Just read this thread and all I can say is WOW!!! What a hectic life you're having to lead Lynn!! I hope you enjoy your break away, you've certainly earned it.

((Big Hugs))

Heidi

Now you're making me blush! lol
What you have to remember, is they have 30-60 years craftiness on us and have the old' cute little old ldy' routine to play on, but most are as bright as a button once you get to know them.
I've ust been helping a 98 year with her tumble drier as she was moving it along the work surface herself when I got there just now . So I start shifting it back into place and look round to see her doing the tango with her ironing board!
But I love them all and I have to say everything you just said Helen rings bells with me, either from what I've seen between my clients and their parents or between me and Mum.

If you ever need advice as to what care companies should be doing etc just ask as not only have I been doing care assessment for years but when first hubby was ill we had tonnes of care ourselves, up to 8 carers a day, and I've seen the good and the bad.

Oh Jeanette, your norty dad!!!! At least my mum was aiming for the toilet even if she missed!!!

Well I've just got back from a visit to Mum and she seems a lot happier than she was this morning she admitted she felt depressed because she was so weak, so at least I lifted her spirits a tad tonight showing her the pictures of her new room too. I lifted my own spirits whilst I was at it, coz I asked Dave if I could go in his new M3 Beemer coz I couldn't get the other one out and I didn't want to go in the smelly old dogmobile coz the sun had been on it all afternoon and it was hot as well as smelly! Now, he had previously shown me the key fob to open/lock the car, on which there are two soft rubber buttons one above the other, with the blue beemer badge thingy in the middle, one to open, one to close and there was never any mention of the word "boot"!!! Anyways, I loved my little drive there and was well impressed with the car, but when I came to lock it, the buttons didn't go down on the window ledge (lol! don't know what else to call it!!!), so I played around, I heard a locking noise and I walked off to Mum's place. On coming back to the car, I used the top button, nothing happened with the buttons, they still stayed as they were. I was terrified I might set the alarms off or something, so I just tried the door and got in and started her up thinking she'd be well happy with a key in the ignition and wouldn't start screaming her head off with the alarm! On the way home, I smell all this burning, and I'm thinking, blimey, is it going to catch fire???? Got home, Dave was pleased to see I was still in one piece and even more pleased to see his pride and joy back safely, and I just happened to mention the burning smell. I also mentioned about the locking bit, the knobs didn't go down, or did they? He said it was the button in the middle to lock it, and the bottom one I had used was to open the boot, so that would explain my burning smell, I had been driving home with the boot open and getting all the exhaust fumes in the car!!! I do feel a bit strange too!!!! I told him, he never mentioned the word "boot" in any conversation we had about locking it, and I have never known a car that has a button to actually OPEN a boot lid, unlock yes, but not actually OPEN the boot like his does!!!! So, all in all, worst case scenario I could have passed out and crashed his pride and joy, or he could have lost his boot lid which I probably wouldn't have even noticed! Lol! Do you think he'll let me go out in it again then????!!!! I think I'd better book a place at mum's then, either that or he needs to explain things better to me now that I'm old, and still 10 years older than him!!! He'll be worse when he gets to my age!!! Hey ho!!!!

Btw Lynn, my Mum is still saying all the people in the home are too old to have a decent chat to!!!! I know I'm never going to grow up, but at 84 you'd think you'd get the message wouldn't you!!! Maybe not then

Take care and enjoy your holiday, I hope the weather stays good for you too, but more than anything, I hope everything stays nice and quiet at your Mum's, at least till you get back anyway! xxxxxx

Awww Jeanette (((hugs))). Thanks all will enjoy my little holiday. Not off till lunchtime tomorrow so will say good morning and cheerio.

With all due respect you had one person to get washed and changed and you had 2 hours to do it in. We can have as many as 6-7 patients to get washed and changed in the same amount of time! And that's along with all the other jobs we have to get finished by lunchtime!

All I can say to people who think badly of us is come and spend 5 weeks working alongside a Nurse and THEN you'd know what it was really like. I love my job and I love caring for people and helping them get better, but after being bruised for the umpteenth time in one morning by certain patients who think I'm there to take all their weight - even I can get a bit short sometimes. I have so many bruises you could use me as a dot to dot puzzle!

Tell me about it, I saw how hard they work during the daytime, so much to do, so little time. You're not allowed to lift anyone though Rips??? They told me that in the hospital, they don't do lifting and I wasn't to lift either, I had to let mum cope for herself and just steady her, so stop lifting you're not allowed to do that coz you'll end up with a bad back and they'll be one less to help out!! I have never said they don't work hard either, I've seen how hard some of them work, but then again I think some of the night staff leave much to be desired, maybe that's why they choose nights coz it's easier? I don't know. My complaint is about the whole of the system, not singling out anyone, it's a complete and utter shambles in some instances.

Definitely NO lifting!
The problem is a lot of patients and clients think you can lift and so lean or hold on to you which is a no no.
We often get requests from people who just need someone to 'lift them in and out of the bath'.

Things have changed for the better and things that used to happen, such as helping someone up under their armpits is now classed as abuse, and rightly so.

It still goes on though, usually by old school carers and nurses. I have clients who come home from hospital with finger bruises on their arms so I know it does. When Mum was in hospital they were dragging her up the bed even though they knew I am a Manual handling Risk Assessor and know what is allowed.

Mum had had a mastectomy and they took out her lymph nodes under her armpit so that was incredibly painful for her to be hoiked up the bed like that. Let alone the fact she had a sacral sore which was being dragged along the sheets. I went ballistic!
I told Mum, if they want you up the bed you get out the bed, walk sideways up the bed and get back in!
Or they use slide sheets. It's so easy it just takes 2 minutes t do it properly. I was mad too as the nurse doing it was complaining about her bad back!

After she knew what they were doing was so wrong she told them off everytime she saw them doing that to someone lol, good old Mum.

Hi Rips, I was just browing back through your threads and on your profile to see whether you actually were a nurse (coz I remember how ill you had been a while ago, well a couple of years now!!) Anyway, I came across this, so it would appear you would actually agree with everything we are saying on this thread?????

http://www.dogsey.com/showthread.php?t=74798

and it wasn't that long ago either, December last year. So it would appear we ARE actually right in what we are saying about the current situation???!!! Sadly!

Yes Becky, I remember when Mum was in such pain with her fractured hip (before she broke it and had her op) and I wasn't allowed to pull her up in the bed, nor would the nurses, so I had to stand and watch her try and do it herself in absolute agony and totally worn out. I didn't know about the getting off the bed and moving up, so that's another good tip I've learned today just in case That is also exactly WHY I had to complain about that Chinese night nurse who slammed her on the commode coz he was fed up of her ringing the bell during the night to use it! She had incurred further bruising which of course I noticed the very next morning when washing her and that's when she told me! I don't think he should be in this profession quite honestly if he doesn't have the patience (excuse the pun there, but it's a different "patient" isn't it!!! ).

I am not getting involved in this thread(to many pages to read through) But I will say that I think the bit I have made bold is bloody insulting. She seems to disagree with you so you decide she might not be a nurse?

Well I don't believe what everyone says on the internet Stormey??? I like to check up on things, is that not allowed then????

I actually wanted to see whether she was a CARE WORKER or an ACTUAL QUALIFIED NURSE that's all, nothing insulting intended. Why can't I do that then???? We all have a profile to see what our profession is don't we???

I also know she was very, very ill a while ago, and I also know it takes quite a while to qualify as a nurse, and that is WHY I checked to see if she was an actual nurse or a care worker in a care home, that's all!

Apologies to Rips if she takes it the wrong way, but I'm getting a tad fed up of people butting in to fight someone else's corner when they've got the wrong end of the stick with it! If Rips finds it offensive, which I had no intention of doing, then let HER say so, afterall it's her post I've brought up not yours?! I will explain further. Then when I was browsing her profile to find out if she was an actual nurse and not a care worker, I went back in her threads to find out if she had actually written any threads about her nursing experiences, and lo and behold I found one. What's the problem????? I can't see one really myself???!!