Mom in NH doesn’t get her alert call answered. Anyone else have situations like this?

Yes they collect all this money every month in the thousands and don't even have to follow any rules or regulations as to how many staff per residents.

That is why I call it warehousing of old people. Who are being propped up by a medical community to keep living long after their quality of loved and dignity has been taken away from them.

Then you have to accept that most people are not going to want to work in a facility where they have to change incontinent seniors all day. So you can see why hiring people can be difficult. Not to mention it is a thankless job and some seniors make things even harder with their demands. Imagine what they did to their loved ones before being placed in a facility.

There are no easy answers as to why or how people can live into their nineties or hundreds like this.

I learned that in the state of Virginia there are NO staffing requirements. I read the regs. All that is expected is “adequate” staffing! Staffing is a management decision. After 27 yrs working for a facility in NYS {LTC} I am appalled at the staffing here. There is 1 CNA for 14-28 residents! I am told it is ok to make beds at 3-4pm when mom goes back to bed at 730pm. She has fallen trying to make her own bed. It is hard to do with a walker. Staffing help for her showers has been a huge issue. Mom fell recently trying to shower alone. Dementia residents lack insight. This is a beautiful campus with a beautiful facility but standards are much lower than I am used to. When looking at other facilities locally I see the same deficiencies. I suggest all families visit at least a few times weekly and reports issues. We do 5 days a week of spot checks/visits. My mom has Lewy Body and can report issues to me. $4655 a month rent is paid. Mom needs meals, med pass, a shower weekly and the bed made daily. She is not a resident who requires all day assistance. Disappointing indeed. I might add…mom has fallen 4x in 18 months..Two times the call system was not functional! She crawled to the door to get help! This not an old facility!

Thank you maggire61r. Yes we have asked for the call log and we understand this will go thru channels and may take a few days. My sister visited mom right after this occurred and she stated it was hard to even find 1 staffer. They are short staffed but isn’t there a government rule/regulation as to the number or percentage of staffers to residents? I mean if the administration has to hit the floor or turn double shifts then it needs to happen.

I'm in the NH. I hear patients tell their families all the that they don't get changed, don't get meals and medication on time, etc. By the same token I hear patients refuse stuff, tell nurses they don't need changed. Everything's done on a schedule. I haven't had those problems. Even if some aides are doing scheduled duties there are always two floater aides to answer the buzzers.

My mom would tell me she pushed her button more than 7 times, no one came right away… my mom doesn’t realize 7 times within a minute does not mean she is being ignored….

SusanGr, senior care faculties usually work similar to hospital's triage. The Staff could be helping another resident who is having an emergency issue.

Go over her medication plan and ask that her pain meds be given on a scheduled basis, not as needed (prn).

First you have to find out if it is indeed 2 hours. My mom would call me and say that she was waiting for hours for them to answer her call, when in reality it was only about 15 - 20 minutes. She would ask me to call the nurses' station because nobody was answering her call light and she needed water. So I'd call and be on hold for about an hour and then hang up. I'd call her room and ask if she got her water and she informed me that oh yes, she got her water, went to the bathroom and was changed and ready for bed. She just didn't like waiting.

Also, if she is receiving pain medication, they are only allowed to give it at certain intervals like every 4 hours, every 6 hours, etc. depending on the medication.

If you go to visit her, you can check it out yourself. I figured they would be fairly attentive knowing she had visitors, but my husband stood in the hallway where he could see the call lights outside the rooms and he said it generally took them 10 - 20 minutes to go into the rooms.

If it turns out to be true, I would complain to the administrator and if that gets you nowhere, file a complaint with the state ombudsman. Document what you see and hear before complaining though. Best of luck.