
permission to feel that way and I found myself coming out of the attack
fairly quickly. I am still dumbfounded how this happened and am feeling
so helpless watching my father's life be reduced to this existence. This
home had been fairly reliable but now I am obsessing about when will the
next incident occur. I'm going to find out who in the State I can
complain too and make a record of this incident.
Its a cruel twist of fate to watch helplessly as someone you treasure
wastes away in a nursing home. I try to be brave for my folks, but today
I am very upset.
ANSWER: I am sorry to hear about your father's fall. That's great that you were so
assertive with the staff and had a doctor check him over. In Ohio when a
person is in a nursing home if there is a fall or any type of injury the
family must be contacted immediately.
I don't know what your state's regulations are but I would advise having a
note put on the top of his chart that you are to be called immediately when
any injury occurs.
Hope your father gets a good night's rest and you too... It's was okay to
allow yourself to be emotionally upset...
smiles,
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