Clinton Avenue Reformed Church www.clintonave.org

Clinton Avenue Reformed Church www.clintonave.org 2017 Blog Number 230 September 23, 2017 Protecting Nurses

On the eve of honoring nurses, I heard a horrible story of how we do not protect our nurses, but instead, our laws sometimes put them in danger. I wonder if perhaps we need to require that our lawmakers live the life of a nurse before they regulate our medical institutions.

My sister works in a nursing home as a registered nurse. This week a new resident arrived. He had dementia and was quite aggressive. He roamed from room to room insisting that he was looking for his wife. When he was asked to go back to his room he became aggressive against one nurse and pushed my sister to the ground. Finally, a male ex-military LPN came to the scene and the man backed down and returned to his room. Later he was sent out for a psychiatric evaluation but returned the next day.

The following night, while putting in a catheter, my sister was punched by another resident. Finally, after several requests to stop, he did stop and she was able to continue the medically necessary procedure.

At one point, such people could be controlled by either medication or by physical restraints. Physical restraints are no longer allowed in nursing homes, even for the violent. They are also restricted on the types of medications allowed, included drugs which in the past have controlled such violent behavior. I have also heard that there is now talk of outlawing alarms that beep when a resident who is a fall risk rises from a chair. These alarms, which keep patients safe, have been ruled that they “restrict a person’s movement.”

Do we wish to keep residents and staff safe? Maybe we need have nurses in the sub-acute facilities tell us what is needed. Legislators who pass these laws have no idea what it is like. Maybe it is time to make them be nursing home volunteers.