I don’t usually knock carers or district nurses … I wouldn’t want their jobs and on the whole they are very good at what they do, but just sometimes I really at the stupid mistakes that are made …
MIL has a local authority provided hospital bed with pressure relieving mattress. She said last week that the nurses had been out as she had a sore area on her back, and they put it down to her rucking her nightdress up to avoid it getting wet if she leaked at night, so lying on the folds had rubbed it. When we dropped her shopping in today, she said it was a lot better, but thinks it is more to do with her mattress as its lumpy and there is a hard bit that digs in … I said if her bed was at fault, the nurses or carers should have let me or the loan service know to get it checked or replaced.
I went to see whether there was anything wrong and to get the details to report to the service support, and found the mattress was actually on the bed UPSIDE DOWN … The lovely pressure relief cushion foam top was on the bed frame and she was lying on the hard base cover … why the hell had the carers and/or nurses not noticed this ??? … I hate to run them down, as they otherwise do a brilliant job, but something like this can mean the difference between an independent lady remaining in her own home, or having to go into hospital or respite care, especially in these scary times, to get a pressure sore healed … words fail me … doesn’t come close … I have no idea how long this has been the case or who turned it, as I never change her bed, only pick up the laundry when the carers have done it …
That is disagraceful. Who set up the mattress after it was delivered? It was their responsibility to ensure it was installed correctly, and also adjusted to suit mum’s body weight. Did ANY of this happen???
Unlikely, we had one delivered, no-one came to set it up, (we didn’t want it anyway so I didn’t do it). It sat in our spare room for three months or more and then I asked them to come and collect it.
She has had it for 2 years now and never had an issue until the last few of weeks. It is serviced annually by the loan equipment company but they last came before Christmas so doubt they put it on wrong. MIL has a weekly cleaner (not at the moment due to Virus) who changes the bed but she herself is an ex carer so should know that the mattress should not be turned. The only others who would have tampered with it are the carers themselves, if mum has wet so much overnight that she needs it fully stripped, and I had full bedding to wash a couple of weeks ago, so I am guessing it was around then that it was turned. The nurses though, should surely have checked what equipment she had if they were visiting due to this issue. I don’t know who to blame, but as soon as I looked at it I could see it was wrong and I am not a carer … I did tell mum when I had remade her bed, but doubt she will remember to mention it to anyone.
Such a mess up! Mum had an air mattress and hospital bed. It was set up by the equipment delivery men. It’s not the sort of thing you would need to move if you could help it.
I too would want to trust the professionals, but even a pair of district nurses who visited left the valve on mum’s catheter closed so her pee couldn’t drain into the bag! It’s a case of trust but verify.
I expect your mil will be more comfortable now. I hope she doesn’t have a pressure ulcer as a result.
I am going to take a black marker pen down and write on it … its pretty basic stuff really. I just found the same brand mattress online, describing the pressure relief comfort of the soft top cover and sectional foam insert, with the “thick polyurethane hard wearing base for longevity of use” … poor women has been sleeping on that thick hard base … it just beyond belief than anyone thought to turn it over in the first place, but even worse that those supposed to be attending to her back issue didn’t check what she is actually sleeping on …
I do wonder if she wet the bed so much one day, they turned it so they could make it again rather than letting the top dry out … I will be checking it at every visit now, and if it is wrong again, the care company will be getting both barrels …
at the stupid mistakes that are made …