| When
your relative or friend moves into a nursing home, your role as
a caregiver continues but it changes significantly. The staff will
now do hands-on care but your relative or friend will still depend
on your visits for social stimulation and connection to outside
family and community. Your relative’s well being will depend on
your willingness to stay involved and become an effective care monitor
and advocate.
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First
Steps
Direct caregivers as well as the social worker, Director of Nursing,
personal physician and staff
that address your relatives particular
needs.
- Participate
in the comprehensive care planning process
Federal law requires an individual care plan for each resident.
Residents and their closest visitor have the right to participate
in this planning. In most homes, you and the resident will be
invited to a meeting 14-21 days after admission for this purpose.
To
read FRIA’s Comprehensive Care Planning: A Family Guide to Effective
Participation, click
here.
At
different times of the day, weekdays and weekends, during meal
times and during activities. Coordinate with your relative’s other
visitors, and share information about your visits.
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Monitoring
Care
Good care monitors know what care is supposed to be provided according
to the comprehensive care plan. They visit often enough to know
whether or not it is being provided.
Click
the links to read about Best
Practices and
Culture Change
To
find New York nursing home survey information on the web,go
to
www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/nursing/mframe4.htm and
click Search Title 10. In the search field enter the
number
415 and click enter.
To
find New York state nursing home regulations on the web go
to www.health.state.ny.us/nysdoh/phforum/nycrr10.htm
To
learn about a “consumer friendly” version of New York nursing
home regulations, click
here.
- Be
alert for signs of problems
Trust your instincts and ask questions. If it seems wrong, it
likely is, even if you don’t fully understand why.
To read FRIA's bulletins which help relatives spot common care problems
in nursing homes, click here.
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Becoming
an advocate
You
and your relative have the right to good care.
Document,
document, document. Keep detailed notes if the problem is a chronic
one. Attention to details makes you an effective advocate. Date,
time of day, who, etc.
- Be
firm and persistent not angry or emotional
This is extremely hard to do if you have watched someone you love
be abused or neglected in a nursing home. Anger is justified but,
if you approach staff in anger, they are likely to react only
to your emotion. They will spend their efforts calming you rather
than listening to you. If you want to change what is happening
to your relative, try to stay calm, factual, and focused on the
result you want.
- Address
issues immediately
- Don’t
be afraid to go to the top
Sometimes
only the Administrator can solve your problem.
- Insist
on a plan of action and follow-up (preferably in writing.)
To learn advocacy skills by reading FRIA’s Problem Solving Techniques,
click here.
(FRIA’s Helpline can help you, too.)
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Join
the Family and Friends’ Council
For more information about family and friends organizations at nursing
homes, click here.
©2003FRIA |
