The Importance of Staying Involved In Your Loved One's Nursing Home Care

The Importance of Staying Involved in Your Loved One's Nursing Home Care
When a loved one is admitted to a nursing home, it's not uncommon for family contact to decrease. Sometimes, the family is responding to months or years of stress and care that preceded the admission. Other times, they fear that frequent visits will make adjustment difficult. In some cases, they are just too preoccupied with their own routines.
Regardless of the reasons for staying away, most experts agree that it is the wrong thing to do. Staying involved can go a long way towards helping your loved one stay happy and healthy. No one wants to be lonely or feel forgotten. Anger and sadness are emotions with direct negative effects on health and wellness, and while those feelings are probably unavoidable to some extent, regular visits can help.
When you visit the nursing home often, your loved one benefits by having one more concerned set of eyes around. Employees of nursing homes may grow accustomed to seeing sickness in their patients, so new illnesses or injuries may go unnoticed until they become serious. Even worse, many nursing homes report staffing shortages that leave them stretched thin much of the time. If you visit your loved one regularly, there is a good chance that you might pick up on a problem before one of the nurses would.
Beyond that, there are other health reasons for checking in regularly. In general, residents with frequent visitors are happier and friendlier. A nursing home resident who is kind and upbeat is more likely to engage in regular dialogue with staff members. Studies in hospitals have shown that friendly patients get better care and more attention. If your loved one spends his or her days feeling angry and resentful, the unfortunate truth is that staff may not be inclined to spend as much time around him or her.
While it's sad that it even merits mention, frequent nursing home visits can also help you prevent your loved one from becoming the victim of abuse. Even though research can go a long way towards minimizing the likelihood of problems, remember that employees are always changing. If major changes occur, such as a new administrator or director of nursing, be sure to meet with the new staff member. Perhaps more importantly, get to know the nursing staff that provides most of your loved one's daily care. Just knowing that a concerned party is watching can be enough to keep overburdened workers interested in doing a good job.
When you do visit the nursing home, there are steps you can take to make the most of your time there. If one of the regular nurses is around, ask how your loved one is doing. He or she should be able to tell you about general health and temperament, as well as the kind of activities your loved one has been taking part in.
Always be on the lookout for signs of abuse. Major weight gain or loss, developing bedsores, and new chronic medical problems could be signs that some investigation is necessary. Make sure that his or her grooming is maintained and bathroom functions are taken care of. Even if all seems well with your loved one, ask to meet some of his or her friends, too. Signs of abuse can take time to show up, and may be more obvious in a resident who has lived in the facility for a longer period of time.
It can be difficult to relinquish control of your loved one's health to strangers. By staying involved, you can maintain some of that control and avoid many of the problems commonly associated with long-term care.