One of the most difficult decisions you will ever make as a caregiver is giving up your loved one up for care at a nursing home. In the past, several caregivers made the promise that their parents or loved ones that they will never have to go to such a facility. However, when exigencies arise, they had to give up on their promise and do the needful. If you have also made such a promise, it may be beyond your power to stick to your promise.
Therefore, it is pertinent that you prepare for taking your loved one to a nursing in advance. Asking yourself these questions will help you make the right decision:
- Is it becoming increasingly difficult for me to continue offering the needed care for my loved one?
- Is care giving making me feel exhausted and emotionally drained?
- Is my care giving meeting the needs of my loved one or does he or she needs supervision or specialized care?
These self-examination questions should be followed by a critical analysis of the care recipient to help you determine the next course to take.
Look for these signs in the sick family member to help you make the right decision:
- Inability to keep up with medication schedule.
Most aged people with serious health conditions are always on medication schedule that will help them to monitor and gradually overcome their health challenges. The medication schedule may be short-term or long-term, depending on the critical nature of the patient’s health condition. If you notice that your loved one no longer keep up with his or her medication schedule, it is a telltale sign that serious attention is needed to correct such an anomaly. Look out for some signs such as forgetting to use a medication at the appropriate time or not using it at all. Don’t bother dillydallying if you see these signs. Consider moving the family member to a nursing home. - Frequent specialist care is needed.
If there is a sudden surge in the sick person’s need for specialist care from time to time, providing home care service may not be feasible again. You may consider a more practical and effective care giving technique with better success rate than what you currently provide. According to Madeline Vann, MPH, such homes will give the ailing one access to social workers and specialists that may not be easy to contact if you stay at home. Consider that fact. - Consider arranging for an evaluation.
An evaluation is one of the best and most effective ways that can easily assist you to arrive at the best decision. You should hire a geriatrician to evaluate the ailing family member’s mental and physical status. If such specialists are difficult to come by, have a competent physician arrange for a comprehensive evaluation that will be useful in getting the real status of the loved one. Some of what they will evaluate are memory deficits, balance, signs of anxiety or depression, basic signs that will play a big role in helping you to make the right decision. The evaluation will help you to determine if he or she is mentally and physically fit to stay at home or should enter into a nursing home. So, don’t forget to arrange an evaluation as soon as possible. - They are not taking care of themselves physically.
Not taking care of themselves is another sign that you must do something urgent about your loved one. You should endeavor to look for signs that will reveal how much he or she takes care of himself or herself.
Some aging people with Dementia and the likes are usually dirty and unkept. Not taking care of themselves may be a result of many factors including immobility and other challenges that may be caused by loss of memory. Consider how easy they find these daily activities: brushing teeth, tending to bug bites, toileting, keeping bed sheets or clothing clean. Your findings may give you some ideas about their physical cleanness. Pay attention to such signs. They may help you a great deal. - Cases of frequent falls.
Unusual falls is common among some aged people. There may also be frequent fractures, broken bones, sores, bruises, and other signs that will betray their health status. If such bruises or falls are regularly reported, a move to a facility where proper monitoring and assistance is guaranteed will be the next best move. If you notice cases of accidental falls and fresh injuries in your loved one, quick action should be taken to prevent regular occurrences that may lead to a permanent injury, dislocation, or death. - If your health is at risk.
If you are a caregiver and have been at it for some years, the heavy workload and challenges attached to care giving may gradually take its toll on you. You may gradually feel like your health is deteriorating and feel little motivation to continue in that capacity as a caregiver. If that is how you feel for a long period, you may consider giving yourself a break so that you can attend to your health. If the health status of your loved one does not give any room for vacuum, you should take the next alternative: a nursing home. That will be mutually beneficial to both of you. You will have enough time to attend to your health and other important things while the ailing person will have access to the medical care he or she needs. - Slow response to treatment.
Ask yourself how the person in question responds to treatment and your assistance over the years. If the response is not encouraging, you may consider going for a better treatment option that will boost the family member’s health. The availability of experts at that home may help the ailing one to enjoy better treatment that will ultimately improve his or her health faster than you have ever imagined. If you critically look into these factors and implement them, it will be very easy for you to conclude whether to take a sick and aged family member to a nursing home or not.
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