Excuse Me, I Asked For Mine “Medium”
At one point or another, most of us have called the waiter over, and made a comment about food served to us, that it was not made as we requested. And we are more than aware of the Youtube videos and television news shows that show what happens behind the scenes of wait staff and chefs who get agitated when a customer complains about the food.
Yet when it comes to the care of a loved one by someone in the medical field, we hush up, like they might do something to us. What that “something” is, I do not know. When it comes to food, I have heard stories ranging from sinuses being emptied onto the plate, food dropped on the floor and put back on the plate… it does not matter, as long as the food is cooked the way that we want.
But the example I would like to use, is the medical environment. I do want to say, that nurses are so overworked, and so understaffed. This is what I see a major problem. They are entrusted to care for the patients, but can be bouncing from room to room like a pinball. A family member who visits regularly, will often encourage their loved one to speak up when it comes to discomfort or pain, but will usually do nothing. Just like the orange call button will not get used.
I am going to take this to a further extreme. What happens when the care of the individual requires the extra effort by the caregiver? And the caregiver refuses just out of convenience? The situation is a patient that needs assistance in and out of bed (actually all care), asks for help to go to the bathroom in the overnight hours. But the hired caregiver refuses. Now the patient instead wets herself, saturated. Family members are concerned that if a complaint is raised, it will result in the caregiver treating the patient even worse.
What would you do in a case like this?
You make an immediate phone call to the agency and tell them this will never happen again. The agency will get the message loud and clear. They do not want any further issue either as it will only turn out bad publicly for them. But to do nothing is the wrong thing to do. You must not let the fear of retaliation by the caregiver (should the caregiver’s actions go unpunished to prevent them from happening again). Just think of the possibilities of not only what they have done to your loved one, but what about others under their care?
If you have no problem asking for your steak to be a little more cooked, or your french fries to be without so much salt (a trick to get fresh french fries by the way), you should have no problem getting your loved one’s needs taken care of.
Paul's Heart 