Who is Caring for Us?
Dear Leading Ladies,
A dear friend is lying in a hospital bed in a local rehabilitation facility after falling and fracturing her pelvis and shoulder. She is totally immobilized, unable to stand, walk, go to the bathroom, even roll over or use the commode. She is in constant pain.
Moreover, the feelings of vulnerability and helplessness are sometimes overwhelming. As someone who is used to giving help rather than receiving it, being in this condition is particularly frustrating. She can’t even move enough to see the door to the hallway. If she needs something, she must use the call bell and hope someone will come. When she arrived at the rehab, one of her first questions was how would they get her out if there was a fire or another emergency, say an active shooter? Would the hospital bed fit through the door, since they had brought her in on a gurney that was much narrower? Luckily, she was assured her bed would fit through the door, though she remains nervous about someone remembering to come to her room at the end of the corridor — and maybe risking their own life — to save hers.
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Does anyone get quality health care?
And that brings up the issue of staffing. There are not enough staff at this private facility, and some are not well suited for their jobs. Our friend, who manages group homes for intellectually delayed adults, is determined to use her experience for good. She is taking notes on how she is treated, the words staff say to her that are sometimes demeaning and dismissive, so that she can make sure she trains her staff to be more sensitive and caring. One aide asked her to roll over in order for him to put a bedpan under her. When she said she couldn’t, he insisted she try and then told her that she was making things harder for him!
She’s been in the hospital for a week now and has yet to receive any sort of bath. When she asked about a sponge bath or shower, she was dismissed. In terms of weekend rehab, there was no physical or occupational therapy on Saturday, so when the occupational therapist arrived on Sunday after a two-day hiatus, our friend was so stiff that the exercises were too painful to complete. She admitted to some colorful language that no one could blame her for.
Of course, there are some wonderful, caring staff, including a nurse who on a Friday evening had already worked 12 hours and didn’t know when she would be leaving because there was no one to replace her. She was cheerful and attentive, efficient and as kind as any patient could wish for. If only she could be cloned.
Presently, our friend is in a private room, only because it was the only space available. Reportedly, she will be moved to a double room once one opens up. She worries, however, that if that happens, there will be no room for her husband, who is permanently in a wheelchair, to visit, since she has a commode in the room and hopes to be able to use a wheelchair herself soon. Yet, if she remains in a single room, insurance will not pay for it. In fact, she is not sure that insurance will pay for the single room now, even though she is there only because it was the only room available and not because she requested it.
Our friend is a bright, educated, English-speaking woman with good health insurance, being cared for in a private rehab hospital on the North Shore. What if she couldn’t speak English and couldn’t make her needs or limitations known? Or didn’t have insurance?
What can be done?
Clearly, universal health care is a first step, but even that does not ensure quality health care. Not only do people need and deserve health insurance, they also need and deserve care from people who are well-trained and well-suited to be in the medical and caring professions.
To recruit such people requires paying living wages and good working conditions. The old adage, “You get what you pay for,” holds true. We need to value the people who care for us. And that means compensating them well.
Unfortunately, the facilities that deliver nursing and rehab care are for-profit hospitals motivated by their bottom line. They want to make the most they can and we, as consumers, are stuck because they have a service we need. As long as they are operating as for-profit ventures, it may be difficult to ensure that patient care is the priority.
Luckily, there are people like our friend who will use her experience to make sure her staff members are even more responsive and sensitive to their clients’ needs than they already are. Of course, her facilities are nonprofit.
And…
With midterm voting coming up, let’s not forget the importance of voting for candidates who understand the difference between minimum wages and living wages and the impact it has on the quality of life for everyone.
Stay well.
Therese
Judy
Didi
Mackenzie (Student Liaison)