My family member was transferred to a subacute facility recently and unfortunately most of our experiences have been negative. It feels like they keep passing the buck from top down. I'm not sure if this is the norm, but any question posed is met with "Have to ask the Doctor." For Pet's sake aren't they trained LVN's, RN's etc?
Due to a few incidents and feeling very unsafe about leaving our family member at the mercy of this facility's staff, we hired a CNA from the facility to provide care for a few hours each evening. We purchased the professional insurance and initially I was told the coverage was insufficient. Got that corrected. However that didn't immediately fix things. My family member went without having a caregiver for a few more days. I was just informed that the caregiver was told that once they clock out they are considered "visitors" and therefore cannot provide care at the facility.
We are very concerned about our family member being retaliated against. I was notified that a couple of nights ago a CNA had been very irate because the call bell disturbed the person's sleep.
We are very frustrated and feel extremely helpless and powerless. I'm not necessarily convinced about how helpful an Ombudsman or even the Dept. of Health and Public Services can be.
This place lacks professionalism, there is no follow through. You have to wait for hours before they would respond to the call light. This was way before COVID19.
What baffles me is why the administration would not speak to a family member and inform us about their decision. They could at least tell us what exactly is needed.
PLEASE HELP!
Could the patient budget for a caregiver from a caregiving agency be hired? Such Agencies are licensed, insured, and bonded.
As for the call light, yes, it can be frustrating waiting for someone to respond. The Staff usually uses a triage system, thus if they are dealing with an emergency, two or three, they will be slow to respond. Normally someone will check to see what is the issue, if it can wait, they will be back later. Anyway, that is how it was done when my Mom was living in long-term-care.
Is it much to ask that at least they communicate with the family? Apparently they don't allow "outsiders" to provide care, so the only resource is to use their employees.
The sad part is that when you can't trust a facility to care for your family member.