Mom has been suffering with razor sharp pain, frequent urination, & no sleep. Refused walk-in clinic (I offered because she hates NP's). LPN at Assisted Living finally ordered UA, NP visited, & antibiotics prescribed but not getting them due to the pharmacy order coming in 3 days later. Not sure between what mom says & what LPN is passing off as NP's fault what the exact timing is. But, I feel that from Tuesday to Friday, someone should've stepped up by now. Mom is not ever happy there but this situation has caused her to blame more inadequacies on AL & to explode again on me as her POA. LPN says it's the NP's ordering meds from pharmacy outta town that AL uses & NP blames LPN at facility. Am I being overbearing to expect the faculty that gets $120 per day to get mom some immediate relief? I think I know the answer, so here's another question: if the culture has been tested twice (because it has to grow), is it likely going to? And, what else could it be on an 89 year old who's had a hysterectomy & has no discharge?
I had finally learned to cope with mom, had her understand no more drama, but today she went off bringing up all the crap again. I know uti's are hell but I'm saddened over all this. Any advice?
It seems unreasonable for them to sit back and wait while this woman suffers. If they keep passing the buck you may have to either demand that they take action to help her or you can take her to the ER.
NP says it's dryness. Told her to use coconut oil 2-3 times daily. If still continues, she'll refer her to a urologist.
NP offered to examine her, but my mom refused.
There is not an RN at ALF, just an LPN.
LPN stays in constant contact with NP who makes rounds each Thursday.
There must be an ombudsman there you can speak to and lay a formal complaint.
2 years ago there was a great article in the Guardian about chronic UTIs. You may be able to Google it. The gist of the article was that instead of culturing the pee sample, it must be examined under a microscope immediately, as in fresh while in the office. This is the old fashioned way of checking for a UTI, but not commonly used now. The second point of the article referred to chronic UTIs and best practices for treating them.
Be aware that an NP is close to a doctor. You have ur CNA, no medical background. An LPN with limitations on what she can do but does have medical background. RNs are the next tier, more schooling than an LPN. Usually an associates or BA degree. Then you have a NP that goes thru lots more training and has a Masters or even a Doctorate.
I agree, get Mom to the ER. Have them catherized to get all the urine out. They should do a culture but will probably put her on a broad spectrum antibiotic to start with. She should have a probiotic while on antibiotics. A cranberry pill (no juices because of the sugar) may help.
The new UTIs are awful with their not being susceptible to the new antibiotics. New York Times had, about a month ago, a front page Sunday article about how awful and how uncontrollable the new UTIs are.
So sorry all this is going on for you both.
And no, an untreated UTI for three days is not OK. It is enough time for it to go into the kidneys. Thing is, there is little to be done about that if there is that level of negligence.
I will look for that article & see if I can send it to NP & LPN for consideration. This is scary!
Thank you!!