Aug. 18, 2004 - 20:44 MDT

THE WONDERING JEW

Shoes

Quite interesting. An article in the Rocky Mountain News by Bill Scanlon of the same paper, today, in part:

It opened my eyes

Woman checks in to check out nursing home she runs

"An Arvada nursing home administrator recently hopped into a wheelchair, gave herself a fake name and checked in as a patient in her own facility. She put plugs in her ears to simulate a hard-of-hearing resident, put her ankle in a brace to approximate a broken limb and told staffers she had bursitis in her left hip."

"For 24 hours, administrator Susan Black experienced the frustrations, indignities and intrusions that patients feel every day."

"It opened my eyes," said Black, who runs Colorado Lutheran Home , part of the Exempla system. Colorado Lutheran Home is well-regarded, having just won a national Quality Award from the American Health Care Association. And staffers knew it was Black, despite the pseudonym, so they were likely on their best behavior."

"Nevertheless, she was in for some surprises. She checked in at 8 AM. By early afternoon, she was in tears."

"All new admissions sit at what we call the restorative table," so staffers can assess them and decide where best to seat them for future meals. "I'm a 46-year-old female, I didn't have any swallowing problems, I was able to feed myself. I was sitting with dementia patients, with people on different kinds of diets. I couldn't hear anybody, it was depressing." Black decided the restorative table was a 'silly' rule and changed it within 24 hours of checking out."

"Before then, there were plenty of other frustrations. "The whole privacy issue was a problem," she said. It's always time for lunch or breakfast or a blood pressure check. I just wanted to sit there and have people leave me alone for a little while. But I didn't feel I could get away from the strict scheduling." She finally escaped to a courtyard, but when she tried to go back inside, the doors were locked. Back in her room, in her wheelchair, she found that she couldn't see herself in a mirror, so couldn't put on her makeup. The sink was too high, so she couldn't wash her hands or brush her teeth. "All these things I do on a daily basis were taken away from me," Black said. "Not on purpose , bt we've grown accustomed to making choices for people without asking them."

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There are of course many more words to the article, but I think just what is here is worthy of comment. My opinions, every once in a while someone will try to closely duplicate conditions existing in the environment where they work and it is eye opening.

The bit about the "restorative table" illustrates the assembly line philosophy of many instututions, get them in a group, make them sit there and then work through the routine while the herd suffers. Too much of that I think goes on. It would be okay if residents were objects instead of people.

Staff knew Ms. Black was the administrator so little could be determined about the treatment of residents by staff. In being around nursing homes and hospitals I have observed good nurses and attendants and bad ones and the bad ones can make life a hell on earth for a helpless person. But, there was plenty of room for Ms. Black to discover other troubles. Long have I noticed that sinks and other things put in when a nursing home is built are put in at a level requiring someone to be upright to be able to use, which of course makes them useless to wheel chair people or people with limited movement.

She experienced the schedule of a nursing home, the times of taking the vitals often which seemed to occur endlessly to me when I was in hospital.

One thing I guess she hadn't thought of,. although she did mention 'privacy' the the necessary policy of an open door to a residents room. The constant flow of people in and out is disturbing, I don't know if a solution can be found, but the flow of people in and out could be kept to a minimum it seems to me.

One thing I have noticed in nursing homes is the herding of people to participate in activities when they don't wish to take part. All part of the schedule ya' know.

Oh, how I do wish many more administators in the world over in any line of endeavor would do the same things, observing how things actually are for the people under their care or supervision. That's how it can help everyone, I think, walk a mile in the other man's Shoes . . . . . . . . . . .

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