Pretty early on today I got stuck watching a patient with dementia. Sigh. He kept trying to climb out of the bed. About every 30 seconds to 3 minutes (at the outside). That gets old after a couple of hours. Really old. They found a bed for her upstairs, but at the last minute (I had him in the wheelchair to take him upstairs, leaving the room), they said (more or less) "Wait. Whaddya' mean he's a sitter patient? When you said he was a sitter patient you didn't really want a sitter for him, did you? We don't have one..." !#$^%*^(*@$%#!@#%!! After lunch, my coworker went upstairs with him and sat with him 'til 5PM. Thank God. I needed a break from him. They didn't want to restrain him, or mellow him out with any medication. I'd finally put him in a reverse Trendelenberg position and raised the knees...it made him something akin to a turtle on his back. He could only muster a good attempt at escaping the bed every 15-20 minutes, and he was getting tired trying...
I know...he's get dementia. He can't help it. And I feel bad for him, that he is reduced to such a state, but its hard to care to much when he is trying to climb out of bed time after time after time, for hours, babbling things that make no sense, and starting to throw his bedding all over the room when he doesn't get his way.
I'm glad he's gone upstairs, and I'm glad to be home. I'm also happy tomorrow is a "Friday"...
No comments:
Post a Comment