“Come on now, Vera, honey,” the nurse said in a high-pitched, sing-song voice, “be a good girl and take this nice candy.” Vera swung her arm and knocked the tiny cups of pills to the floor. In their 2009 study, Elderspeak Commnunication: Impact on Dementia Care, Kristine N. Williams, RN, PhD, and her colleagues … Read more
THE PROBLEM: Because of their personality styles, some nursing home residents don’t ask for their PRN (as needed, or “per request of the nurse”) pain medication when they need it. The reasons for this vary: Psychologist, finding the resident in pain: “Why didn’t you tell the nurse?” Passive: “I didn’t want to bother her.” Macho: … Read more
I saw an article yesterday in the Health section of the New York Times describing the difficulty of younger people to imagine what life might be like in later years, particularly in nursing homes. I thought readers would appreciate it. The old woman had drawn down the shade in her room — hoping, I imagined, … Read more
I read a post on McKnights.com last week that so distressed me I had to wait a week before I was ready to blog about it. The article, Nurses, Relatives Underestimate Pain in Nursing Home Residents, Study Finds, reports the results of a five-year study in the Netherlands that shows a tendency to underestimate pain, … Read more
Talking to a medical doctor is not like talking to a normal person. In a regular conversation, one person says, “Hi. How are you?” The other says, “Fine. And yourself?” And they go from there. If busy Dr. Shah stops by Ms. Crenshaw’s room, inquires how she is, and hears that she’s “Fine,” he’s likely … Read more