My dear mom has been in the hospital since Friday. She has late stage Alzheimer’s. She’s 87. She had other medical issues than landed her in the hospital on Friday. She had a myriad of medical issues to deal with. Today she has fluid in her lungs and they suspect she is aspirating. They also suspect her heart isn’t working as it should. She’s on lasix. We are not going to go ahead with a feeding tube. Does anyone have any advice on whether I should allow her to be discharged from hospital and back to nursing home or if I should dispute a discharge? I don’t want her going back to her nursing home as I don’t think she will get enough attention (short staffed as most of them are). I want her as comfortable as possible as I know what the outcome is. Any advice would be appreciated.
Ask especially if there are any hospice organizations with dedicated "hospice house" facilities.
I'm so sorry you're going through this. (((((Hugs)))))
she should be on hospice. Ask for recommendations,
can you bring her home with 2 aids for 16 hours a day...can Mom pay for this?
my Mom was home to the end. I have two great aides that were there each 8 hours. Plus hospice was sending an aide every other day to bath and care for Mom...and the nurse was there every day for a couple hours during the last week.
i do not know that they would provide that level of care in a nursing home...since the family is not in 24 hours attendance.
Also, some of the Hospice organizations have centers where a person can be admitted for on site care. I have a friend who was discharged from hospital and went there since her condition from cancer was so severe. They told her husband that she had only a day or two to live and they were right. The facility was lovely with accommodations for the family on site.
When my mom passed, she was in a care home and hospice came in. Toward the end she also had 24/7 caregivers from an agency, that was paid by her.
Many hospitals have a Hospice they work with and some Hospice have a floor or wing at the hospital or they can transfer her to the Hospice In Patient Unit.
Or
She can be discharged to the Nursing Home on Hospice and Hospice will see that she is taken care of there.
Any option you choose Hospice will see that she is comfortable and that her pain is managed.
I personally want hospice services for me and/or my LOs as early as we could qualify. The focus is on comfort for the LO and for family.
He went into the hospital in mid October 2018. We thought he had had a stroke. It took a week to determine that he had not had a stroke, but he did have previously undiagnosed cancer they had spread all over.
After a a few weeks when it had been determined that there was no treatment only palliative care options, Mum was being pressured to have him come home. Home Care was offered, but it would not have been 24/7 and at 84 Mum could not manage having a hospital bed in her living room.
Luckily the doctor was very sympathetic and knowing SD did not have much time put off discharging him. He died in hospital with Mum and I at his side.
This allowed Mum to be with him, but not be his care giver. We had nursing staff available 24/7, and the funeral home picked him up after death.
It sounds at this point that hospice is the way to go and at home in my opinion. Nursing homes show little attention, the sole purpose of hospice is caring for people in the last days, as well family survivors
It seemed their principle roll was monitoring and providing drugs. In fact that was the first thing the next rose did, locate and dispose of medications!
Now, hospice will attend a patient in a nursing home, but the home itself will need to provide the physical care. Hospice supervises and makes recommendations but no hands-on care.
I suggest you contact your insurance company and discuss this with them.
My thought's are with you and your family.
go. Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond and share experiences.