So my Dad has been moved to the full time "Skilled Nursing" section of the Assisted Living Community where my parents have lived for a little over four years now.
He has Type 1 diabetes. His body produces no insulin. He moved there directly from the hospital. He had pneumonia, and his blood sugar levels were all over the map, tending to the high side. They removed the pump. His endocrinologist was away on Spring Break.
The staff in Skilled Nursing are working out his new insulin regimen. They are not going to use the pump. That's fine. But despite my mom's repeated requests, the doctor(s?) there have NOT consulted with his endocrinologist.
My mom is spending most of her time over there, because they keep letting his blood sugar levels drop too low. He was starting to shake, so she alerted someone. (His short term memory is so bad he can't remember how to work the call button - or that it is a call button). They took their time about getting over there - by the time someone came, his teeth were chattering.
Then the nurse wiped his finger with the alcohol pad. But she didn't wait for it to dry. You get inaccurate readings this way. The reading was 60. My mom thought it was much lower.
They gave him crackers and orange juice. They've been trained to give them milk and peanut butter crackers. The milk can get into your system pretty quickly, but peanut butter crackers can't. This works for Type II diabetics, but not Type I. Dad's protocol is orange juice, because it gets in your system right away. They often forget this and don't bring him orange juice.
Anyway, after he'd eaten a couple crackers and had some juice, the nurse that knows what she's doing came and took his blood sugar. It was 40.
Obviously some of the LPNs (?) and CNAs (?) need further (or reminder?) training. And I think she should insist his staff doctor consult with his endocrinologist. The way my mom puts it is that they treat her like "we can deal with this," and she requests they take his blood sugar and they roll their eyes at her.
I said there is NO excuse for this, and they're obviously not remembering the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics.
I said she should do four things:
1) Write a note to the head of Skilled Nursing (she's already tried talking to her). Get it in writing that some of the staff needs proper training on doing the blood sugar testing. And they need to give him HIS protocol, not their standard protocol (juice vs mild and peanut butter crackers).
2) Talk to his staff doctor, NOT the head of Skilled Nursing, and found out WHY they aren't having Dad's endocrinologist involved in his treatment!
3) Put up a big white board on his wall and write on it: "Hi! I'm Dr. Chuck XXXXX. I am a Type 1 diabetic. My body produces no insulin at all, so I am completely dependent upon you. Thank you for taking proper care of me!
4) Talk to the head of Skilled Nursing and find out what she can do for the entire staff - whether it's pizza at lunch for the day shift and pizza at dinner for the night shift, or several deliveries of baked goods - or SOMETHING, and send it along with a note that says she knows she's being a PIA, but she's cared for him for 59 years, this is a transition for everyone, and she really appreciates all their hard work.
I mean - she SHOULD insist on things like proper blood sugar testing, and getting his own doctor involved (they seem to think that "bringing in a specialist" means there's something deficient with them), shouldn't she? I mean, he does keep running very low blood sugar levels!
(And no, he's not sick any more).
He has Type 1 diabetes. His body produces no insulin. He moved there directly from the hospital. He had pneumonia, and his blood sugar levels were all over the map, tending to the high side. They removed the pump. His endocrinologist was away on Spring Break.
The staff in Skilled Nursing are working out his new insulin regimen. They are not going to use the pump. That's fine. But despite my mom's repeated requests, the doctor(s?) there have NOT consulted with his endocrinologist.
My mom is spending most of her time over there, because they keep letting his blood sugar levels drop too low. He was starting to shake, so she alerted someone. (His short term memory is so bad he can't remember how to work the call button - or that it is a call button). They took their time about getting over there - by the time someone came, his teeth were chattering.
Then the nurse wiped his finger with the alcohol pad. But she didn't wait for it to dry. You get inaccurate readings this way. The reading was 60. My mom thought it was much lower.
They gave him crackers and orange juice. They've been trained to give them milk and peanut butter crackers. The milk can get into your system pretty quickly, but peanut butter crackers can't. This works for Type II diabetics, but not Type I. Dad's protocol is orange juice, because it gets in your system right away. They often forget this and don't bring him orange juice.
Anyway, after he'd eaten a couple crackers and had some juice, the nurse that knows what she's doing came and took his blood sugar. It was 40.
Obviously some of the LPNs (?) and CNAs (?) need further (or reminder?) training. And I think she should insist his staff doctor consult with his endocrinologist. The way my mom puts it is that they treat her like "we can deal with this," and she requests they take his blood sugar and they roll their eyes at her.
I said there is NO excuse for this, and they're obviously not remembering the difference between Type 1 and Type 2 diabetics.
I said she should do four things:
1) Write a note to the head of Skilled Nursing (she's already tried talking to her). Get it in writing that some of the staff needs proper training on doing the blood sugar testing. And they need to give him HIS protocol, not their standard protocol (juice vs mild and peanut butter crackers).
2) Talk to his staff doctor, NOT the head of Skilled Nursing, and found out WHY they aren't having Dad's endocrinologist involved in his treatment!
3) Put up a big white board on his wall and write on it: "Hi! I'm Dr. Chuck XXXXX. I am a Type 1 diabetic. My body produces no insulin at all, so I am completely dependent upon you. Thank you for taking proper care of me!
4) Talk to the head of Skilled Nursing and find out what she can do for the entire staff - whether it's pizza at lunch for the day shift and pizza at dinner for the night shift, or several deliveries of baked goods - or SOMETHING, and send it along with a note that says she knows she's being a PIA, but she's cared for him for 59 years, this is a transition for everyone, and she really appreciates all their hard work.
I mean - she SHOULD insist on things like proper blood sugar testing, and getting his own doctor involved (they seem to think that "bringing in a specialist" means there's something deficient with them), shouldn't she? I mean, he does keep running very low blood sugar levels!
(And no, he's not sick any more).