My mother was put on comfort care 4 days ago CHF..hospice came right in and let me tell you they are better than awesome ! My mom is in a NH they today came with a new mattress for her bed, a bedside toilet and meds to make her more comfortable. She has an aide to come in 5 days a week, a nurse twice a week, social worker twice a week and a pastor once a week. Congestive Heart Failure is a nasty b#*#*... My mom is good one day horrible the next..her breathing has been very labored. I would encouragage everyone to take hospice under consideration for end of life...being an only child I have felt like I have siblings to help..they all have been very loving and caring with my mom.
Unlike "hospice" I don't think there is a universal meaning of "comfort care" -- so you need to find out what this NH means. Also, are you the medical POA? If so, it seems to me they should be discussing it with you, not "telling" you.
You will have to have the facility elaborate the definition of "comfort care". If oxygen levels are low, as were with my mother; it did infer that unless the levels came up; she needed to be made comfortable.
This is not as easy as it sounds. I don't know your mother's medical problems, but after you hear about comfort care; hospice is usually called in. This happened with my mother. The hospice people are wonderful, but cannot be there full time. It is up to us to be their advocate and monitor the situation. I stayed with my mother constantly and had to call hospice back into the facility in order to ensure that the best decisions were being made for my mother's comfort. Things can change drastically, and I learned the nurse's are quite conservative with the doling out of morphine and doctor's orders need to be followed and increased as the need arises. Also, I learned that not all the nurses are knowledgeable as to the proper dispensation of morphine if it is by dropper into my mother's mouth. There is a "right" and a "wrong" way meaning if administered improperly, the patient does not receive the proper dosage to keep them "comfortable". The hospice nurse set me straight on this and she was not afraid to tell the NH nurses that they needed some direction with the administration of the medication. So, try to stay one step ahead and call the hospice people at any time if need be; they are wonderful and more than willing to return to the facility should there be a problem. I had to be aggressive and have the nurses call the doctor to increase the dosage as my mother was in great distress and the hospice nurses had advised me to do this. The doctor, once contacted, immediately increased the dosage to ensure the comfort of the patient. Blessings to you and hope things go smoothly for you and your poor mother.
In my mother-in-law's situation, it meant the same thing as hospice - meaning they will keep them comfortable via oxygen, pain medication and anything else needed as they begin the road to passing away. And everyone is different - it can take a very short time or a very long time for this to happen. But jeannegibbs is right - call the nursing home right away and ask them exactly what this means in her case and where is she at. ((HUGS))
This is not as easy as it sounds. I don't know your mother's medical problems, but after you hear about comfort care; hospice is usually called in. This happened with my mother. The hospice people are wonderful, but cannot be there full time. It is up to us to be their advocate and monitor the situation. I stayed with my mother constantly and had to call hospice back into the facility in order to ensure that the best decisions were being made for my mother's comfort. Things can change drastically, and I learned the nurse's are quite conservative with the doling out of morphine and doctor's orders need to be followed and increased as the need arises. Also, I learned that not all the nurses are knowledgeable as to the proper dispensation of morphine if it is by dropper into my mother's mouth. There is a "right" and a "wrong" way meaning if administered improperly, the patient does not receive the proper dosage to keep them "comfortable". The hospice nurse set me straight on this and she was not afraid to tell the NH nurses that they needed some direction with the administration of the medication. So, try to stay one step ahead and call the hospice people at any time if need be; they are wonderful and more than willing to return to the facility should there be a problem. I had to be aggressive and have the nurses call the doctor to increase the dosage as my mother was in great distress and the hospice nurses had advised me to do this. The doctor, once contacted, immediately increased the dosage to ensure the comfort of the patient. Blessings to you and hope things go smoothly for you and your poor mother.