So today my Dad was in shower and sitting on chair when nursing assistant left him to get pyjamas and whilst away he slipped off chair and landed on floor where he could do nothing but wait for her to come back.He cannot yet weight bare with standing aid. A couple of weeks ago one of the nurses said that alot of the staff do not know how to use standing aid in shower and today he is left with an untrained nurse? Luckily he wasn't hurt but I cannot get the image of him lying on floor out of my mind and I am worried this will happen again and be injured. Should I complain? I am sure this is classed as negligence but when I spoke to nurse she pretty much shrugged it off, telling me this happens sometimes, although they did call me after it happened. What would you do?
MY DAD FELL IN SHOWER: So today my Dad was in... - ICUsteps
MY DAD FELL IN SHOWER
Mistakes happen but she should not shrug it off. Does chair have handles on the side or any sort of support that could have prevented his fall? You can let it slide once but just tell her she needs to be more attentive especially in the bathroom, he coulda hit a nob or something.. also tell nursing aid before taking dad into the bathroom have everything ready in bathroom or near by where its easily reachable and she isnt away for long
That's the thing with no visitation, I only get very vague updates since he moved to general ward. He doesn't have any mobility at all and one nurse said that most of the staff do not know how to use stand aid in shower so why was he left with a nursing assistant? I have emailed the senior nurse because I am not having this. Must have been awful just slumped on the floor waiting on nurse coming back to help.
I am not too sure what chair it is. It's simple thins like this that I would normally have seen in ward whilst visiting.
It's very upsetting for the patient who falls and I'm glad you Dad didn't sustain serious injury. It must be so hard being at a distance and not seeing the staff face to face to raise your concerns. They will have had to fill in an incident form and it won't have been seen as nothing even if a (possibly weary) nurse sounded offhand. Hopefully you will be able to be reassured that greater care will be taken moving forward.
It’s really upsetting to hear that your father’s fallen over and of course you are going to be imagining the worst scenario.
I ‘fell’ in hospital a few times.
The first time was in ICU whilst I was undergoing physio and I was holding a Zimmer frame. I also had a physio either side of me. They weren’t neglectful those two girls in anyway - I just went down so quickly I took them by surprise. In fact I hadn’t fallen, I’d had a vasovagal and my blood pressure had plummeted from an already low starting point. I came round to the crash team around me. Two very pale physios and a ring of smiling, anxious faces of nurses & doctors staring down at me. They all looked so fresh and clean - in that instant - I thought I’d died and I remember thinking - “Shit - it just like Hollywood” - I thought I’d woken in heaven with a ring of angels staring down at me.
The next time it happened I was on the wards - and yes - I believe the wards were not setup for someone as physically vulnerable as me. A nursing assistant took me for my first shower & I had a chair. As I came out of the shower back in the room, I collapsed again and I fell hard - crash team were called, as I sat up after coming round - I went out again. You see my circulation system had all gone haywire whilst I was on the machines as had everything else - so my blood pressure would drop like stone. Where, I believe, the hospitals are remiss is that they don’t explain well enough to their staff what to look out for with excritical care patients. Although they would tell my wife I’d fallen - they didn’t explain the circumstances. So when I came home and was still having vasovagals - she hadn’t a clue. 2nd day home she found me passed out stiff as a board, seemingly fitting, eyes the back of my head - lying perpendicular across the rim of a full bath of water. She pulled me down only for me to stop breathing and she’s thinking “shit, 4 months in hospital fighting for your life and you die in my arms when you get home”.
So vasovagals are another over the top body response - a bit like sepsis is the body’s extreme response to infection.
If the brain isn’t getting enough blood/ oxygen, people can pass out. So the cure, get up slowly, especially from a hot shower, if you still feel dizzy / get on your back and lift legs in air ASAP. This is easier said than done when you still can’t crouch or kneel but I found a way to control vasovagals. Eventually my whole system improved.
Yes I agree about the general wards not taking on board how ill someone has been in ICU. I emailed the senior charge nurse and she did apologise that this had happened. Apparently my Dad had tried to reach for something which caused the fall. Luckily he isn't anxious about going back in shower so I will let it lie but if it happens again I will be less forgiving. Today he is sneezing and choked up so bit worried this will go straight to his chest. Only a few weeks since he had pneumonia. Anyone else super alert to any relatively minor symptoms?
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