Its Monday morning and we start our day at 6am, that’s if you’re talking about the day shift because we provide 24 hour care. Some of us without breaks, some of us without food, most and if not all front line workers experience this type of work environment. Fast-paced, belittling and abusive. We are the front line workers of Long Term Care.
Mary’s POA wants her out of bed at 6:00am, no excuses, even calls at that time just to make sure. Mary. Is. Not. Getting. Up. One staff on either side of the bed bracing blows to the stomach and nails digging into each of their arms. Reassuring words leave their mouth “it’s okay Mary, were here to help you” “we need to get you cleaned up, can we please change your clothes”. Mary. Is. Not. Getting. Up. A call placed to the POA to give their recommendation to have her lay in bed a little longer. Belittling language shouted from the other end of the phone “I don’t know what’s wrong with you people, but I have no problem getting her out of bed when I’m there”. Do you please the POA so she doesn’t make a call to your director or do you get physically assaulted?
We deal with unrealistic expectations from family and friends of residents. Of course we want your loved one to be awake and out of bed on time, but when there is 4 staff to 40 residents we can only spend so much time with each person. Therefore, if your mom is having a bad day and needs more time to settle in bed before she wakes up, she is going to lay in bed a little longer. What’s the point in rushing someone of out bed, creating agitation and encouraging physical abuse towards the staff ? Right, so we aren’t reported for “neglecting” your mother.
Bob, Bob has schizophrenia and bi-polar, he’s 65 and resides on the same unit as your sweet 92 year old grandma. He wanders the hallways, screaming every so often, sometimes frightening the other residents. He’s experiencing delusional thoughts and believes his walker is the one your grandma is holding. Bob is screaming, yelling, holding the walker above his head, he hits your grandma and she falls over, fractures a hip.
Most people who need 24 hour care are placed in long term care homes, and many have dual-diagnoses (dementia/bi-polar) (dementia/schizophrenia). Creating a very unpredictable and dangerous environment for co-residents and staff.
Hank has dementia and recently lost his wife whom he kissed every time he saw her. Hank wanders the hallways kissing each female he comes across. He longs for that continued feeling of affection and companionship. Hank now has a stigma as a “predator” since actions as such, the ministry deems as sexual abuse. Management requires the staff (4 PSWs 1 Nurse) to complete 15 minute checks on him, all while they care for 40 other residents.
6 minute care is not a lie, we literally have 6 minutes to spend with each resident in the morning before rushing them to the dining room for breakfast. We serve and clean up after an entire restaurant full of people, 4 of us. We rush to get our documentation done because god forbid we actually spend time with the residents rather then writing about them. You’ve forced us to look upon these awesome people as numbers. We don’t have time to understand who they are as people, you’d rather us document the time their bed was made and if their bowel movement was witnessed or unwitnessed. We are doing the best we can with what we have. Many people with their loved one in long term care can feel themselves getting angry about their loved ones care. Ask yourself is this a staffing and system culture issue or is this an issue with the direct employee. I can assure you, 95% of the time there is something wrong with the system running the show; whether it be government or internal (direct management).
You see why we’re at the end of our rope, we don’t receive enough money to be harassed, overworked, abused and belittled. We care, and that’s why we come to work everyday, we will run ourselves off our feet to make sure your loved one has their basic needs met. I say basic needs because we only have time to complete their basic needs: ensure they are comfortable, fed and pain free. To be honest, sometimes we cant live up to those basic expectations. Yes, some residents sit in saturated or soiled clothing, some have food on their shirt from breakfast and some are wearing other residents clothing. Is it okay? Of course not. But it takes myself and 3 other staff to shower one man because we fear for our safety, it takes myself and one other staff to use a lift to toilet a resident in a wheelchair, so if your loved one has berry stains on her shirt, we’re sorry we haven’t gotten around to changing it. We still have 20 other residents who need toilets, 15 of whom need a 2 person lift, 5 residents need showers and probably 3 residents haven’t made it out of bed yet. Give us a break, we’re doing the best we can.
Stand behind front line staff of Long Term Care. Clearly, the abuse headlines, W5 reports and negative media isn’t enough for the government. People dying isn’t enough for the government. I don’t know what has to happen before it gets worse; I don’t know if it can get any worse, but we need to be loud about this, we need to get angry about this, these are lives in danger, these are Moms and Sisters, Grandpas and Uncles. They’re people.
EDITED TO ADD (December 2023):
Well everything written above (May 2019) got a whole lot worse. Covid-19 swept long term care homes across the world, and we finally understood the consequences of piling four residents into a room, with the use of one bathroom, and one hallway. We seen residents suffer depression in isolation without family or friends able to visit, regardless of the precautions taken. In the depth of the pandemic, in some homes, staff were unable to provide care for their basic needs like getting fed, thirst, changing or showering. In Canada, the military was called into some Long-Term Care homes, and some residents had died of malnutrition. So, it’s safe to say that it got worse, and it was the pandemic to show us just how bad it could get. We are STILL underprepared for another pandemic, there are still staff shortages across the country, and 4 residents piled into a room. The one good thing is, is that there have been standard guidelines given to the federal government to highlight the weaknesses in Long Term Care; they vowed to try and work with the provincial governments to set new standards for assisted living. Whether or not that happens though, will be decided.
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