I feel almost at my wits end. We recently acquired a new resident (Resident C) who was deemed unsafe to be at home due to mental illness. Originally she was roomed with Resident A, but Resident A kept throwing all hung up clothes of Resident C's onto her (Resident A's) bed and sleeping on them, a common behavior of Resident A with any blanekt, clothes, ect. Resident C was also very possessive of Resident A and believed we were drugging her due to Resident A being a fan of cat naps. Resident A changed rooms with Resident B so that Resident B now roomed with Resident C. Resident C was originally violently kicking out Resident B and trying to drag Resident A back into her room, but over the past few days has become super possessive of Resident B, calling her her wife, which we correct in an effort to discourage this behavior.
Resident B is very prone to violent behaviors. She's attacked staff member in fits of rage ranging for trying to get out to trying to steal our cellphones from our pockets (she is coming from a home setting and knows everyone pretty much has a cellphone.) I myself lock my phone in the office for this reason. She has strangled me twice now and another caregiver once due to not getting her way. She also has no concept of personal space and gets very touchy feely and tries to kiss both staff members and other residents.
Today she kept roughly grabbing and trying to bring Resident B with her to their room, and such. We stepped between them multiple times and as the most experienced caregiver, I made the call for Resident B to sleep in the lobby in a recliner for her own safety. I have stepped between Resident C and Resident B quite a few times to provide a shield for Resident B.
Resident B is being abused by Resident C in my and several other's opinions, but higher ups won't listen. What are our options and does anyone have any advice or tips for dealing with these behaviors? Today was bad enough that for all residents safety we had the woman stay in her room and she interrupted/delayed care for everyone else because we had to act like prison wardens.
I speak in a firm, clear tone with Resident C, using simple terms she can understand. I stand my ground (defensively) and stay consistent in what is and isn't allowed. I do not raise my voice and do not take on an aggressive stance.
I do not want to be a prison warden I want to be a caregiver and be able to give all the residents the best care possible. We are designating panic areas due to this Resident's behaviors, which we are heavily documenting.
"Doctor aware" puts his/her license on the line in the event of a lawsuit or complaint against the facility. It stays in the chart (unless charts gets falsified, in which case you should consider blowing the whistle). The doctor cannot claim s/he was unaware.
And complete an incident report about being strangled - you are not Ana in Fifty Shades of Grey. Strangulation can have serious consequences weeks or even months afterward. If you don't document it in an incident report, it didn't happen!
My best advice would be to fanatically document everything, especially including any reports up the internal chain of command.
People who are old aren't always weak, they can often be amazingly strong and it wouldn't take much for C to throw someone to the ground, ensuing a broken hip or worse. She strangled YOU?? Ok, that's just too much!
Doesn't any one else witness this behavior? There's more power in numbers, for sure.
Possibly a mild tranquilizer is called for and a private room (sorry, family of C, that's going to cost..but less than a lawsuit if she truly hurts someone. Sounds like a ticking time bomb to me.)
A picture is worth a thousand words, and a video can be even more powerful...maybe the next time C acts out one of the other caretakers can get what you have to do on video...obviously to the extent that the person doing the taping stops to intervene when/if needed...then maybe show THAT to your supervisors.
I have found it much more communicative to give actual examples, rather that descriptions of behavior ( ie. "My mom can't walk across the room without stopping to sit and get her breath back" as opposed to "my mom has been very short of breath lately "). It's easy to sort of blow off general descriptions - not that I'm saying you haven't been being specific about the behavior- but with actual specifics it becomes a little harder to ignore...
Good luck...I'm sorry you're being subject to this kind of abuse, no one gets paid enough to be a punching bag, ever if the aggressor isnt completely aware what they're doing is wrong.
Why should my loved one have to move or sleep in the reception in a recliner because the facility that is being paid to care for them is not doing their job?!?
You need to put this in writing and give it to the powers that be, you know the chain of command, so use it and get these residents the help they need.