Agnostic.com

4 4

I am CNA in a long term care facility (nursing home).

The people I take care of are not allowed to leave their rooms.

They are not allowed to have visitors.

They can't have meals in the dining room.

There are no activities outside the rooms.

Most of them are not able.to use the internet to pass the time because their hands don't work well enough and they don't know how. Or even the TV remote.

Many can't even use a phone independently because of their hands or at all if they can't speak or hear well enough.

Many have different stages of dementia and are scared and confused and unsure of what is going on.

The ones with family members who sat with them for hours each day to help keep them calm no longer have this.

Spouses are no longer allowed in. A few have spouses who normally sit the whole day with them every day and eat meals with them. I hope those people are OK. Some of them live alone...

Mental health visits arent generally considered critical so are cancelled for the ones that go to them.

Yesterday the social worker was told she had to stay in her office and couldn't see them in person.

Even people on hospice can't have visitors.

If someone is "actively dying" they can have one designated visitor.

There are people to help excercize limbs and assist in short walks but in reality not much.. Its nothing compared to going back and forth to the dining room, or self propelling the wheelchair in the halls. Many of these people will lose these abilities to walk or propell themselves if this lasts a few weeks. And it looks like it will. It only takes s few days of inactivity to start to loose abilities. Its very hard to get them back sometimes.

It is all to keep them safe. Everyone is doing their best.
Its just hard to see happen to the people I know and care for.

Its chilling to think of how many people in nursing homes there are.

The one I work at is the best one I have been in - staffing wise.

And we are chronically short staffed lately.

Ive worked 5 shifts in the last 3 days.

Luckily my kids are big enough to watch themselves. Its not the same for many of my coworkers. And Michigans schools are closed.

At least one coworker didnt pass the screening so wasn't allowed in. Smokers cough most likely but it makes us more shorthanded to deal with this.

These are all precautions on a federal level from the CDC. It hasn't hit Michigan in a big way yet.

Its gonna be a long couple weeks, or however long this lasts..

MsAl 8 Mar 18
Share

Enjoy being online again!

Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.

Create your free account

4 comments

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

0

They are lucky to have such an understanding person caring for them, which must be hell for you. Thanks for sharing what it's like for those in the nursing homes. It must be so hard for loved ones who are not allowed to visit them, with the patients not understanding why they can't. Hopefully there are moments of lucidity where they understand they are being protected and not neglected.

0

I'm glad you don't have to worry about your children and admire your dedication to your clients.

I hope we all only have to endure 2 weeks of this but i fear it will last longer.

0

Those conditions are horrific and, to me, screams why we really need an euthanasia program. I would not want to live under those circumstances and certainly would not want to burden others or the system to keep me in misery, which now seems to be the case.

1

You are remarkable to comprehend clearly how isolation is going to affect people with debilitating conditions. I think you deeply care about what remains of their lives. I wish you calmness and enough rest to cope during these difficult times.

Write Comment
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:472105
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.