Management says her family will not have her evaluated to be moved into memory care. They also refuse to have her moved into another room further down the hall or even to close her door. My mom is at her wits end. The lady yells for 4 to 5 hours at a time. She is an incredibly inpatient person & demands immediate attention. Apparently she was in the military & sometimes is calling for a Medic. The CNA & nurses are beside themselves because they need to check on her when there is nothing wrong. When she's asked why she's calling for help, she says it's because she wants to. Do I have any legal recourse to have this addressed? Please advise.
Good luck to you!
Her yelling might not be for "no reason"
My Husband moaned all day "for no reason"
My Husband was non verbal his moaning was a way to communicate, was a way maybe for him to let me or a caregiver know he was there, wanted something who knows what was in his mind.
If this woman is in a "nursing home" and by that I think you mean a Skilled Nursing facility. It is possible that her care is beyond what a Memory Care facility can do. Many can no longer use equipment to transfer someone so if she needs a Hoyer Lift, Sit to Stand or other equipment she can not be moved to MC.
If has has any conditions that would make moving to MC impossible that might be another reason. Most MC will not take anyone with any "tubes" so feeding tube, catheter and such. MC residents tend to pull out "tubes" so this requires the attention of more trained staff. As well as the upkeep of "tubes"
the "nursing home" where your mom is can not legally tell you that her family will not have her evaluated, they can not tell you what the diagnosis is, they can not give you ANY medical information unless they have permission in writing from the family to give you that information.
You can request that mom's room be moved.
You can begin looking for another facility that will take your mom.
But I doubt you have any legal recourse.
It's very common unfortunately and nursing facilities should by now know how to handle these folks.
But until they get things figured out, you do have the option to have your mom moved, however like lealonnie said below, be careful what you ask for as it may not be a better move.
The SN facility offered to move her. Then a Covid outbreak of a very mild nature was delaying them. The woman was getting worse and what really bothered me is that staff never came because they were so used to her constant yelling. What further bothered me is that they would wake her up to deliver her lunch but then not help her at all to even access it. I also watched her attempt to use the toilet on her own (they shared a hallway and bathroom) and yell Help and no one came which I brought to their attention. She really did need help that time.
Besides complaining alot I got the Area County of Aging involved. It took some doing to get to the right person. She was moved the following week.
I don't understand your comment regarding her family. It is up to the facility to decide on placement within their locations as to where a resident should reside such as Memory Care.
The family may be thinking that a move might cost more but they should not be the ones who have the ultimate decision.
Are there other families willing to take this up with you? The more there are, the more pressure will be on the home to move her as they can’t possibly move all of them around.
Or at least closing the door.
Or referring the family to a geripsych who might be able to prescribe calming medication.
The more people, the more pressure.
The nursing home staff are lying and also trying to throw in a bit of gaslighting as as well by telling you that your mother is imagining the yelling.
Nursing home staff will lie per order of their supervisors or facility owners. They will also cheat and steal (this is the business end of a nursing home).
The "we're working on a solution" is total BS. They are doing absolutely nothing except appeasing you in the moment. Here is the reason why the screaming and yelling lady is not being moved to the different room. She has better insurance than your mom. The NH wants to keep her in that room because it's more expensive than the smaller room or the memory care (if they have one in their facility). Also, the nursing home can move any resident to another room at their discretion for any resaon they want.
One day I went to visit my father in the NH. He wasn't in his room. None of his stuff was either. So I asked where he was and was told that he was moved to a different room. When I asked why I was pushed off from one person after the other because no one would give me a straight answer until I really lost my sh*t with these people.
Turns out they simply decided to downgrade him. Insurance was still paying though. They were collecting the higher rate as if he was still in higher care only he wasn't. After much back and forth with Medicare and the state I got to the bottom of it and they had to pay Medicare back. Nursing homes can and do move residents any time they want. So please don't buy that lame BS excuse that the woman's family refuses to have her moved.
I'm sure your mother isn't the only resident that's heard this lady's screaming and yelling. If she's doing it during the day too, the visiting family members of other residents probably heard her too. Talk to some of them. Put a recording device in your mother's room and record this woman screaming and yelling all night long. Then you bring that to a lawyer or to the state's Ombudsman's Office if there is one. Or the Agency on Aging.
Perhaps both family and doctor need to spend 10 minutes close but not with him. Family could be quite distressed themselves, find it hard not to rush in. Is there some way to make this happen?
Going into the administrator's office and explaining that fact calmly and clearly might very well get the reaction you desire.
My FIL was across the hall for three weeks from someone that yelled constantly; and we were all miserable when we visited.
This woman may need to be closer to the nursing station so they can keep a watchful eye on her, and of course you must know you have no legal recourse here - it's not hurting your Mom; just unsettling.
You could ask the nursing home management to move your Mom to another bed further away; or perhaps they can give your Mom something for her anxiety.
Sorry you are having to deal with this.
The other time I was subjected to constant screaming was when I was in the surgical ward of a hospital for a total knee replacement. Needless to say I got no rest while my room mate screamed the night and day. I insisted on going home a day earlier than recommended by my surgeon.
In both of these cases, the people in charge, who should have assured the peace of everyone else in such close quarters responded to complaints with "there is nowhere else to put her." In each case the rest of us were paying a lot of money to be abused.
When my aunt was in nursing care before her death there was a screamer there, too. The nurses would wheel the screaming woman to the day room in the morning and back to her bed at night, but nothing was done to make the place more comfortable for all the other residents.
I think if you bother with lawyers and courts at enormous expense you may get some sort of victory there, but in the short term, I doubt that much will happen. In my experience, a complaint about the constant noise resulted in the management casting my complaint as being "intolerant." I actually think that we are entitled to be intolerant of such unacceptable behavior. If a person cannot keep the volume of their voices down to reasonable levels they should be cared for in a separate area. The constant noise presents a health hazard for everyone else in the vicinity. You would think that would be a no-brainer in a care facility. We all need peace and quiet. Probably the one making the racket would be better off in a place where she, too, could have some peace and quiet.