Chapter 9: Documentation: Conveying the Story as well as the Tasks
Overview:
- How to make documentation which conveys the story of the resident as well as the tasks
- An example of commonly encountered notes in comparison to an alternate, more comprehensive notes
- Explanation of environmental factors including the importance of the care the staff provide
- Discussion of whether documentation is a valuable tool for evaluating the care of a dying resident
- Stories highlighting the need for appropriate funding to support the care needed by residents who are facing death
- A story which seeks to try and point out the need to bridge the gap from the old-old residents to everyone else
Description:
This chapter wrestles with the complexity of documentation; the official record is discussed, both as a narrative and as a communication tool. Also explored is the issue of appropriate resources being provided to enhance the dying resident’s care.
Topics:
- Documentation: conveying the story as well as the tasks
- Environmental factors: more than bricks and mortar
- Standards: a measure of dignity
- Economic/political issues: we must fill the bed today
Speaker / Author:
Rosalie Hudson
Rosalie Hudson is Director off Nursing at Harold McCracken House in Melbourne, Australia, where a palliative care philosophy provides the framework for the care of residents who are dying, and a partnership philosophy guides all relationships. Rosalie’s postgraduate research in gerontic nursing and theology has stimulated further insights for several journal articles and for this second book on living and dying in a nursing home. Personhood, death and community are the themes for her PhD thesis, inspired by the ordinary and extraordinary experiences in a rather special nursing home. Rosalie is married with a daughter, two sons, two daughters-in-law and three grandchildren.
Jennifer Richmond
Jennifer Richmond’s first career was in nursing. In hindsight, she says, the highlight of her nursing years was a long association with Melbourne’s Harold McCracken House. During this time her creative partnership with Rosalie yielded a valued friendship and a number of nursing publications. At Harold McCracken House Jennifer worked with many extraordinary and gifted staff, one of whom is novelist Michel Faber whose photographs appear in this book. After the privilege of an editing association with Ausmed Publications and a postgraduate qualification in editing and writing, Jennifer now writes fiction and works part-time as an in house medical and scientific editor for a major publisher. She lives in inner city Melbourne with her family, which includes dogs Minnie and John.
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