Taking medication in AL

H1235 · May 31

Moms Al does not watch her take her medication. They set it on the table and leave. I was told when she moved in the it is policy that staff must watch residents to make sure the medication is take. This was important to me since I found stray pills all over the floor in her home and many more in old purses that she had forgotten to take. A few days ago I picked her up for an early appointment and she did not have time for breakfast at Al. She refused to take her medication because she thought it needed to be taken with food ( it did I not). So they gave her the medication and watched her put it in a zip lock bag and put it in her purse. I was furious! I talked with the administrator and let her know. Today mom called very upset. She said she knows I told them they have to watch her take her medication. I don’t think they told her I’m just the one she blames for everything and this time she was right. She blames the medication she is taking for being tired all the time. She asked why she was taking the medication at noon. I told her it was for her hip pain. She said I don’t have hip pain. I said that’s because your taking the medicine. She said that’s ridiculous. I am so nervous im going to get a call that she is refusing to take her medicine. Am I out of line to expect them to make sure her medication is taken properly?

Quilting brings calm · May 31

They can’t force her to take it, but they can persuade, cajole, offer a treat afterwards. My mom’s AL would hand the residents their pills. They didn’t always watch to see if they were taken. Not every resident needed watched. After I found a couple pills on the floor, I talked to the nursing director. From then on they watched my Mom take the pills and retrieved whatever she dropped.

JeriLynn66 · May 31

Same situation with my late FIL. After I met with the Director of Nursing AND put a sign on the wall over the sofa where FIL routinely sat, the situation was corrected.

harshedbuzz · June 1

@H1235

Is this a hospitality-model AL or a MCF?

IME, in ALs residents typically have their autonomy to decline meds and other care respected. In a MCF. staff will work around refusals to make sure the PWD is getting care they need.

HB

H1235 · June 1

I can understand declining to take the medication. The staff is not trained to convince her to take it. I feel like I should be notified if this is happening. Her doctor ordered eczema cream to be brought in several times a day. Her hands are almost to the point of cracking and bleeding. She refuses to use the cream. No one told me. To give her medication they know she has no intentions of taking until “later” seems wrong. I was never told by staff her morning medication was in her purse. Thankfully mom told me. If she had not taken it while out with me that morning she could have easily decided to take it later in the day and doubled up on medications. To be honest I think most elderly people with dementia will tend to drop pills or forget to take pills that are simply left in their room while they are out. I thought that was one of the biggest reasons you would bring your loved one to Al. I suspect that I have not chosen a good facility. When my mil was there it was great, but management has changed. We are in a rural location and options were limited as well as money. I guess it’s time for more care.

cdgbdr · June 1

It may depend on what services you agreed to but, as a nurse, administering medications includes seeing the process through. Leaving it for later is a way to cut corners. If you have given specific instructions for your mother's care, I hope that will take care of it

Quilting brings calm · June 1

@cdgbdr

The AL my parents were in had 1 nurse on staff weekdays 8/5, who was on call the rest of the time. Most medications were kept in locked cabinets in the residents’ rooms. Those were dispensed by resident aids who may or may not have had CNA certification. They didn’t have the authority of a nurse. They could hand the resident their pill packs, but that was it. The nurse would dispense things like B12 shots or morphine for hospice patients. ( and my mom’s AL nurse came in at all hours to do so for Mom).

ARIL · June 2

When my LO was in AL in a rural area, a nurse practitioner came to the facility one morning each week and was otherwise on call. Meds were kept in a locked cabinet in the resident’s room and were packaged in blister packs by the pharmacy. (Using a specific pharmacy was required.) Aides could hand my LO the pack and water and would wait and watch while the meds were taken.

In a MCF in a different state, LPNs are on staff and present 24/7. They offer meds in a plastic cup and watch as they are taken.

SDianeL · June 3

Maybe if the caregivers are not trained in dementia care that may be the problem. In a Memory Care facility they wait to make sure the meds are taken, or they will come back later and try again. I hope you get the facility she’s in to make sure she takes her meds. As she progresses you will probably need to move her to a more secure memory care facility experienced in dementia care.

weareallunique · June 3

@H1235

You may want to be sure this med issue is resolved before her eye surgeries, will they just ask her to sit still for the drops and if she refuses they'll shrug and move on …….

Taking medication in AL

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