Telephones

Since I couldn't visit with Randy for our two hours yesterday as he was very tired (depressed)I called this morning at 10:30 and left a message for Randy to call me before 1:00. I am allowed to telephone Randy on the days I do not see him. (I made sure that I got permission so I could do this and was told that an email was sent to the ward.} No return call. At 1:30 I telephoned and said that I would be going to GPC and drop off two pictures for him as well as some yellow roses. This I did. I then tried to telephone Randy's nurse to hear if Randy was happy with the roses and the pictures. The head nurse who answered the phone said Helen was coming to answer the phone and then she asked my name and then she said that Helen was too busy and that I wasn't allowed to phone the ward on weekends or go to GPC on weekends. This is not true. The only stipulation now is that I cannot go down Ward 2 as a number of the residents are apparently afraid of me unless accompanied by a supervisor for two to five minutes on the days Randy's isn't up to seeing me. Staff must be reinforcing their fear of I do not know what. This phantom fear has been going on for six months now and surely those that had the fear dictated to them should have gotten over it by now. Or maybe it is not a fear maybe it is just that three or four of the residents just don't like me. I do not know for sure.

After the 3:00 pm shift change I have been trying to phone Randy and the calls are sent to voice mail and I left two voice messages. The last phone call at 9:30 p.m. said for the shift RN to call me. It is now 10:32 the next day Sunday and no one has phoned me from GPC. This isn't an isolated incident. It is the way GPC works. After awhile you give up trying to phone. Oh well, another day, and another phone call to a voice answering machine (10:33 am). I feel that I am a prisoner to waiting for a phone call. For general information up to three weeks ago it never occurred to me that I could phone and talk to Randy. Another don't ask don't tell scenario by staff. I only found out from another resident who said her daughter would call her when she could get someone to answer the phone and the nurse would give the wireless to her. In Randy's case since he cannot talk the only way I know he can hear me is when I ask him to breathe heavily into the phone and quickly before two minutes are up (the seconds are guided by the second hand on my clock) I end the conversation as a nurse is holding the phone to Randy's ear. I can't chance them saying I am taking nursing staff time from during their duties and cutting off this one-sided unable to see communication. There even is a You Tube video found under abuses in nursing homes in the US about staff deflecting phone calls. So it is an universal practice.

I phoned at 1:33 p.m. Sunday and was able to talk to a real person and she connected me with Randy. I asked him if he was disappointed that I didn't phone him yesterday and he breathed heavily twice...

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