How to cope with COVID MITIGATIONS at nursing homes?

Istoppedescaping

Hi. I hope you all had a good Thanksgiving. Can someone please advise from my topic. Again just need to vent here!

Everytime we get a mitigation, I feel cheated of seeing my mom with Alzheimer's. I also fear of spreading the virus or getting the virus. I am my Dad's caretaker. Yes we are all vaccinated but now their is a new variant. It's scary and just debilitating to my mental health. How do people cope??

Lor2014

What is a mitigation?

abc123

mitigation/the action of reducing the severity, seriousness, or painfulness of something.

Google is MY friend. 

Stuck in the middle

When I was locked out of my son's institution last year, we had a lot of telephone conversations.  The institution was bound by State law, so that's all we could do.

Lor2014

I googled the word mitigation, but I didn't understand what the poster was referring to...a reduction in contact with the LO?

If that's the case, to minimize risk to my LO and the residents at the facility, I get tested intermittently when I've been in public, I only go where people wear masks, I got the vaccine, I follow all safety protocols...when contact is reduced at MC, I view it as a positive...that my LO is being in the safest environment possible, and when it's safer, I'll be able to visit.

The serenity prayer is a good mantra. A caregiver support group is phenomenal...sometimes the MC facility runs them. Just knowing you are not alone makes me feel better. {{{hugs}}}

MN Chickadee

I'm assuming the poster means the facility goes into kind of a lock down mode when a positive covid case is discovered in a resident or staff. Many restrict visits during this time. 

Does the facility have any policies on immediate family coming in? You should ask. Many allow it with special protocols in place. In my state/area we are referred to as "essential caregivers." People in long term care are allowed one or two immediate family members designated as essential caregivers who provide health care, socialization, or other services for their loved one. We have to do some extra training on infection control and there are rules about when and how we visit, but we can still go in. 

Do you have a Kn95 mask? That with an extra mask on top such as a blue accordian mask or cloth mask on top will help cinch it up on your face. If you can put glasses on and have your mask not fog them up that's a good sign you have a well fitting mask. Double masking like this would decrease your chance of giving or getting covid during a visit. If you live in a climate where visiting outdoors is possible right now I would do that - the chances of spreading covid in the open air are extremely low. If not, you might have to deal with window visits for a while. I know how hard it is, having a loved one with dementia is hard enough without a pandemic. Last winter was so hard, we were locked out and there was no good answer. No way to keep everyone safe and still maintain relationships and socialization. I am in  MN but on days when it was abouve 40 degrees I would bring mom outside the facility to sit and I brought a big down blanket to keep her warm. We were at least able to see each other for 10 or 15 minutes. Short but frequent visits are much better than none.  Now even when our facility is on restricted visitor status due to a positive we are still allowed to take our loved one out. Sometimes I take my mom for a drive. It allows me to see her without going in to be exposed by all the other residents and staff. I hope you find something to get you by. 

elisny

The current CMS guidance on visitation in nursing homes can be found here:  

https://www.cms.gov/medicareprovider-enrollment-and-certificationsurveycertificationgeninfopolicy-and-memos-states-and/nursing-home-visitation-covid-19-revised

Barring atypical circumstances you should be able to visit any time, any day, and  for as long as you want.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

To keep abreast of changes, see the website for the National Consumer Voice for Quality Long Term Care:  

https://theconsumervoice.org/

Istoppedescaping

MN Chickadee wrote:

I'm assuming the poster means the facility goes into kind of a lock down mode when a positive covid case is discovered in a resident or staff. Many restrict visits during this time. 

Does the facility have any policies on immediate family coming in? You should ask. Many allow it with special protocols in place. In my state/area we are referred to as "essential caregivers." People in long term care are allowed one or two immediate family members designated as essential caregivers who provide health care, socialization, or other services for their loved one. We have to do some extra training on infection control and there are rules about when and how we visit, but we can still go in. 

Do you have a Kn95 mask? That with an extra mask on top such as a blue accordian mask or cloth mask on top will help cinch it up on your face. If you can put glasses on and have your mask not fog them up that's a good sign you have a well fitting mask. Double masking like this would decrease your chance of giving or getting covid during a visit. If you live in a climate where visiting outdoors is possible right now I would do that - the chances of spreading covid in the open air are extremely low. If not, you might have to deal with window visits for a while. I know how hard it is, having a loved one with dementia is hard enough without a pandemic. Last winter was so hard, we were locked out and there was no good answer. No way to keep everyone safe and still maintain relationships and socialization. I am in  MN but on days when it was abouve 40 degrees I would bring mom outside the facility to sit and I brought a big down blanket to keep her warm. We were at least able to see each other for 10 or 15 minutes. Short but frequent visits are much better than none.  Now even when our facility is on restricted visitor status due to a positive we are still allowed to take our loved one out. Sometimes I take my mom for a drive. It allows me to see her without going in to be exposed by all the other residents and staff. I hope you find something to get you by. 

MN Chikada, thanks for the response. It's nice to chat on here with people who are going through the same thing. Thanks