Follow
Share

I tell mom that I'm going to the store she forgets and calls my job disrupting the nurses station looking for me . What do I do ? I am a RN at a busy hospital she calls looking for me when I run to the store or out in the yard doing things . This is the third time she has done this I took the work number off the list of numbers and left my cell phone number and apologized to the staff , I am so embarrassed I have no idea what she said on the phone with them. Believe it or not she calls the living room the cellar .. I bet she told them she was in the cellar omgg .. Did your family member ever make work life miserable ? I'm so afraid of getting fired . I have no one else to help since my sister died last aug . Thank you all for your help in advance.

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Find Care & Housing
Just tell them at work that it might happen. If they know it, they may find it amusing if she says she is in the cellar. People are usually pretty nice, so they'll understand. Since they work in the hospital, they will probably know how to handle things so she will feel at ease.
Helpful Answer (5)
Report

You have to give her only your cell phone number and remove all the others from her sight. She will forget the rest of them. The cell phone can be diverted to voicemail or turned off. I have a similar problem with my sister. I will answer the first call, and ignore the rest.
Helpful Answer (2)
Report

Those are good ideas I took down my work number and left my cell . Our unit is busy with critical patients and shouldn't be disrupted .. I was mad at her for calling when I found out I looked at my phone and there were 4 texts from my boss and co workers ughh
Helpful Answer (2)
Report

Just as JessieBelle above had said, explain your situation to your co-workers, and ask for their advice. Maybe one of them had a similar situation in their own household. Then if your Mother does call the nursing station, they can either put her on HOLD or try to smooth over your Mom's concern.
Helpful Answer (0)
Report

Use a small white board located where she sees it from where she usually sits. Write your location on it, and any activites for the day. My sister also wrote the day and date on it. It might say Tuesday May 6 / Hair appointment at 3:00 and in big letters I AM AT STORE home by noon. When she returned she erased the location message. Mom came to rely on looking at this whiteboard frequently.

With my husband I used paper. I would put a slip with large writing AT TARGET, home by 3:30. That ususally worked fine and kept him from wandering around the house looking for me.

I agree about removing your work phone numbers, and I also suggest you keep her informed about your whereabouts, since she isn't remembering what you tell her.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report

One thing you could do which isn't an ideal solution for several reasons would be to unplug the phone when you leave, if your mom couldn't figure out how to plug it in again. But your mom would need to have another way to notify someone of an emergency if you did that.

You could also put a big sign ON THE PHONE handset that says you're at the store and will be back in 15 minutes or whatever. Attach it to the receiver. Add "DO NOT CALL THE HOSPITAL" to that sign. Or tape the phone handset down with that sign attached. These are kind of drastic measures, but I'm trying to be creative with a difficult situation.
Helpful Answer (1)
Report

My mom calls all the time too. She calls my sister at work and my cell and home phone. if she dont get me to answer, she has been known to call the police to come ck on me. this pretty much happens late in the evenings so we ended up having the staff at the assisted living place she lives to unplug her phones at nite. as long as she dont figure out how to plug them back up, we are ok
Helpful Answer (1)
Report

This question has been closed for answers. Ask a New Question.
Ask a Question
Subscribe to
Our Newsletter