Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Elderly parents

Dad fell in hospital

30 replies

Annonmum1974 · 22/07/2025 21:35

Has anyone had experience of elderly relatives in hospital - Dad was admitted with shingles lives with Alzheimer’s but it’s manageable with care at home and in the moderate stages (time confusion handling of finances etc gone) - since being in hospital he’s been administered with OxyContin and pregablin spends most of his time disorientated and far more confused asking why dead relatives haven’t been in and thinks he’s anywhere but hospital and also had issues with AKi since being in there (acute kidney injury) aka dehydration. I cannot fault the efforts of the drs and nurses but there are of course simply not enough - they seem to think my dad has the brain capacity to push a buzzer for help but the poor man is so delirious he hasn’t a clue where he is at the moment - his mental capacity has changed so much in a week. When I was told he managed to somehow get up from his bed and fall whilst heading to the bathroom and was possibly lying there for an hour my heart broke but I’m also whacking my head on a wall - I keep explaining that he is so confused he doesn’t know where he is but nothing is happening and it’s going to happen again - I don’t know why I’m posting really - just frustrated and feel like it’s the worse place he could be at the moment and it’s heart breaking - food just left in front of him which he sees but can’t manage alone now and fluid intake isn’t happening unless im there - it seriously feels like you have to be there constantly just to keep an eye on them and make sure they aren’t neglected - I’ve repeated repeated and repeated myself but my goodness it’s frustrating and upsetting up there

OP posts:
maudelovesharold · 23/07/2025 09:24

they are supposedly keeping an eye now on his kidneys due to the severe dehydration (that happened in hospital)

Did they/were they able to give him fluids intravenously?

faffadoodledo · 23/07/2025 09:24

Having seen my parents decline and the level of care they received I am frankly terrified of what aging brings. I've heard a doctor friend tell his trainee medic son not to be a geriatrician because it's so grim working with the elderly. To say it's a cinderella branch of medicine is an understatement. And I am more and more convinced we live in an ageist society which is repelled by old age and whose attitudes are reflected in the care of our elderly in hospital settings.

Sorry if i sound angry. But I am!

OP - you sound like a great daughter and i hope the rest of your family support you in your efforts x

bilbodog · 23/07/2025 09:57

Dont underestimate how much a kidney infection can cause confusion. My DH came down with a UTI/kidney infection 3 weeks ago and ended up in hospital for a week. I couldnt believe how a 70 year old, fairly fit man, could become so confused so suddenly and he was falling out of bed and barely able to walk. 3 weeks later he is very tired and still cant walk the dog for more than 20 mins or on his own.

CrotchetyQuaver · 23/07/2025 10:00

I've been through this with a couple of elderly relatives. They get worse in hospital because it's so disorienting for them. The delirium is quite common I believe. It is just you or are there other close relatives available to support you/him? I would agree with the having
Someone there with him as much as possible. really he should be in a bed as close to the nurses station as possible with the bed sides up to try and stop him getting out/falling not out of sight down the corridor. If he's in a private room because of the Leukemia then the door should be open so they can see what he's up to.

id suggest going up to the nurses station and asking to speak to the most senior nurse in charge and voicing your concerns. Particularly about the expecting him to take his meds without supervision and same with drinks.
it's awful, some wards are definitely better than others and I wouldn't hesitate to escalate further. The squeaky wheel gets the oil.

CharlieUniformNovemberTango2023 · 23/07/2025 10:56

TizerorFizz · 22/07/2025 23:35

Elderly patients never come first! @CharlieUniformNovemberTango2023 I guess you don’t have experience of seeing how the elderly are treated on these wards. The NHS simply doesn’t nurse old people. It tolerates them. They don’t talk to relatives and it’s impossible to get any sense out of staff. My advice - go to Switzerland. Pets are treated better but it’s ok, we’ve got yet another doctors strike coming up. Patients come nowhere in the NHS, especially if you are old.

Actually I'm a nurse and their safety always comes first on my ward.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page
Swipe left for the next trending thread