megram - Index

megram - 55NovOttawa - Index

Care… continued from page Ottawa 12
long-term care facilities can lead to mistakes
and potentially harmful oversights.For
example,recently a personal
support worker neglected to empty my
father’s urine bag during her entire
shift.It was over the 750 ml mark when
I got to the home early one evening,
and if he had needed to urinate one
more time, there would have been no
place for it to go except back in.People
who must wear a catheter on a perma-
nent basis are subject to bladder infections
that are difficult to treat. In addition,
the medications required to rid
the patient of these infections can
cause unpleasant side effects.Although
neglect in this regard is never purposeful,
it’s still hazardous to my father’s
health.
Sadly, there are other residents at
the home whose basic needs can’t be
met, and who don’t have any regular
November/December 2008 • Ottawa 14 • Fifty-Five Plus Magazine
help or visits from family members.
One non-nursing employee confided
that incontinent residents are often
left in their soiled diapers for too long
— an event often resulting in skin disorders
and painful bed sores.
The daughter of another resident
at the home told me that she had
similar issues regarding the care of
her parent. She raised an important
point when she said that people
with issues of dementia and
Alzheimer’s Disease function better
in an environment where routines
are not disrupted. Personal support
workers often become the only family
they know, and when a new per-