Tag: lesson

The Power of Touch

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Once again I received another ‘on the job’ lesson in how to care for people via the nursing home today. I was visiting Bob (Dad) as he had been striking out at a carer, and I was in ‘re-direction mode’ and we were heading for the sanctuary of his room to calm things down. On the way I heard a scream from a nurse as a glass and bowl broke in the dining room. I looked across to see some broken crockery and glass on the floor. A few seconds later I heard another scream from the nurse and she turned to find a very frail female resident had fallen and her head had hit a sharp ledge on a window frame.

The scene was really traumatic and I heard the lady hit the floor so I decided to leave Dad and try and help out. I felt quite useless as I have no medical background so I decided to concentrate solely on the resident’s well being & state of mind. I ran around to get wet flannels and some pillows for the nurse then simply comforted the lady by holding her hand (using the Teepa Snow grip) which I had recently learnt about. The nursing staff arranged for a lifter to get her into a wheelchair, and some bandaging for the lady’s head which was bleeding quite badly. I simply tried to keep out of the way whilst just trying to re-assure the resident that “Everything will be ok”. Right in the middle of all the panic another female resident yells out to me from her table “Excuse me..Excuse me….Can you get me a biscuit?”. I put on my most patient voice and said “no problem…I won’t be long”.🙂

The injured lady was ever so polite and was constantly talking to me and thanking me for holding her hand. I applied some palm pressure throughout (as I was told this is comforting) and I was amazed when she then said to me “Thank you ever so much for being with me, the way you are placing gentle pressure on my hand is making me feel very re-assured”.

are you serious?………

Here is this poor woman in complete shock and pain, verbalizing how she felt about the ‘hand holding’ as though she was giving me a live tutorial on how to comfort someone who has fallen. I stayed with her until we had her back in her bed and I just sat with her (still holding her hand) and watched her go off to sleep, then left the room.

I am sharing this story as I continue to be involved in these incidents and be taught so many valuable practical lessons as though it is meant to be…..bizarre. It taught me that having a re-assuring voice amongst the mayhem can soothe the injured person and sometimes ‘little things matter’, and that the power of touch is very powerful indeed.

As I walked back to Dad (who was asleep in a chair) another female resident came up to me with a look of horror on her face. I said to her “Tell me what’s wrong Mavis?” She couldn’t speak and was shaking her head…..Then from her body language I could tell she was in shock from witnessing the other lady fall. She was worried about her and was reacting to the situation. I reassured her that the lady who fell will be ok and the doctor is checking on her. I then asked her if she would like to have some ‘quiet time’ and have a rest, and she said “yes please” and I walked her back to her room. She also was really appreciative that her concerns were re-assured.

Once again another valuable lesson in human behaviour…when someone falls we need to check on ALL the residents to make sure they are ok (and not in shock) as well.
After all the excitement & life lessons – I went home and fell asleep..ZZZZZZZZZZ

An Insightful Lesson From A Beautiful Lady

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Yesterday I sat with one of the most amazing ladies I have ever met. ‘Humble Hannah’ is 94 years old and an absolute treasure of a person. She always thanks me for talking with her and and tells me what a pleasure it is to have such an interesting conversation together. Hannah is so lady-like and nice that I would do absolutely anything for her.

But yesterday she gave me a lesson in humanity presented in a 3 minute flawless monologue with perfectly chosen words. Her message was about the elderly, and the way they should be cared for. This is pretty much how it transpired:

Hannah: I think the elderly of today need to be taught a skill. I know many of us may not be around for much longer but we need to stay refreshed and keep learning new things. The people (carers) here are lovely and try hard, but much of the time I am a little bit bored.I remember a time when I went up to an aboriginal community near the top of Australia and taught some women the skill of spinning and weaving. It took them a few days to master the skill, but when they did they were ever so pleased and the look on the ladies’ faces was priceless and they were so proud of their accomplishments.

Brett: That sounds like a fantastic idea Hannah, what sort of skills would you like to learn?

Hannah: I would like to attempt some pottery making with clay and one of those spinning wheels. I would also like to do some cake decorating or maybe some cooking. It would probably be something basic but it would be nutritious and I could feed the other wonderful people I would consider close friends here. Maybe we could listen to some nice music as well, I remember when the machine came out with the big horn on it which astounded everybody at the time. (gramophone)

I was in awe of what I had just heard and wished I had recorded it. Some big lessons on what the elderly are really thinking as they collectively sit in their armchairs watching Andre Rieu belt out another tune on the tv for the millionth time…..

I then sat with Dad on another couch but kept one eye on Hannah’s table to watch the interactions. ‘Jack the Dentist’ was reading the newspaper but had fallen asleep, and it was priceless watching Hannah (who was sitting next to him) as she carefully lifted up a curled corner of the newspaper trying to sneakily read an article without disturbing Jack. I could see her mind ticking over and she knew she could take his paper and he would probably not remember he was reading it if he awoke, but she chose to just keep re-reading that corner and leave his paper in place for him. Not many people would have done that and I was once again impressed. I walked over and said “It’s ok Hannah, you can take his paper, Jack won’t mind”.

Funnily enough – Jack then woke up with a start and did in fact mind and instantly leered at the paper Hannah was now reading. I could see a ‘resident rumble’ about to start as Jack was about to snatch his paper back.So I ran to Dad’s room and rushed back to give Jack a brand new, freshly un-opened newspaper (as Dad cannot read anymore) which he duly appreciated. The problem was solved, the resident’s were happy and Hannah gets my vote for ” Resident of the Week”.

Another Valuable Dementia Lesson Learnt

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A few months back many of you would remember a post that I wrote regarding our family reaching a pivotal turning point in Bob’s dementia journey. I made the comment that we needed to shift our care from one of fighting for Dad’s well-being and quality of life to one of simply providing comfort and care with a palliative mindset. I felt we had ‘lost him’ completely. Well I am pleased to say that I was wrong on that occasion…..

Just to recap – several months back Bob had erratic behaviour issues and was becoming increasingly violent and unpredictable. He had a very sore toe with the toenail lifting and was suffering with severe pain with it. I called the doctor and he prescribed a Norspan patch for his shoulder which can be an effective pain drug absorbed through the skin. Unfortunately Bob is extremely sensitive to medication changes and his behaviours became ‘outta control’ and he was doing unacceptable things and I felt that his brain was so damaged that he would not recover and become palliative.

He was transferred to the RAH and spent 5 weeks in a medical ward as there was no beds in the geriatric ward. He manically walked the ward all day and night with a nurse and/or family member in tow. We had another 12-15 code blacks during those 5 weeks and he was eventually transferred to the Repat Hospital – Ward 18. The environment was quiet, with only 8 patients and each person has an experienced nurse monitoring them across every 15 minutes. Decisions are then made to either return the person to their nursing home, ( or residence) or be transferred to a mental health facility.

Yesterday we found out that whilst Bob has declined significantly he has been given the green light to be transferred back to his nursing home on MONDAY to a brand new room and ward . He will be warmly welcomed back by the residents and staff. We are far from being out of the woods and have to hope his behaviours continue to subside. His warm smile is back.. he laughs often…and I am hoping we can keep him out of the hospitals from now on. fingers crossed……

The Lessons?….. any future changes to medications need to be done gradually and with extreme attention placed on looking for any side effects over several weeks. The big lesson I learnt however was that there is always hope for a better quality of life if you NEVER EVER GIVE UP and keep searching for answers and give it EVERYTHING YOU HAVE.

“C’mon Dad……Let’s do this!!!!”