Gary Barg, Editor-in-Chief
According to the American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, there are two definitions for the word curmudgeon.
The first one being: An ill-tempered person full of resentment and stubborn notions.
Or my personal favorite: A crusty irascible cantankerous old person full of stubborn ideas
Gee, I love the sound of that.
How about some more self-styled curmudgeon wisdom?
So, your loved one is now living in a comfortable competent and well-respected long-term care facility whose staff members have taken over the Rubik’s Cube that is the daily medications disbursement regime of which you used to be in charge. Since your loved one took ill at home, you had been dedicatedly doling out the meds with a sharp eye toward any changes, additions and subtractions thrown at you by a phalanx of physicians. You have also made sure to take and record their blood pressure multiple times daily and share these results with all their doctors and you have become a cross between Wolfgang Puck and Bill Nye, the Science Guy in the kitchen.
Whew. Now all those tasks are off your shoulder and you can take a much-deserved breather...Not so fast.
You as a Fearless Caregiver have just increased the members on your loved one’s healthcare team and the need for communications has only become greater.
If I may:
Get to know the head nurse or med tech at the facility and make sure there is no slip between the doctor’s orders and their procedures.
These include:
- When the meds are administered.
- Which meds are administered.
- What side effects they are noticing.
Make sure that all your loved one’s doctors as well as the facility staff are on the same page with regards to any medication changes. Trust me, there is much less communication between medical offices about such changes than you might realize.
Ask the staff to perform daily blood pressure checks and write the results down for you. Share with your loved one’s primary physician.
Find out which pharmacy the facility is engaged with and make sure they accept your insurance and reimbursement rates.
If you see anything that makes you uncomfortable, keep facility management and your loved one’s physicians in the information loop.
There is a great benefit to increasing your loved one’s healthcare team members. You will find that sometimes you need to be a bit curmudgeonly and sometimes a nice fruit basket will do the trick.
Please share what you've learned about managing your loved ones medication in the comments below.