I had already been doing quite a bit of \u00a0communications work in the aged care sector, getting my head around living Longer Living Better, My Aged Care website, Consumer directed care and so on.<\/p>\n
When it became necessary to find some respite care for my elderly and frail father because his carer, my mother, needed to go to hospital, I was keen to see what the process was like from the carers and aged person\u2019s point of view.<\/p>\n
Deciding to drop in on the most convenient nursing home to me I headed off that afternoon\u00a0to get some information.<\/p>\n
I lined up at the empty reception desk behind someone else who was waiting. After a while I asked, if they knew she was there? \u201cNo, I thought someone would be out here by now\u201d, she responded.<\/p>\n
So, I rang the bell on the desk and soon after, someone called out, \u201cwon\u2019t be a minute\u201d.<\/p>\n
A few minutes later, a young woman came to the desk and explained that Mary would be in as soon as she finished her morning tea break. She was a nice, friendly young woman who reeked of cigarette smoke.<\/p>\n
A little while later, Mary arrived, also reeking of cigarettes.<\/p>\n
I explained that I was seeking respite for my father and was met with a blank stare. \u201cCan you tell me what\u2019s involved I asked?<\/p>\n
With the expression and passion of a garden snail, she gave me what little information she was willing to give away. It was like pulling teeth.<\/p>\n
With great patience I asked for more information. No top secrets, nothing personal, just cost and availability of space.<\/p>\n
A nurse then took me on a short tour of the quite lovely premises.\u00a0 I left feeling that my dad would like the rooms and the beautiful views and as he would only be there a short time, he may not have the misfortune of meeting Ms. Cold Heart.<\/p>\n
A week or so later, my father visited and said that he was happy to stay there \u00a0for the time my mother was in hospital.<\/p>\n
So, what did I think?<\/p>\n
That, for at least some of the staff, cigarettes ranked higher than customer service or customer comfort \u2013 in a human services industry for vulnerable people \u2013 friendliness, kindness and compassion which I would expect to rank high were not in any great evidence. I was looking for a temporary solution, for many leaving a parent in a nursing home is a traumatic and difficult process. I feel for anyone who is upset and met\u00a0with the sort of attitude that I received.<\/p>\n
No need to have worried, my mother rang to tell me she had found a better alternative. House Sitters, Pet Sitters, Dependant Sitters.<\/p>\n
And yes, you can be there is a blog in that.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When it became necessary to find some respite care for my elderly and frail father because his carer, my mother, needed to go to hospital, I was keen to see what the process was like from the carer and aged person\u2019s point of view.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":255,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[3,6,5,86],"yoast_head":"\n