To have thought working in a care home meant being caring

[dewisant2020]

I am a registered nurse in a dementia care home (not long started) doing three night shifts a week 7.30pm until 7.30am.
On shift is myself and 2 HCA'S I am usually busy doing the meds round, paperwork and dealing with everything else in between.
There are 47 residents all off whom have quite advance dementia.
It appears there are things happening on shift that I am certainly not happy about and do not agree with.
We are expected to wake up, wash and dress 18 residents in the morning most of whom don't want to get out of bed, to get this done the carers start at 4.30am.
I told the girls not to do this as it isn't fair on the residents and since then my life's been made a misery.
The day staff refuse to talk to me, instead of helping and putting the people who want to go to bed before we start work into bed they leave them all in the lounge meaning the girls don't get the last ones into bed until gone 1am.
The night shift now want to go back to the old way as they feel punished so I spoken to the manager who basically said we're all about team work here and if you help the day shift out they will help you out.
I feel so sorry for those poor elderly people

For a lot of carers it’s not a career they have worked hard to get in to it particular enjoy doing. Pretty much anyone can be one, they’re just there to get paid. I worked as one at uni to gain experience in health care. It’s different when you’re a nurse as that’s what you want to do and you’ve worked hard to get the qualifications and it’s your chosen specialty. I do feel for carers, my company I worked for were brilliant and the carers were lovely and very good at what they did but at the end of the day it was just a job that we were waiting to clock out of again.

Thats awful. You are absolutely right. However, if you want to keep fighting for the residents, you need to take steps to protect yourself.

• Document what is happening and make copies of evidence and have it all at home. For example, write memo of your discussions with your manager, bcc and fwd any all emails with any staff and managers about the issue. If you can make copies of log sheets showing the residents being woken up at 4:30am or put to bed at 1am, do that. Videos of them being upset, unhappy, and being bullied. Gather it. Otherwise it’s your word against everyone else’s and they will close ranks, lie and maybe even make up allegations that you are the one being abusive/ bad and then try and discipline and dismiss you.
• update CV and start looking for new job/post (you need a bolt hole)
• get copy of whistleblower policy from your HR. Follow it to the letter
• depending on what they’ve been doing to make your life a misery, see if enough evidence to file a grievance.

Weird, part of a sentence dropped. When you bcc and fwd emails it’s to your personal email address. Whistleblowers commonly find themselves barred from accessing their work accounts and emails which means they can’t get evidence.

It shouldn't be night shift against morning shift. When managers say you need to work as a team, raise the issue as a team. You're short staffed.

I worked nights in care homes in the 80s! I remember hating this although we didn't start until about 6. 4.30 is insane.
It's done so two care assistants can wash and dress about 12 people in two hours. Where if anyone cared about those people you would need about twice as many staff and they would be flexible about their tasks.

Why can’t each shift do half in the morning and half in the evening? Who the hell thinks 4:30am is a reasonable time to wake someone up!!! How has this managed to happen?

So they are waking up dementia care home patients at 4:30am?!

The trouble is if you work a 12 hour shift there is a reluctance to both get people up and put them to bed. Resentment builds if it looks like the night shift are some how getting away without doing either.

Unfortunately it hasn't changed in 20 years. So much for personalised care plans. X amount have to be in bed or up in the morning. If not its a strop. Most residents forced up before they're ready. Institutionalisation is still in force no matter how people think its changed and become about what the resident wants. It's not and never has been. It's one of the reasons I left care work, I couldn't provide the care I wanted.

I've only ever worked for one home where it was about the residents. I worked there as agency and I loved it.

Where is the person centred care in getting people up at 4.30am? As a former carer I too would be refusing to do that.

Surely up at 430 is abuse. Surely bed at 1am is abuse.
Surely c q c need to be told.

Wtf for a start if you have 47 residents, you are under staffed. 1 nurse and 2 hca's is not enough, especially with advance dementia. How the hell are you suppose to get 18 residents up in the morning before day staff come in. What happened to personal centred care and you cant rush a person with dementia.

How many are there on the day shift?
How many do the day staff help put residents to bed?
No one should be made to get up at 4.30 in the morning, when they don't want to.

I work nights in a dementia unit, there is 1 senior care assistant and 2 carers. We do have a mixture of stages of dementia, so some can get themselves up and dressed. Others need more assistance, we dont start till 6am and get people up who want to get up.

Surely up at 430 is abuse. Surely bed at 1am is abuse.
Surely c q c need to be told.

^^this go above managements head on this. Document everything. I'd be horrified if this was one of my relatives. I work in care and sadly there's so many people who just don't give a shit.

That is really poor care and dreadful staffing levels, I would document every conversation you have with the manager, contact the RCN and CQC and possibly social services. As a rgn you are there as an advocate for your residents, is the manager a rgn or SW. Waking residents up at 04.30 and 3 staff expected to offer a full wash for 18 residents in 3 hours is ridiculous and that's without anything else that comes up. What's the standard of the rest of the care and paperwork like, is it a private home.

I am absolutely aware it isn't right hence the reason I posted on MN.
I have a feeling things won't change in the near future as it's so ingrained into staff to do this they just can't help themselves.
To be honest the home is pretty run down and defiantly lacking strong leadership.
I have made the decision to hand my notice in tomorrow & already have another job lined up.
I will or course report my concerns to adult safeguarding & CQC but in my experience not a lot will happen.
Such a shame as these are vulnerable people who can't speak out, id be absolutely devastated if it was one of my relatives being treated in such a poor way.

It is better to report than not, at least you will have done something.

I am really shocked and saddened that this still goes on. I actually liaise with care homes for a small part of my job and really thought things were better. I suppose it's all just talk and ticking boxes.

Its tssk orientated care, not person centred. All the good staff end up leaving these sorts of places which makes reporting much more important. I worked on a nhs ward that did this claiming it was so patients were ready for theatre even on weekends when no one was going to theatre. It was reported and it did stop. Too many nurses complained.

Happens in nearly every home. (Agency carer) piss poor management. Report them to cqc.

If your parents are in a home, chances are this is happening! The most vulnerable are the ones women earliest because they can’t speak or have no one to tell, or don’t know the time. It honestly happens in 80% of homes. It’s weak management. All the manager needs to do is put her foot down and explain days and nights are two different shifts. If you think nights are easier, go on nights but if you want to work days ... this is your job, if you won’t do it then leave!!

CQC and Adult Safeguarding. It's not personalised care.

FFS we were doing this in the 90s, I thought things had changed.

Makes me wonder what time they put down on the residents paperwork. I bet they dont write 04.30 had a full wash and dressed and sat in the chair.
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@dewisant2020

I am absolutely aware it isn't right hence the reason I posted on MN. I have a feeling things won't change in the near future as it's so ingrained into staff to do this they just can't help themselves. To be honest the home is pretty run down and defiantly lacking strong leadership. I have made the decision to hand my notice in tomorrow & already have another job lined up. I will or course report my concerns to adult safeguarding & CQC but in my experience not a lot will happen. Such a shame as these are vulnerable people who can't speak out, id be absolutely devastated if it was one of my relatives being treated in such a poor way.

I am glad you are reporting this, do so as a whistleblower and do it promptly. To CQC and to adult health and care (social services)

You need to identify yourself as whistleblower because frankly if this is substantiated, then it's significant institutional neglect and psychological abuse. 4.30am is ridiculous as is 1am unless that is when the residents want to go to bed or to get up.

Your PIN / registration as a nurse is at risk if you do not report this.

I am sad to hear that you don't think much will be done. If you report to both CQC and AH&C, they will be obliged to investigate it as a s47 enquiry. You need to ensure you include anything else as usually when this type of thing is happening, other abuses & neglect come to light. The home management have got this all wrong. I'd expect 7-9 staff on for daytime starting at 8 and personal care to be done for those residents who want an early start 6.30am onwards (unless the occasional individual had history of wanting to get up earlier at home and still were in the pattern of this, as for eg some ex farmer do)

Apologies s.42 enquiry (Care act - adults at risk) not s.47 (thats children!)

@dewisant2020

Please whistleblow. These vulnerable people are unable to speak for themselves so you’ll need to do this. How long have you worked there as you’ll have to evidence that it wasn’t just a ‘one off’. It’s disgusting and I’d rather be left to rot at home that ever go into a care home.