Caring for older people

By Mary Carroll

Subjects: Care, Geriatric Nursing, Older people, Aging, Hospital care, Older people, care, Nursing Process, Physiology

Description: I bought a copy of the 1988 edition and found it of value for a second year nursing student or a Licenced Practical Nurse. Much of what is said is obvious for a more experienced nurse. I am a nurse educator with a M.Sc. Applied in Nursing and Research from McGill University. Now that I am 88 years old myself and still living at home I feel strongly that this book lacks adequate information to ensure that elderly people are adequately protected from having their abilities belittled and their precious belongings and potential devalued by family and nurses. They have allowed their home to become cluttered, as the books says more than once, but they need much help to sort, file and give away thousands of items. I do and there is no one to help me and I can't afford to hire capable help. I need much of it to refer to as I write autobiographical works, and serve as a volunteer on advisory committees and environmental advocacy groups. I have energy for these urgent responsibilitues, but not for sorting and filing. I want to give precious things to great grandchildren but they are far away and they are not old enough yet to know what might be of value to them. When their mothers or grandmother visit, the time is so brief that little gets done. Also they don't have room in their luggage. When my sister at 79 years of age was about to move into Assisted Living, it took my brother and I five weeks working long hours every day to sort her stuff. We placed a large box in her home for each grandniece and grandnephew, and chose things to give them. Later it cost me $150 to send those boxes by Greyhound bus to them, and I am poor. We also chose a lot of things to give to good second hand stores and not much to go into garbage. That took about 10 trips in our station wagon to those facilities. We also took out ads to sell her furniture and equipment. We saved a low sideways filing cabinet which we filled and later placed in her new home . We placed a new TV on top of it and sold her cabinet TV. The new home allowed residents to bring their own furniture. Some nursing homes are restrictive, but usually not as strict as most people think. My daughter gave me wise advice, to draw her new bedsitting room to scale on 1/4 inch graph paper and draw each piece of furniture to scale on graph paper also. Then I took these tiny pieces and placed them on the larger one to see where they would fit. In that way we were able to fit in her single bed and tall dresser, but not the large one, one sofa that can open to a bed for a guest, two easy chairs, her footstool that holds 33 1/3 records, and even her china cabinet, a tall book case, but not low ones, and most of her beautiful paintings. We chose a moving company that paid attention to our instructions. Thus her new home soon was just like her old home. We invited some of her new friends to visit and they wept, saying "I could have kept more of my precious things." One said "My family even gave my radio away to a granddaughter who lives far away." Please give me feedback and tell me where to publish this essential info. Publish it for me if you will. Now I need help to sort and give away stuff. Neither my brother nor I can do it alone, and we cannot trust anyone to do it in a caring, sensitive way, meaningful way. O yes, they are horrified when they see my clutter and they think most of it is junk.