The nice men in the ambulance

Can you imagine her horror as she listens to her voice mail from her aged mother who tells her she had a fall, but the nice men in the ambulance have transported her, and then doesn't say where? This nurse practitioner brings you into the story of eldercare. . . a public health nurse, a family nurse practitioner, and an academic who taught family and community theory but learned she was completely unprepared to be a caregiver.

"I finally located her and was told that no information could be given as she had not yet signed a Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) form. This was the first of many frustrations with our healthcare system. I finally succeeded in reaching a nurse at that hospital who was known by a member of our family. She told me that radiology studies revealed a right hip fracture and 2 pelvic fractures: thus began our family's journey through the intricate web known as elder care in America, a journey with many peaks and valleys, and one that resulted in the reshaping of our family structure in ways I could never have foreseen."

And 5 months down the road and through the thicket of various mishaps,

"When discharge time came, there was no placement planned, and I found mother fully dressed and waiting for me with the IV still running. There were no wheelchairs available for transport, no person available to get her to the car, and no paperwork completed. I found a wheelchair and transported her myself. We made quite a picture -- mother in her wheelchair holding on to her overnight case and purse with me pushing from behind with her walker over one shoulder and my briefcase and purse over the other. Not one person offered to help us as we made our way to the hospital lobby."

She gives some rather gloomy statistics and predictions, given the age of the baby boomer generation. However, one thing bothered me a bit--although not as bad as the article I posted about the clueless doctor and his mother in December, this nurse puts her own patients above her mother's care at a critical time. She also had access to an amazing array of top notch services, yet says there needs to be more. Would a waitress or school teacher put her job ahead of her mother? But I digress. It is a very moving article and her mother is truly amazing, but if you have a frail or elderly parent, YOU NEED TO READ THIS, just to be prepared.

"The Cycle of Relocation: One Family's Experience With Elder Care" story at Medscape.com [free site, but may require registration--it's rather lengthy, so click on printer version even if you don't print, which will make scrolling much easier

eldercare