Saturday was Randy's anniversary of his Code Blue in 2011.
And it was like most days it was an awful day. I woke up to the barking of my neighbour's dog and when I looked out to see why the dog was in distress I saw my neighbour cementing blocks on the common sidewalk in front of her unit in order to inhibit access of Randy's wheelchair to the front of my unit. This woman is a piece of work.
Although on Friday I left a note on Randy's wheelchair asking that Randy's penis condone be checked before I arrived for leakage it wasn't done. It was even worse than that. Randy didn't want to get out of bed so the casual RN suggested that I go down and talk to him in an effort to change his mind. He kept pointing to his leg and I did not know what he meant. I said if I put on his white shoes would be get up and he said nodded yes but he was really trying to tell me something else. I checked his condone and I could see it was leaking and I could smell the ammonia from his diaper so he must have been laying in his urine for a long time. The casual RN was not aware of his condition as she was not his day nurse. But she changed him cheerfully and lifted him out of his bed to his chair.
This urine thing has been going on for a month now. Each time I change Randy at home (with great difficulty) (and wash his clothes) I date and bag the diapers and I now have a large garbage bag full. Randy is paying $15,000 a month for this care... GPC is a residential care hospital that controls each resident's bowel movements. There is no reason for any resident to have an "accident" due to improper technique.
I really do not know if they are shorthanded or not but I just read from the minutes of the latest Residents Council meeting that a full-time VCH employee from management's Improvement Process Team (Peter) had given the Council a talk about how GPC was going more lean with continuous improvement. Only an administration full of academics would come up with this garbage to convince the residents that the nurses that treat them are slaggards. Napolean Ostrow and his COO Josephine therefore must believe GPC is overstaffed.
Since problem solving is very expensive, GPC should put a huge sign at its entrance saying this to explain why GPC 's policy is to ban/restrict visitors from its property. This past year four persons have been banned/restricted from GPC. How many others were verbally banned without paperwork.
Sunday, August 5, 2012
Monday, July 30, 2012
Lack of Care Fraser Health Authority
Staff has never told me much about Randy's condition except that he is a model patient, never complains. Because of a brain injury he is a quad. I was told that Randy would never get bedsores because he can move a little quess what I found two of them. Loved ones are only allowed to visit and not ask questions or inspect the skin of a patient. I am surprised the Davis family never got banned. And I got banned not about the treatment Randy was getting but rather because I was being "friendly" with the other residents. What I do not understand is that in the real world if you make a mistake you get fired but if you are employed by VCH the customer dies as did Mr. Davis.
Retired postal carrier Gary Davis had to have both legs amputated to stop the spread of infection. (CBC) The daughter of a retired B.C. man who died in a publicly funded, long-term care facility believes her father suffered needlessly as a result of neglect by staff.
"What they did was wrong," said Rita McDonnell. "The care was awful."
Gary Davis, a former postal carrier from Surrey, was 68 years old when he developed severe bedsores and hospital-acquired infections, under the care of the Fraser Health Authority. He eventually had to have his legs amputated as a result.
"It makes me sick to my stomach," said his daughter. "I still think about it. I can't sleep some nights because I think of what it was like for him."
"In order for [his sores] to get as severe as they did, he had to be sitting on his back so long — in his own urine, feces, you name it," said McDonnell.
"They admitted to us that they should have turned him more often," said her husband Mark McDonnell. "They didn't give him the care that he deserved."
A summary of Davis' medical records from that period show "the patient has been transferred to the wheelchair .… However, this has not been done consistently."
"Nurses notes lack information as to how frequently the patient was mobilized."
The notes show he developed pressure ulcers — commonly known as bedsores — on his back and legs and state that the "wounds continued to deteriorate, and he contracted e-coli in the urine and a staph infection."
Rita McDonnell and her husband Mark believe her father was neglected by hospital staff. (CBC) Fraser Health's director of residential services, Heather Cook, said Davis' poor circulation was also a complicating factor.
"When you have poor circulation, it really challenges the ability to heal," said Cook. "This was an individual with exceedingly complex medical conditions."
On at least two occasions, doctors ordered Davis be kept off his back as much as possible. However, McDonnell was not informed about his dad's sores, records show, until several months after they surfaced.
"I started asking questions," said McDonnell. "I wanted to know why he smelled so bad."
McDonnell said she was horrified when staff removed his bandages and she saw the large, open, festering wound on her father's lower back for the first time.
"It was awful, unbelievable," she said. "It was black. He was rotting."
When she then complained her father wasn't being moved enough, McDonnell said, "One of the nurses told me, 'Care aides don't get paid enough, you couldn't pay me enough to do that job'."
Davis was transferred to Cedar Hill, a long-term care facility adjacent to Langley Memorial Hospital, where the records indicate staff also didn't move him as much as recommended by the specialists.
McDonnell said that same wound specialist pulled her aside and suggested she consider suing the health authority.
The pressure ulcer on Gary Davis's lower back was deep and inflamed when his daughter saw it for the first time. (CBC) "She said you should get a lawyer for what happened to your dad — the care has been horrific."
According to the file notes, "Staff at Cedar Hill did have some difficulties when trying to mobilize the patient and tend to his wounds. The staff were educated on how to properly mobilize the patient."
The facility did provide a special air mattress, to relieve the pressure, but the notes indicate staff didn't use it properly, which negated its effectiveness.
"They let him lie there — and they kind of gave up on him a bit," said his son-in-law.
The couple insisted they couldn't bring Davis home, despite their concerns, because he was too ill for them to look after.
Several weeks later, McDonnell was told that if her father's legs were not amputated, he would die from the spreading infection — so the family consented to the operation.
"In order for his back to survive, he had to lose his legs, because of the sores on his legs, the bedsores on his legs," said McDonnell.
Without his legs, Davis recovered and lived infection-free for several more months.
Fraser Health administrator Heather Cook says communication with the family was the main problem. (CBC)
Soon afterward, Davis died — while still in the long-term care facility. His family was told he succumbed to pneumonia.
"His quality of life was pretty severe. He said, 'I can't go to the washroom on my own. This hurts. I can't be human. I don't feel human.' It was awful for him," said McDonnell.
"I miss talking to him and visiting him. He was important to me," she said tearfully.
Meantime, a national group trying to raise awareness about pressure ulcers said cases like his are all too common.
"It is a huge problem," said Pat Coutts, a wound care specialist and chair of the Canadian Association of Wound Care. It estimates 70 per cent of bedsores in Canadian hospitals could have been prevented.
The government review into the Davis case criticized Fraser Health for not informing McDonnell about what was going on with her father.
It also expressed concern about his care being "fragmented," and it concluded, "Assignment of a primary care physician might have provided a more consistent continuum of care."
Cook from Fraser Health insisted lack of communication with the family was the biggest problem.
"With an individual, with the complex medical issues that this particular resident had, the likelihood was that there was very little we could have done to impact his life anyways," said Cook.
"Had we been able to communicate more effectively and in more timely fashion with the family, this might not have been so challenging for them."
That doesn't satisfy McDonnell.
"It's nice and fancy for them to say that," she said. "It's their way of getting out of what really happened. They didn't do their job."
Pat Coutts, a registered nurse with the Canadian Association of Wound Care, says the majority of pressure ulcers in hospital can be prevented. (CBC) As a result of the Davis case, Cook indicated Fraser Health has improved its communications with families and put in a better system to care for patients who are transferred between facilities.
The Canadian Association of Wound Care, which gets funding from the industry that supplies hospitals with wound care equipment, estimates 25 per cent of people in Canadian health-care facilities have a pressure ulcer at any given time.
Fraser Health disputes that figure, saying less than three per cent of long-term care patients develop the sores, while in any of its facilities.
McDonnell now hopes her father's story will encourage other families be more vigilant — to watch for a problem she was previously unaware of.
"I just want people to be aware of what can happen to them and their loved ones," she said.
Senior loses legs to hospital infections, bedsores
Family blames neglect by staff for double amputation
CBC GO PUBLIC
Retired postal carrier Gary Davis had to have both legs amputated to stop the spread of infection. (CBC) The daughter of a retired B.C. man who died in a publicly funded, long-term care facility believes her father suffered needlessly as a result of neglect by staff. "What they did was wrong," said Rita McDonnell. "The care was awful."
Gary Davis, a former postal carrier from Surrey, was 68 years old when he developed severe bedsores and hospital-acquired infections, under the care of the Fraser Health Authority. He eventually had to have his legs amputated as a result.
"It makes me sick to my stomach," said his daughter. "I still think about it. I can't sleep some nights because I think of what it was like for him."
'It was awful … he was rotting.'—Daughter Rita McDonnellRecords shows staff at three facilities failed to keep Davis off his back — despite doctor's orders — as his bedsores and infections became increasingly worse.
"In order for [his sores] to get as severe as they did, he had to be sitting on his back so long — in his own urine, feces, you name it," said McDonnell.
"They admitted to us that they should have turned him more often," said her husband Mark McDonnell. "They didn't give him the care that he deserved."
Patient not mobilized enough
Davis' health downturn began when he was admitted to hospital in 2006, with a groin aneurysm. Over the next several months, he suffered from poor circulation and other complications, in Langley Memorial and Royal Columbian Hospitals.A summary of Davis' medical records from that period show "the patient has been transferred to the wheelchair .… However, this has not been done consistently."
"Nurses notes lack information as to how frequently the patient was mobilized."
The notes show he developed pressure ulcers — commonly known as bedsores — on his back and legs and state that the "wounds continued to deteriorate, and he contracted e-coli in the urine and a staph infection."
Rita McDonnell and her husband Mark believe her father was neglected by hospital staff. (CBC) Fraser Health's director of residential services, Heather Cook, said Davis' poor circulation was also a complicating factor."When you have poor circulation, it really challenges the ability to heal," said Cook. "This was an individual with exceedingly complex medical conditions."
On at least two occasions, doctors ordered Davis be kept off his back as much as possible. However, McDonnell was not informed about his dad's sores, records show, until several months after they surfaced.
"I started asking questions," said McDonnell. "I wanted to know why he smelled so bad."
McDonnell said she was horrified when staff removed his bandages and she saw the large, open, festering wound on her father's lower back for the first time.
"It was awful, unbelievable," she said. "It was black. He was rotting."
When she then complained her father wasn't being moved enough, McDonnell said, "One of the nurses told me, 'Care aides don't get paid enough, you couldn't pay me enough to do that job'."
Davis was transferred to Cedar Hill, a long-term care facility adjacent to Langley Memorial Hospital, where the records indicate staff also didn't move him as much as recommended by the specialists.
Specialist expressed alarm
"The wound care specialist … mentioned that the patient was in bed a lot," the file notes state. "He has not been taken out of bed … wounds were still not healing"McDonnell said that same wound specialist pulled her aside and suggested she consider suing the health authority.
The pressure ulcer on Gary Davis's lower back was deep and inflamed when his daughter saw it for the first time. (CBC) "She said you should get a lawyer for what happened to your dad — the care has been horrific."According to the file notes, "Staff at Cedar Hill did have some difficulties when trying to mobilize the patient and tend to his wounds. The staff were educated on how to properly mobilize the patient."
The facility did provide a special air mattress, to relieve the pressure, but the notes indicate staff didn't use it properly, which negated its effectiveness.
"They let him lie there — and they kind of gave up on him a bit," said his son-in-law.
The couple insisted they couldn't bring Davis home, despite their concerns, because he was too ill for them to look after.
Several weeks later, McDonnell was told that if her father's legs were not amputated, he would die from the spreading infection — so the family consented to the operation.
"In order for his back to survive, he had to lose his legs, because of the sores on his legs, the bedsores on his legs," said McDonnell.
Without his legs, Davis recovered and lived infection-free for several more months.
Review finds several care concerns
McDonnell filed a complaint with the B.C. government's Patient Care Quality Review Board, which concluded, "It is in the Board's opinion that this matter raises several care quality concerns."Fraser Health administrator Heather Cook says communication with the family was the main problem. (CBC)Soon afterward, Davis died — while still in the long-term care facility. His family was told he succumbed to pneumonia.
"His quality of life was pretty severe. He said, 'I can't go to the washroom on my own. This hurts. I can't be human. I don't feel human.' It was awful for him," said McDonnell.
"I miss talking to him and visiting him. He was important to me," she said tearfully.
Meantime, a national group trying to raise awareness about pressure ulcers said cases like his are all too common.
"It is a huge problem," said Pat Coutts, a wound care specialist and chair of the Canadian Association of Wound Care. It estimates 70 per cent of bedsores in Canadian hospitals could have been prevented.
Most bedsores can be prevented, group says
"The skin is an organ. It needs to be looked after," Coutts said. In a facility, patients need to be turned, or be on a surface that will turn them. If they're in diapers they need to stay as clean and dry as you can possibly keep them."The government review into the Davis case criticized Fraser Health for not informing McDonnell about what was going on with her father.
It also expressed concern about his care being "fragmented," and it concluded, "Assignment of a primary care physician might have provided a more consistent continuum of care."
Cook from Fraser Health insisted lack of communication with the family was the biggest problem.
"With an individual, with the complex medical issues that this particular resident had, the likelihood was that there was very little we could have done to impact his life anyways," said Cook.
"Had we been able to communicate more effectively and in more timely fashion with the family, this might not have been so challenging for them."
That doesn't satisfy McDonnell.
"It's nice and fancy for them to say that," she said. "It's their way of getting out of what really happened. They didn't do their job."
Pat Coutts, a registered nurse with the Canadian Association of Wound Care, says the majority of pressure ulcers in hospital can be prevented. (CBC) As a result of the Davis case, Cook indicated Fraser Health has improved its communications with families and put in a better system to care for patients who are transferred between facilities.The Canadian Association of Wound Care, which gets funding from the industry that supplies hospitals with wound care equipment, estimates 25 per cent of people in Canadian health-care facilities have a pressure ulcer at any given time.
Fraser Health disputes that figure, saying less than three per cent of long-term care patients develop the sores, while in any of its facilities.
McDonnell now hopes her father's story will encourage other families be more vigilant — to watch for a problem she was previously unaware of.
"I just want people to be aware of what can happen to them and their loved ones," she said.
Sunday, July 29, 2012
WHY?
From all the posts I have read about hospitals/residential care institutions, all of those who have been banned were women over 60. I am not sure what this means but it must mean something.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
See this Video
Irregular hospital visits http://www.sunnewsnetwork.ca/video/featured/prime-time/867432237001/irregular-hospital-visits/1729417647001
It appears that abuses that I am suffering from are common. The pharma-medical complex is being exposed.
"The unaccountable power of health care facilities to bully, threaten and ignore the directives of subsitute decision makers, without any consequences, is too often reinforced by banning from the premises anyone who attempts to intervene to protect and care for their loved one."Quoted from seniorsatrisk.org.
What I would like to know is when did it become fashionable to ban seniors from hospitals and residential care facilities.
115,930
It appears that abuses that I am suffering from are common. The pharma-medical complex is being exposed.
"The unaccountable power of health care facilities to bully, threaten and ignore the directives of subsitute decision makers, without any consequences, is too often reinforced by banning from the premises anyone who attempts to intervene to protect and care for their loved one."Quoted from seniorsatrisk.org.
What I would like to know is when did it become fashionable to ban seniors from hospitals and residential care facilities.
115,930
Friday, July 20, 2012
Illogic becomes the Norm
I was told by Tanu, the charge nurse in Ward 2, that the reason the call bells ring continuously is because the staff firstly assists the resident/patient and after the resident/patient is treated then the call bell is shut off. When Randy was in Vancouver General Hospital the reverse happened. Residential care facilities must have their own peculiar backward style.
Why aren't the Ward 2 bullies and Joy the Resident Council President who live on Ward 2 doing something to lessen the ringing like making sure whoever is ringing the call bell is not alone.My experience is that patients who ring call bells incessantly are just lonely and afraid.
I asked Randy if he knew where the ringing was coming from and he nodded yes and he pointed. It was coming from the open ward, not one of the private rooms. The open ward has tons of nurses running around.so why does it take more than three rings for a patient to be attended to. I asked Randy if the noise annoyed him and he replied yes.
The bizarre logic of Tanu equals the illogical logic of another RN who told me that Randy isn't allowed a land line phone near his bed (after it was installed at my expense) as he might strangle himself. Randy is in an open ward, he can barely move so how is it conceivable that he can strangle himself.
In the context of the GPC environment these bizarre justifications are reasonable. These justifications are so illogical that everyone believes them.
When Randy was put in Ward 2 no one came up to him and introduced himself/herself to him, nor did anyone introduce themselves to me. Willey the visitor bully didn't even know Randy's name after four months and his wife's bed is next to Randy's and Willey lives at GPC and has for nine years or maybe it is ten now. Willley is a poster child in the infamous You Tube video: Envisioning Home. Everyone is family at GPC, he says. Enough to nauseate. And there is Patricia equally as nauseating in Ward 2 who won't let me use the toilet in Ward 1 which Ward has been abandoned to a few offices as seeing me walk pass her to the toilet makes her feel uncomfortable. And she is also in the infamous video that no one views. I sure would like to know how much Vancouver Coastal Authority paid for that three part propaganda video. The money could have been directed to hiring staff to cater to the incessant call bell ringers.
I asked two staff; two residents; two religious minister, who died last Sunday and when would be the memorial service.No one could tell me. No one knew. A person dies is stuffed in a body bag and no one knows. George Pearson Centre is suppose to be a residential facilities where everyone are friends. Some residents have been living there for 42 years. Friends should know when a friend dies especially in a group home. What logic am I going to hear on this. The dead resident didn't want anyone to know he died. Randy was never asked if he did not want anyone to know if he died or not. So who are making these crazy disrespectful rules over a resident's death. The residents should have say not staff who wants to cut additional work so they do not have to deal with questions or a relative who hasn't seen the resident for six years or worse yet the person had no relatives as he was a non-person under the Public Guardian and Trustee Act. There is something terribly wrong when a person can die and there is no public acknowledgment.of his life.
115,784
Why aren't the Ward 2 bullies and Joy the Resident Council President who live on Ward 2 doing something to lessen the ringing like making sure whoever is ringing the call bell is not alone.My experience is that patients who ring call bells incessantly are just lonely and afraid.
I asked Randy if he knew where the ringing was coming from and he nodded yes and he pointed. It was coming from the open ward, not one of the private rooms. The open ward has tons of nurses running around.so why does it take more than three rings for a patient to be attended to. I asked Randy if the noise annoyed him and he replied yes.
The bizarre logic of Tanu equals the illogical logic of another RN who told me that Randy isn't allowed a land line phone near his bed (after it was installed at my expense) as he might strangle himself. Randy is in an open ward, he can barely move so how is it conceivable that he can strangle himself.
In the context of the GPC environment these bizarre justifications are reasonable. These justifications are so illogical that everyone believes them.
When Randy was put in Ward 2 no one came up to him and introduced himself/herself to him, nor did anyone introduce themselves to me. Willey the visitor bully didn't even know Randy's name after four months and his wife's bed is next to Randy's and Willey lives at GPC and has for nine years or maybe it is ten now. Willley is a poster child in the infamous You Tube video: Envisioning Home. Everyone is family at GPC, he says. Enough to nauseate. And there is Patricia equally as nauseating in Ward 2 who won't let me use the toilet in Ward 1 which Ward has been abandoned to a few offices as seeing me walk pass her to the toilet makes her feel uncomfortable. And she is also in the infamous video that no one views. I sure would like to know how much Vancouver Coastal Authority paid for that three part propaganda video. The money could have been directed to hiring staff to cater to the incessant call bell ringers.
I asked two staff; two residents; two religious minister, who died last Sunday and when would be the memorial service.No one could tell me. No one knew. A person dies is stuffed in a body bag and no one knows. George Pearson Centre is suppose to be a residential facilities where everyone are friends. Some residents have been living there for 42 years. Friends should know when a friend dies especially in a group home. What logic am I going to hear on this. The dead resident didn't want anyone to know he died. Randy was never asked if he did not want anyone to know if he died or not. So who are making these crazy disrespectful rules over a resident's death. The residents should have say not staff who wants to cut additional work so they do not have to deal with questions or a relative who hasn't seen the resident for six years or worse yet the person had no relatives as he was a non-person under the Public Guardian and Trustee Act. There is something terribly wrong when a person can die and there is no public acknowledgment.of his life.
115,784
Sunday, July 15, 2012
A Death at GPC
When I was taking Randy from GPC I noticed a body bag being taken out of Ward 2 from a side entrance rather than the main entrance. I wonder if the deceased was the person that was incessantly using the call bell a week ago Sunday. GPC is a terrible place as when a resident/patient dies nothing is said, he/she is just baged and wheeled out. The residents/patients aren't told. What a thing to look forward when you pass at GPC: no one knowing; no announcement as to why you died, or if it could have prevented been, nothing ... even after death everything is confidential. No one asks residents/patients if they want their information secret, the big medical industrial complex wants it secret and it is isn't to protect the death person.
.
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Wednesday, July 11, 2012
A Safety Issue
On Monday Randy seemed so happy as I had given him a pointer so that he could extend his pointing (one means of him communicating as he cannot speak). It was like a watershed. Now he can point to specific things he wants while in his chair.He was so happy. When we go shopping to get out of the heat we go to Oakridge Mall he is always pointing at things and I do not know what specific thing he is pointing at. The pointer enabled him to communicate. I tied the pointer to a piece of yarn and attached it to his wheelchair. When I returned him to George Pearson Centre on Monday the nurse who came to get Randy without even a pleasant good evening noticed the pointer and took the pointer and said it was a safety hazard. She said she would put it in his bag hanging on the back of his wheelchair. Yesterday the pointer wasn't in the bag. Of course me being paranoid as I suspect that the pointer is now going to be used as part of the evidence VCH is collecting to attest that I am giving weapons to Randy with my explicit instruction to Randy to attack staff so that the Public Guardian and Trustee can become his sole guardian and his guardian will rely upon George Pearson Centre as to who can see Randy and I will assuredly be on the list of those not allowed to see Randy. I was once accused by Tanu of feeding Randy a Big Mac as staff found its wrapping on his wheelchair. Of course, no one showed me the evidence. But then maybe I forgot to ask for it.
The point is not my paranoia but rather the safety issue. On Sunday while waiting to get Randy so we could go to the church service at GPC, there was nothing to read while waiting, so I started to listen to the noises of the hospital. I could hear a resident's call/help bell and I started counting. It rang 110 times from the time I noticed it before it stopped. It could have rang 200 times.
The point is staff is quick to decree that a pointer is a safety hazard rather than a communicative device for someone who cannot talk or write and yet no one is quick enough to answer a call/help bell.
GPC's elaborate plan to ban me isn't really working well for them, I assume the next step will be that I won't even be allowed to wait for Randy in the piano/family/visitors room across from security so I won't be able to hear the noises of the hospital and they will be wheeling Randy out to the roadside (57th Avenue and Cambie) so I won't be able to access a blade of GPC's grass. But then the problem will be who will wheel him to the roadside as the nurses are not allowed to do this and neither is security. What a logistic problem Randy has created for GPC. And to think that all these problems can be time lined back to an interview that I had with a social worker at Vancouver General Hospital who decided that I should never see Randy again. The problem with the system is that social workers are telling doctors what to do. And the doctors to save time concur with erroraneous judgment calls of social workers justifying their approval as social workers are officers of the court and they know what is best for everyone.
.
The point is not my paranoia but rather the safety issue. On Sunday while waiting to get Randy so we could go to the church service at GPC, there was nothing to read while waiting, so I started to listen to the noises of the hospital. I could hear a resident's call/help bell and I started counting. It rang 110 times from the time I noticed it before it stopped. It could have rang 200 times.
The point is staff is quick to decree that a pointer is a safety hazard rather than a communicative device for someone who cannot talk or write and yet no one is quick enough to answer a call/help bell.
GPC's elaborate plan to ban me isn't really working well for them, I assume the next step will be that I won't even be allowed to wait for Randy in the piano/family/visitors room across from security so I won't be able to hear the noises of the hospital and they will be wheeling Randy out to the roadside (57th Avenue and Cambie) so I won't be able to access a blade of GPC's grass. But then the problem will be who will wheel him to the roadside as the nurses are not allowed to do this and neither is security. What a logistic problem Randy has created for GPC. And to think that all these problems can be time lined back to an interview that I had with a social worker at Vancouver General Hospital who decided that I should never see Randy again. The problem with the system is that social workers are telling doctors what to do. And the doctors to save time concur with error
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at 9:21 PM ETII work as a pedorthist (foot care, private practice), am a member of the Canadian Association of Wound Care and I am one member of a team of health care providers on the front lines who deal with these preventable ulcersI have met hundreds of people like Mr. Davis and had the privilege of being able to help many of them get healed and on with their lives. Also, like Mr. Davis, some of my clients have ended up with amputations and some have died as a direct result of their PREVENTABLE ulcers. Almost all of these folks were already dealing with other health problems and getting a preventable wound was the last thing they needed.
Well-trained, caring nurses, doctors and other health workers know exactly what causes these ulcers and what prevents them and many of them work hard to do just that. Pressure ulcers are caused by pressure – they are prevented by lack of pressure. If a preventable, pressure wound has occurred then neglect has occurred - period.
Ms. Cook of Fraser Health said it all in her comment - "With an individual, with the complex medical issues that this particular resident had, the likelihood was that there was very little we could have done to impact his life anyways," said Cook. With that attitude or view of a patient’s situation there would be very little motivation to provide excellent and respectful care. Ms. Cook should not be allowed to work in the healthCARE industry. We certainly do not need her or her ilk in our health care system but sadly we seem to have many just like her.
I would like nothing better than to never meet another person in Mr. Davis’s situation. I applaud his daughter for speaking out. My condolences to all of Mr. Davis’s family members.
Martha Paris
Vancouver, BC