A chance to blog

Having worked specifically in the area of Elderly Care for over six years and as a Health Care Assistant in both hospital and care home previously, I have observed many types of practice, both good and poor over the years. Following the news this morning about the appalling treatment meted out to care home residents in Essex by SOME members of staff there,  I was prompted to vent on this Blog about it and my feelings surrounding looking after elderly people, many of whom have Alzheimers or Dementia. There are many sides to this story and I want to look at it from a few of them. Firstly, health care assistants and carers are underpaid and undervalued. They have one of the most stressful jobs in the industry and receive the least amount of pay and recognition. When at work, they are frequently needed to be in five places at one time and have eyes in the back of their head. They have a limited amount of time to spend with patients who need time and patience to look after. St...

Review of “The Other Side of Morning” by Jo Lambert This story has everything from love and sex, to deception and violence, with a variety of  emotive scenarios in between. Set in opulent surroundings with luxury lifestyles, the reader is transported between the Pacific, England, and the European continent, at a pace guaranteed to cause whiplash! At first it was difficult to keep on top of the many characters whose lives are intriguingly braided together by family, friendship and, in most cases - loyalty.  After a few chapters it becomes easier to form a picture of the many colourful individuals as one gets to know them better, and remember who everyone is. This novel tells the tale of two strong willed personalities, Marco and Charlotte, who are so obviously meant for each other but  many obstacles stand in their way - primarily, Marco's step-mother, who has a hidden agenda centred around greed, with dire consequences!  The lengths that Therese is ...

In an ideal world...... all our underweight patients would be eating all their meals, drinking at least 2000 mls a day and have put on weight by the end of their hospital stay!  In some cases, that happens and it's great but unfortunately in many incidents, that is not even close to the result. What can we do when despite all our efforts, our patients don't want hardly anything? We watch them losing weight despite all our pleading, begging and the doctors asking us to "encourage oral intake".  Firstly, we can talk to them and find out what is stopping them.  Occasionally we discover medical reasons behind it such as "I get horrible heartburn when I eat", "I feel like I have a lump in my chest and food won't go down", "I feel too full", "I can't chew, it hurts".  Here we have possible examples of acid reflux, oesophageal problems, constipation or mouth ulcers. These can often be resolved with medical interventio...

Dignity and meals: To continue with the subject of Nutrition and Elderly Care in hospital, one important fact is sometimes ignored - the dignity of the patient. I mentioned in Part 1 that some patients decline to drink enough as they "will want to go to the toilet". If a patient has urgency or continence issues, this is of great concern to them for obvious reasons. Low staffing levels, distance from toilet, mobility problems all contribute to the facts that patients do not want to find themselves in an embarrassing predicament. And there are other issues.... The term "feeding" is one I dislike intensely and really try not to use. "Assistance" is the correct term I believe unless someone can give me a better one. Many patients come to hospital following a fall unable to use an arm due to injury, or, may be so weak that lifting their arms requires too much effort although in the time prior to coming to hospital, they were perfectly independent a...

                                                                In this month leading up to Nutrition and Hydration Week 2014, I am going to focus on the issues surrounding keeping our elderly nourished and hydrated.  This is not as easy as it sounds when many are suffering the effects of Alzheimer's, Dementia, Parkinson's Disease and other health related issues that frequently, exhibit their symptoms as people get older. Patients that arrive in our hospitals are often already malnourished and dehydrated and our job is to try and help them improve their condition prior to them returning to where they live. Assessment is the first part of the process. All patients are weighed upon admission and their MUST score checked using the Malnutrition Universal Screening Tool.  Patient's who are found to be un...

"Resolutions" – by Teri Riggs Not for the faint hearted, "Resolutions" is a gritty and dramatic story about the IDEA’s battle with a Colombian drug lord and his cronies who have decided to take their usual cocaine business in a new direction – International Terrorism. It is up to Eve Taylor, and her associates to steal the vital information needed to incriminate the twisted cartel leader.  Things go wrong for Eve and she is captured and subjected to the evil abuse of Mendoza and his rather less than intelligent henchmen. The operative sent in to rescue her raises many emotions for Eve, as she and Mac have history and unresolved matters of the heart.  It seems that their passion for their work and each other has not waned since they last met although some of their earlier issues remain to be addressed. Can these be resolved? Can Mac swallow his alpha-male pride?   Their adventures lead them through the Colombian jungles and back to where Eve’s operation beg...

Have been pondering a lot the past few days - well since I turned 50, that is. Maybe pondering is what you do when you reach a milestone age! When I turned 40 it was quite liberating but I didn't make a big deal out of it. It was sort of "Thank goodness I don't have to worry about what other's think anymore and I can just get on with being myself". I then made the life changing decision to change countries!! However, 50 is quite significant and made me wonder exactly what I have done with my 50 years. . . . . When I was born it was 1962 and midwives were District Nurses who came round on a bicycle to deliver babies in people's homes. My District Nurse's name was Connie apparently and she delivered me into the world at about twenty past twelve p.m. on the 10th of July! That must have been in the days when we still had summer in July at least in Cumbria because I was told that it was a lovely day! I don't remember an awful lot from living in Appleby a...