Comments on: Number 6 on The Top 10 Ways to Avoid the ER http://www.yourerdoc.com/number-6-on-the-top-10-ways-to-avoid-the-er/ Stories from the Emergency Room plus answers to your medical and health related questions Wed, 04 Jan 2012 04:21:20 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: maha http://www.yourerdoc.com/number-6-on-the-top-10-ways-to-avoid-the-er/comment-page-1/#comment-2093 maha Tue, 27 Jan 2009 05:27:19 +0000 http://www.yourerdoc.com/?p=1025#comment-2093 Great post! Nursing home dumps seems to be a problem where I work as well. I've even started to recognize some of the more frequent dumpees. They usually have neglected pressure ulcers and overall hygiene just like artillerywife describes. I feel so awful for them because that's not how I'd want to spend my old age. One case both saddens and angers me in particular – I had a patient brought in for altered mental status and found several pressure ulcers, the most horrendous one being a stage 3 on his coccyx covered in crap. I got him cleaned, put on new dressings and even gave supplies to the EMS folk to bring back to the nursing home for that patient. She was brought back several days later with virtually the same problem. Great post! Nursing home dumps seems to be a problem where I work as well. I’ve even started to recognize some of the more frequent dumpees. They usually have neglected pressure ulcers and overall hygiene just like artillerywife describes. I feel so awful for them because that’s not how I’d want to spend my old age. One case both saddens and angers me in particular – I had a patient brought in for altered mental status and found several pressure ulcers, the most horrendous one being a stage 3 on his coccyx covered in crap. I got him cleaned, put on new dressings and even gave supplies to the EMS folk to bring back to the nursing home for that patient. She was brought back several days later with virtually the same problem.

]]> By: artillerywifecq http://www.yourerdoc.com/number-6-on-the-top-10-ways-to-avoid-the-er/comment-page-1/#comment-2050 artillerywifecq Wed, 21 Jan 2009 16:00:07 +0000 http://www.yourerdoc.com/?p=1025#comment-2050 AMEN! As an ED nurse I see so many LOL and LOM's who would be much better served by hospice. They come in once a week or 2 weeks w/ intractable pain from a chronic illness or cancer. They either A come from the nursing home filthy, with bedsores, and nasty mouths (I call it nursing home mouth, that yellow crusty, mucusy mess) for "confusion" or they just aren't right today. Usually this is a way to dump them on us cause they are short today (cause we get 3-4 from the same place w/in an hour). Or they B come from home in varying states of care or neglect. In this situation I frequently take time to try to educated the family of how to prepare foods that mum mum or pop pop can eat, how to slip pills into apple sauce, simple stuff like that to keep the person on their meds. I am amazed at the number of people who admirably try to keep mum mum or pop pop home but have no idea how to truly care for an elder. I am a huge supporter of the hospice philosophy and comfort care. As part of this I am against feeding tubes. They just prolong the agony, are a source of infection, and another painful procedure for the elder to endure. Quality of life and then death with dignity. That is my soap box speech for the day. AMEN! As an ED nurse I see so many LOL and LOM’s who would be much better served by hospice. They come in once a week or 2 weeks w/ intractable pain from a chronic illness or cancer. They either A come from the nursing home filthy, with bedsores, and nasty mouths (I call it nursing home mouth, that yellow crusty, mucusy mess) for “confusion” or they just aren’t right today. Usually this is a way to dump them on us cause they are short today (cause we get 3-4 from the same place w/in an hour). Or they B come from home in varying states of care or neglect. In this situation I frequently take time to try to educated the family of how to prepare foods that mum mum or pop pop can eat, how to slip pills into apple sauce, simple stuff like that to keep the person on their meds. I am amazed at the number of people who admirably try to keep mum mum or pop pop home but have no idea how to truly care for an elder.

I am a huge supporter of the hospice philosophy and comfort care. As part of this I am against feeding tubes. They just prolong the agony, are a source of infection, and another painful procedure for the elder to endure. Quality of life and then death with dignity. That is my soap box speech for the day.

]]>