Documented Life and Death In a Nursing Home

Chapter 3: Documented Life and Death In a Nursing Home

Overview:

• Compares and contrasts the documenting of care of a patient at two separate nursing homes
• Identifies some neglected areas of documentation which can arise

Description:

This chapter provides a hypothetical account of the last year in an elderly man’s life. Ron’s care in two settings (Twilight Nursing Home and Daybreak Nursing Home) is evaluated by the way end-of-life issues were documented and addressed. The chapter will provide an overview of his care in order to emphasise the fact that good documentation always underpins the preferred client outcome.

Topics:

• Rules And Regulations
• Professional/Bureaucratic Tensions
• Barriers To Documenting Gerontological Nursing Care
  • Nursing’s Cultural Resistance To Documentation
  • Nursing Care Of The Aged As Unremarkable
• Is There A Better Way?
• In Summary
• References

Speaker/ Author:

Pauline Savy RN, RPN, B Admin (Nurs), Grad Dip Ger, FRCNA
Pauline has had a lengthy professional involvement in aged care. As a registered nurse (Div 1) she has held clinical, educational and administrative positions within extended care and psychiatric facilities. She has worked as a nurse consultant in gerontology, specialising in the development of education programs for residential and community caregivers. Currently she is employed at La Trobe University’s Albury- Wodonga campus where she lectures in the Graduate Diploma of Gerontology course. Pauline’s research interests include the use of qualitative methods, ethnography and the experience of health and illness in old age.

A long-standing interest in the experience of dementia and the outcomes of care prompted her to undertake a Master’s degree (by research) at La Trobe University. This ethnographic study explores the caregiving environment and its impact on the personhood of dementia sufferers in long-term residential care facilities, as well as how caregivers understand their work.

Professional Reviews:

A must read for the Palliative Nurse. Very helpful. Thank you