On Labor Day night, around 8:00 PM, my husband and I returned my 79 yr. old father (who has dementia) to Manor Care after his 4 day stay for rehabilitation. When we pulled up in front of the building he asked,” what are we doing here?”He absolutely REFUSED to get out of the car. We had taken him home to our house for a very pleasant dinner and did not expect this behavior.
After about an hour of us trying to convince him to get into the wheelchair,a nurse said she would be back to help. She returned also trying to convince him. She returned with 2 young nurses who also tried talking with him. She said she would return with her supervisor.
Haley, the nighttime supervisor returned, very patiently and consistently trying to reason with my dad. Another nurse, Rae Ann also joined us and Cathy, all trying to co erce him. Another nurse worked on offering him food and drink and tried making a deal with him to come inside.
Every one of these nurses were incredibly patient, happy to help, kind, understanding, persistent, and loving. Never once did they show any sign of frustration or aggravation of the situation. They offered to call Whitehall police who also spent 1 hour with us trying to reason with him. Haley understood and explained to us the repercussions of leaving without medical advice and getting him inside the building before midnight. She is obviously very mature, well trained, light hearted and well suited for her position. She finally offered to order medication to calm him down, calling the doctor and others for permission and dosage. He flailed and swung his arms trying to escape the shot, but she expertly administered it. After some time, the 1st dose did not work, she ordered another, which did finally calm him down enough to transfer him to the wheelchair. He did not sit still for this either, and the nurses worked together in the tight space to hold him still long enough to administer the shot. Cathy and Haley helped us take him to his room, where they could not be more willing to make my father as comfortable as possible. Haley was now 1.5 hours past her shift and was still by our side, seeing this situation through to the end. Many of the nurses stuck with us for these 4 long hours and ‘pulled every trick out of their hats’ to try to get him inside the building.
the management obviously knows how to hire their employees, and are to be commended on it. They are all so deeply dedicated to their jobs. It is so rare to find this many people who work in one place, with this much passion to help someone in trouble. I cannot say enough great things about your amazing staff! It just warms my heart that my Dad is in a place that so many people really, truly care about his well -being. I have met and observed your PT and OT,s also. Heather was able to assess him extremely accurately in the short time she met him, and has been working diligently to get him stronger. I have also been equally as impressed with your OT’s. I would HIGHLY recommend your skilled nursing facility to everyone.
They are all, without a doubt, the most professional, caring and wonderful employees anyone could have work for them in their facility. Anyone would be lucky to have these women take such good care of them.