This morning the oxygen was at 3; this evening it was set at 2. Marie seemed to be doing well on it, though - her mind was very sharp. Her levels had been checked several times between 3 pm and 7 pm (but barely at all from mid-morning to mid-afternoon). There was one nurse for 5 patients, not much point asking questions. The nurse repeatedly called Marie by another name - "Frances". Marie never uses that name, but she has given up trying to correct the staff.
One of the indignities of this stay has been the bathroom arrangements. The shortage of staff meant the nurses didn't want to help the patient to and from the washroom - it took two nurses to get her out of bed, which meant while they are helping Marie there are 9 patients who can't be tended to. The commode in her room broke, so they catheterized her. They have taken the catheter out, but Marie still can't make it out of bed by herself. The nurses can't answer the bell (I was told yesterday it was a 4 hour wait...) for non-priority things like ensuring the patient gets to a commode or the washroom. So a bedridden patient has no choice but to soil the bed. This is then marked on the chart as "incontinent".
Our health board and the minister of health, Ron Liepert, have been saying we have a glut of nurses and they're cutting positions. I am thinking of inviting Mr. Liepert to come and take a weekend shift at the hospital, not as a mock patient but as a nurse. Does he really think essential services are not affected? Oxygen, food, and bodily waste elimination seem essential from my perspective.
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