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#1
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Update on my client's patient
I went to visit my client who had the extremely obese patient today and
learned that she had died. For those of you who do not remember, this was a 40ish year old patient who weighed close to 500 pounds. She was physically unable to feed herself and her family seemed to mistake food for love. I spent an afternoon with the agency trying to come up with a decent plan of care. We even went as far as having the family sign a contract that they would abide by the written dietary guidelines we provided. About two days later they called asking if perhaps we could approach the MD about having a feeding tube inserted because they were afraid she wasn't getting enough protein. Don't go there. The food diary mirrored the dietary guidelines and no one ever knew how the fast food wrappers got into her bed. The patient was extremely compromised and needed to be up in the chair to breath. When the family got adamant that she stay up in the chair, she activated her emergency alarm and summoned 911 to put her back to bed. It is tragic. It is not the story of those of us on ASD but it made me sad, all the same. She has teenage kids. Thanks to everyone who responded with good advice on how to motivate this patient. For what it is worth, we did have elderly protective services involved. I likened the patient to an alcoholic who's family poured vodka down their throat until they passed out and as soon as the patient stirred, they poured even more never giving the patient a sober moment to consider their choices. j |
#2
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Update on my client's patient
I'm so sorry to hear that. Perhaps this is a lesson for the agencies
involved on what NOT to do next time... Sometimes we are powerless, ALWAYS powerless over others. It's not a good feeling, sometimes we have to practice surrender. The serenity prayer certainly seems applicable here. det "Julianne" wrote in message news:IZObb.2201$k74.675@lakeread05... I went to visit my client who had the extremely obese patient today and learned that she had died. For those of you who do not remember, this was a 40ish year old patient who weighed close to 500 pounds. She was physically unable to feed herself and her family seemed to mistake food for love. I spent an afternoon with the agency trying to come up with a decent plan of care. We even went as far as having the family sign a contract that they would abide by the written dietary guidelines we provided. About two days later they called asking if perhaps we could approach the MD about having a feeding tube inserted because they were afraid she wasn't getting enough protein. Don't go there. The food diary mirrored the dietary guidelines and no one ever knew how the fast food wrappers got into her bed. The patient was extremely compromised and needed to be up in the chair to breath. When the family got adamant that she stay up in the chair, she activated her emergency alarm and summoned 911 to put her back to bed. It is tragic. It is not the story of those of us on ASD but it made me sad, all the same. She has teenage kids. Thanks to everyone who responded with good advice on how to motivate this patient. For what it is worth, we did have elderly protective services involved. I likened the patient to an alcoholic who's family poured vodka down their throat until they passed out and as soon as the patient stirred, they poured even more never giving the patient a sober moment to consider their choices. j |
#3
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Update on my client's patient
Are you a closet nurse?
j p.s. "determined" wrote in message ... I'm so sorry to hear that. Perhaps this is a lesson for the agencies involved on what NOT to do next time... Sometimes we are powerless, ALWAYS powerless over others. It's not a good feeling, sometimes we have to practice surrender. The serenity prayer certainly seems applicable here. det "Julianne" wrote in message news:IZObb.2201$k74.675@lakeread05... I went to visit my client who had the extremely obese patient today and learned that she had died. For those of you who do not remember, this was a 40ish year old patient who weighed close to 500 pounds. She was physically unable to feed herself and her family seemed to mistake food for love. I spent an afternoon with the agency trying to come up with a decent plan of care. We even went as far as having the family sign a contract that they would abide by the written dietary guidelines we provided. About two days later they called asking if perhaps we could approach the MD about having a feeding tube inserted because they were afraid she wasn't getting enough protein. Don't go there. The food diary mirrored the dietary guidelines and no one ever knew how the fast food wrappers got into her bed. The patient was extremely compromised and needed to be up in the chair to breath. When the family got adamant that she stay up in the chair, she activated her emergency alarm and summoned 911 to put her back to bed. It is tragic. It is not the story of those of us on ASD but it made me sad, all the same. She has teenage kids. Thanks to everyone who responded with good advice on how to motivate this patient. For what it is worth, we did have elderly protective services involved. I likened the patient to an alcoholic who's family poured vodka down their throat until they passed out and as soon as the patient stirred, they poured even more never giving the patient a sober moment to consider their choices. j |
#4
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Update on my client's patient
"Julianne" wrote in message news:zSPbb.2256$k74.2084@lakeread05... Are you a closet nurse? Hmmm... No. But a born caregiver. Taking care of others has always been second nature to me. And thinking I can fix everything and everyone... Well, we know what THAT's called.... Anyways, my prayers are with you. det |
#5
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Update on my client's patient
In article IZObb.2201$k74.675@lakeread05,
"Julianne" wrote: I went to visit my client who had the extremely obese patient today and learned that she had died. I've followed your posts about her the past few weeks - what a sad and disturbing story. I wonder if it would be possible to have a meeting with those medical professionals involved to try to hash out a program for any future patients in similar situations. Is there any sort of mandatory hospitalization or commitment to a secure facility that the patient could have been placed? Maybe there's nothing any of you could have done differently... she and her family were your strongest opposition and it appears they won the battle. |
#6
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Update on my client's patient
Owen,
Obliviously, it is impossible to chart every little thing about this patient but one factor that I did omit was that the staff of the home health agency aggressively pursued having the patient admitted as an inpatient to a rehab facility that specialized in wound care. Although, this admission would not have addressed the problem head on, it would have put a barrier between the patient and the family. Alas, the patient was in and out of the hospital in intensive care due to respiratory distress that the plan was never implemented. Whenever a patient dies unexpectedly, a root cause analysis is done. Although the agency might not have violated any state standards or regs, it is a good exercise into what could have been done differently or better. Meanwhile, patients have the right to make decisions. Who am I to force a patient to receive treatment? j ee, here is the thing. You have a patient who is alert, awake and oriented and refusing care at an inpatient facililty. "Owen Lowe" wrote in message ... In article IZObb.2201$k74.675@lakeread05, "Julianne" wrote: I went to visit my client who had the extremely obese patient today and learned that she had died. I've followed your posts about her the past few weeks - what a sad and disturbing story. I wonder if it would be possible to have a meeting with those medical professionals involved to try to hash out a program for any future patients in similar situations. Is there any sort of mandatory hospitalization or commitment to a secure facility that the patient could have been placed? Maybe there's nothing any of you could have done differently... she and her family were your strongest opposition and it appears they won the battle. |
#7
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Update on my client's patient
What a very sad story Julianne. I just hope that something good may
come out of the lessons that should have been learned. It seems ironic that people who exercise their own free will to eat in fast food outlets can then decide to sue them for feeing them unhealthy foods, whereas no one could take action to prevent this happening within a family. janice 233/161/133 On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 22:20:07 -0500, "Julianne" wrote: I went to visit my client who had the extremely obese patient today and learned that she had died. For those of you who do not remember, this was a 40ish year old patient who weighed close to 500 pounds. She was physically unable to feed herself and her family seemed to mistake food for love. I spent an afternoon with the agency trying to come up with a decent plan of care. We even went as far as having the family sign a contract that they would abide by the written dietary guidelines we provided. About two days later they called asking if perhaps we could approach the MD about having a feeding tube inserted because they were afraid she wasn't getting enough protein. Don't go there. The food diary mirrored the dietary guidelines and no one ever knew how the fast food wrappers got into her bed. The patient was extremely compromised and needed to be up in the chair to breath. When the family got adamant that she stay up in the chair, she activated her emergency alarm and summoned 911 to put her back to bed. It is tragic. It is not the story of those of us on ASD but it made me sad, all the same. She has teenage kids. Thanks to everyone who responded with good advice on how to motivate this patient. For what it is worth, we did have elderly protective services involved. I likened the patient to an alcoholic who's family poured vodka down their throat until they passed out and as soon as the patient stirred, they poured even more never giving the patient a sober moment to consider their choices. j |
#8
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Update on my client's patient
Thanks. I hope we learn something as well. Although there is a pathology
within the family, it seems that the more experience we get, the more capable we will be as an industry to make changes. j "janice" wrote in message ... What a very sad story Julianne. I just hope that something good may come out of the lessons that should have been learned. It seems ironic that people who exercise their own free will to eat in fast food outlets can then decide to sue them for feeing them unhealthy foods, whereas no one could take action to prevent this happening within a family. janice 233/161/133 On Mon, 22 Sep 2003 22:20:07 -0500, "Julianne" wrote: I went to visit my client who had the extremely obese patient today and learned that she had died. For those of you who do not remember, this was a 40ish year old patient who weighed close to 500 pounds. She was physically unable to feed herself and her family seemed to mistake food for love. I spent an afternoon with the agency trying to come up with a decent plan of care. We even went as far as having the family sign a contract that they would abide by the written dietary guidelines we provided. About two days later they called asking if perhaps we could approach the MD about having a feeding tube inserted because they were afraid she wasn't getting enough protein. Don't go there. The food diary mirrored the dietary guidelines and no one ever knew how the fast food wrappers got into her bed. The patient was extremely compromised and needed to be up in the chair to breath. When the family got adamant that she stay up in the chair, she activated her emergency alarm and summoned 911 to put her back to bed. It is tragic. It is not the story of those of us on ASD but it made me sad, all the same. She has teenage kids. Thanks to everyone who responded with good advice on how to motivate this patient. For what it is worth, we did have elderly protective services involved. I likened the patient to an alcoholic who's family poured vodka down their throat until they passed out and as soon as the patient stirred, they poured even more never giving the patient a sober moment to consider their choices. j |
#9
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Update on my client's patient
This is so sad. I know how frustrating this situation was to you. I only
hope this puts into motion some changes within the involved agencies to change their procedures for future patients in a similar situation. Beverly "Julianne" wrote in message news:IZObb.2201$k74.675@lakeread05... I went to visit my client who had the extremely obese patient today and learned that she had died. For those of you who do not remember, this was a 40ish year old patient who weighed close to 500 pounds. She was physically unable to feed herself and her family seemed to mistake food for love. I spent an afternoon with the agency trying to come up with a decent plan of care. We even went as far as having the family sign a contract that they would abide by the written dietary guidelines we provided. About two days later they called asking if perhaps we could approach the MD about having a feeding tube inserted because they were afraid she wasn't getting enough protein. Don't go there. The food diary mirrored the dietary guidelines and no one ever knew how the fast food wrappers got into her bed. The patient was extremely compromised and needed to be up in the chair to breath. When the family got adamant that she stay up in the chair, she activated her emergency alarm and summoned 911 to put her back to bed. It is tragic. It is not the story of those of us on ASD but it made me sad, all the same. She has teenage kids. Thanks to everyone who responded with good advice on how to motivate this patient. For what it is worth, we did have elderly protective services involved. I likened the patient to an alcoholic who's family poured vodka down their throat until they passed out and as soon as the patient stirred, they poured even more never giving the patient a sober moment to consider their choices. j |
#10
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Update on my client's patient
Alas, Bev,
What do you do when a grown woman with no documented psychiatric illness refuses treatment? Yes, the agencies and myself can all learn realms but adult folks, up and until they are declared incompetent by a court are allowed to make their own decisions. It is painful. j "Beverly" wrote in message ... This is so sad. I know how frustrating this situation was to you. I only hope this puts into motion some changes within the involved agencies to change their procedures for future patients in a similar situation. Beverly "Julianne" wrote in message news:IZObb.2201$k74.675@lakeread05... I went to visit my client who had the extremely obese patient today and learned that she had died. For those of you who do not remember, this was a 40ish year old patient who weighed close to 500 pounds. She was physically unable to feed herself and her family seemed to mistake food for love. I spent an afternoon with the agency trying to come up with a decent plan of care. We even went as far as having the family sign a contract that they would abide by the written dietary guidelines we provided. About two days later they called asking if perhaps we could approach the MD about having a feeding tube inserted because they were afraid she wasn't getting enough protein. Don't go there. The food diary mirrored the dietary guidelines and no one ever knew how the fast food wrappers got into her bed. The patient was extremely compromised and needed to be up in the chair to breath. When the family got adamant that she stay up in the chair, she activated her emergency alarm and summoned 911 to put her back to bed. It is tragic. It is not the story of those of us on ASD but it made me sad, all the same. She has teenage kids. Thanks to everyone who responded with good advice on how to motivate this patient. For what it is worth, we did have elderly protective services involved. I likened the patient to an alcoholic who's family poured vodka down their throat until they passed out and as soon as the patient stirred, they poured even more never giving the patient a sober moment to consider their choices. j |
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