Have you seen the story in the news? In Meredith, New Hampshire (I'm in MA so this has been on the local news) an alzheimer's patient killed another resident in the nursing home. I won't post a link so that the post won't be removed but you can google it and get the news story. We see many stories on here about aggressive patients but rarely see the violence escalate like this.
I feel so sorry for the patient's family who passed. If that was my mom (my mom has passed) I would be raising hell insisting that he be charged and something be done...even though I know logically that its near impossible that he will be charged as no prison would be appropriate for him.
This story scares me terribly. While this one ended in death, there are many other assaults that happen in alzheimer's wards that we hear nothing about because they are not nearly as serious...but if anyone EVER laid a hand on my father you can be sure I'd be chomping at the bit for something to change to be sure it never happened again...and maybe I'd also be looking for justice. No one hurts my daddy.
I know that many of you deal with aggressive patients or have been on the receiving end of violence...what is your feelings on this topic?
Angel
Well at breakfast Miss Newbie was made to sit at Mom's table, despite Mom's objections. I came as soon as I could to find Mom mostly packed and ready to go, and her toilet had been blocked by Miss Newbie (and would not be fixed for at least several hours). The staff could not understand (whatever language I used) that I was taking Mom home NOW. The doctor was there but was sent to other rooms and never saw Mom. We spoke to "the boss" who said Miss Newbie had this problem for 3 years and would be permitted to roam freely like this "for several days till she gets her bearings." If we wanted to lock the door, we had to pay $10 per day (but this was not for the room door, but for a cabinet of drawers). Nope, this was the final straw after two weeks of idiocy, including a physical attack from a staff member the previous morning. (Instead of taking that seriously, the boss argued with us about the person's job title.) As we went back to get Mom';s stuff, Miss Newbie was in the hall and grabbed Mom's arm -- we both yelled at her, the staff gave US the evil eye and did nothing to stop it.
I am glad to see Mom home, but not under these circumstances. Some degree of personal safety should be available in these places. Scary.