That darn Hoyer lift

I have been using that Hoyer lift for over a week. I thought for sure physical therapy would have me back to standing with assistance by now.

But it looks like it's going to take a while before management or therapy decides I can stand with the assistance of the aides. I think the aides are being taught a lesson. I bet they all complained about my care and transfers to the nurses, the nurse manager, and others. I think maybe the nurse manager had decided to stop me bending and straightening my knees when frustrated. So, the aides have to use the Hoyer in the nurse manager knows how they left me for sure now. She knows using the Hoyer is harder on me and it complicates be aides process with me. I'm sure they are complaining that it's more difficult taking care of me now than it was before. But if I were allowed to go back to standing too quickly, nothing about the process would have changed.

The therapy manager Ms. L is training the aides to use a gait belt and go slower. With the in-service and use a gait belt, it guarantees we will not "just go back" to "business as usual". She is trying to show the aides how to lift me. This is a bold step. It was not done my previous nursing home, even when I reported rough treatment. It is also never been done here when I reported rough treatment. I don't think there was ever a doubt that I was being treated too roughly. I did not say every aide was rough, there were only a few.. One way to get rid of rough treatment might me to get the offending aides to be retrained through in-service. If that were a job requirement if rough treatment was reported, it would result in there being less of it.

There is only one aide who is openly rough. I'm not quite sure why she's like that. I have told her she jerks when she lifts, but she does not think so. I don't know how someone in management could convince her otherwise. I don't know if different lifting instructions will change the way she lifts. I know she was even offended when I suggested she change sides each time she lifted me. That way one shoulder would not be pulled on more than the other.

Some aides are more careful with the Hoyer than others. Ms. E (aide) was in a bad mood today and she had to help with me and was not pleased. She feels the Hoyer causes a lot of work. She already thinks I am high maintenance as it is. So, using the Hoyer is not improving the job she has to do..

That Hoyer can inflict pain and bruise me, even with everyone being careful. It bumps me and I'm unable to get away from it. After week, I have a few bruises.

I am having a difficult time getting lifted far enough back into the shower chair. Today I tried to tell S (my aide) to pick up on my right leg as I was lowered into the shower chair. That way my body would feel like it was trying to bend. When my aide did that, I was able to be lifted farther back into the chair – which was more comfortable.

I'm going to write up something for Ms. L (therapy manager) to read. I will highlight how each dayshift aide lifts. She might find it helpful to know how I feel when certain aides care for me. I think she'd also be interested in which aides hurry out of my room and which aides try to find things to do to stay in my room.

I do think management should realize that the aides do need to be in serviced to fine tune their skills.