Today was another fairly quiet day. I was later getting there because I was on the phone with our wireless company, arguing about the price of the phone. When I told them I was on the verge of returning all the phones and saying "here's your phones back. Cancel my contract" they finally agreed to match the price. *sigh*
I got there and Larry wasn't in his bed, or in the wheelchair... and then, the bathroom door opened. He looked so guilty, because he's not supposed to go by himself yet. It's just to easy for him to fall! So, I asked him why - and he said that he didn't want to bother anyone.... hmmm...
Larry and I chatted a bit and then went to the day room. He mentioned to me that his left shoulder was hurting. I mentioned it to his nurse, and she said she'd tell the doctor.
After supper, we went back to his room. He mentioned that I had to make sure to take the chair out of the room, because the night nurse gave him a hard time about it "how can I do anything with a chair there?". And then I found out that he went to the bathroom by himself last night, because when he used his call button to get help, he didn't know that his room-mate was in the bathroom in his room. There's a "big bathroom" that he could have gone to, but she didn't take him. The nurse was supposed to come back, but she never did. Anyone who knows Larry knows that he won't call again. He'd mentioned a couple of instances where he felt...uncomfortable asking for help.
He then said that he's got a good crew tonight, so he'll certainly call for help if he needs it.
That was the final straw... I went and had a quiet conversation with his day nurse, and laid out all of my concerns.
1) There is one nurse that makes Larry feel like he's "bothering" her when he buzzes for help
2) The weekend crew does the same thing - or they just don't answer the call. Even at night, when it's quiet...they ignore calls for a long time
3) Larry's not a big fan of the urinal - he can't do it very well one handed (shush Mike) but the night crew keeps having Larry use it instead of helping him to the bathroom. So, it spills and he ends up wet - and won't call for help because he's embarrassed. So, he the wet blankets are on the floor, and he's cold.
4) Larry once woke up at 5 am with his "jammies" off sitting on the edge of his bed, and sat there cold for over 2 hours. No one looked in on him, or noticed that he wasn't in "jammies"
5) the fact that last nights nurse made him feel so uncomfortable that he risked a fall rather than call her again.
I also told her that Larry is very shy and won't call a second time if he feels like he's going to cause trouble. He didn't even want me to talk to his nurse, for fear of getting into trouble! That's NOT right, and I won't stand for it!!!
The nurse I talked to was very nice, and told me that she'll try to talk with her manager tomorrow, but there's been a death in the managers family so she may not be in. If nurseK doesn't get a chance to speak to her supervisor, she'll let me know and I can call the patient advocate on Friday.
Don't worry Larry! It's my job to help you - and help you I shall!!!!
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