My mom is in a nursing home with dementia and paranoia. Last night she punched one of the workers.

When it comes to over medicating everyone in a facility I think in a lot of cases we make assumptions that are not based on facts, for instance I know that my mother might appear doped out of her mind but she is not. (And I doubt the others like her who are drooling in their chairs are either).

The problem with an anti-medication bias is based on uneducated thought and ignorance. Medicines, when used correctly is a godsend to those suffering from physical and mental health issues.

Try not to comment if you have not walked in someone's shoes

My mother did this after she had been moved to rehab after breaking her hip and surgery. She didn't remember she couldn't stand up by herself and when she tried, an aide rushed across the room and roughly pushed her back into her chair. She reacted by slapping the aide. I got a very nasty call from the nursing supervisor and from that point on they hated my mother. They tried to have her moved to another facility without my knowledge. Fortunately the doctor there stopped them. They then moved her to another wing and hardly ever did any rehab resulting in her never being able to walk or stand again. At the end of the 6 weeks of required rehab, I found a nursing home not far from my house and they agreed to take her. Two days before she was to move, the social worker from the rehab facility called telling me the nursing home that had agreed to take her had backed out because that nursing supervisor had called them and told them she was an undesirable.
If I were you I'd start taking treats and snacks to the nurses and telling them how wonderful they are EVERY time you see them.

I was under the impression residents have the right to say no. So if mom didn't want her hair washed, it didn't have to be. You can get her a plastic shower cap. One less thing for cna to do. Now if she doesnt have it washed for weeks, they will tell the nurse/write on nightly paperwork they have to wash it. I'd definitely talk to her nurse and see what's going on. If your paying for her to get a,wash/set, then CNA should be able to see that it's been freshly done. Sometimes pts get the same CNA for awhile, and other times they are assigned diff. Cnas.
This should be any easy fix hopefully.