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Open thread March 28, 2014

Dan Crawford | March 28, 2014 11:21 am

Tags: open thread Comments (14) | Digg Facebook Twitter |
14 Comments
  • save_the_rustbelt says:
    March 28, 2014 at 12:53 pm

    No good deed goes unpunished.

    On her last scheduled shift as an RN Mrs. R and three of aides were slapped around by patient X. He does not have dementia or anything, he is just a mean person.

    In the process of whacking the aides patient X suffered a 3/8″ scratch on his thumb. It was documented and treated.

    The next morning patient X calls his family and tells them he is being abused. He shows them his scratch.

    Most families would roll their eyes and tell pops to behave. Not this family.

    So Mrs. R is finishing her career in a pile of paperwork and investigations.

    She is planning a ceremony to burn her uniforms. She might save one for working at the local free clinic.

    It is a strange world we live in.

  • Dan Crawford says:
    March 28, 2014 at 1:55 pm

    I agree…even in circumstances where restraint happens more often training can be haphazard (only happens daytime but all shifts must attend but consequences can be severe). And it can be just a touch on the shoulder to cause consequences.

  • Jack says:
    March 28, 2014 at 5:53 pm

    Dan,
    I can tell you this from a bit more than twenty years working in residential treatment centers for adults with developmental disabilities. All levels of mental functioning. Many with complicating “behavioral” control problems. All the training in the world doesn’t reduce such incidents, as described by STR, to zero occurrence. And from STRs description is doesn’t sound as though there was any lack of training or abusive behavior on the part of the staff. Shit happens when someone doesn’t have self control. Be belligerent and at some point you will suffer for your belligerence. In the settings that I worked I had to frequently remind staff that the clients were there for the same reasons that they were some times dangerous to themselves or others. They were playing with a modified deck, so to speak. It doesn’t sound as though that was Mrs. STR’s patients problem. For people like that shit happens. Staying clear of the danger zone is the only way to be sure to not get injured or accused. Usually that’s not an option.

  • coberly says:
    March 28, 2014 at 6:35 pm

    rusty

    sorry for the Mrs trouble. you’ll be glad to know that this kind of thing goes on all the time everywhere.

    that is, both the abuse and the bureaucratic consequences. be grateful it’s not a matter for law enforcement.

  • coberly says:
    March 28, 2014 at 11:13 pm

    rusty

    don’t burn them. donate them.

  • Jack says:
    March 29, 2014 at 12:15 am

    On another current topic. Read the opening paragraph of Eric Lach’s article in TPM , http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/bridget-kelly-report-response, regarding a reaction to the report done by Randy Mastro concerning the GW Bridge issue that currently dogs Chris Christie.

    “The newly public report clearing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) in the George Washington Bridget lane closing scandal contains “venomous, gratuitous, and inappropriate sexist remarks,” according to a lawyer representing former Christie deputy chief of staff Bridget Kelly.”

    How does a responsible journalist start off a review of what many are calling a white wash favoring Christie and not immediately note that rather than being a “public report” it is actually a report bought and paid for by the Christie administration, and BTW, using NJ tax payer money?
    The first paragraph sets a tone for the reader and Lach’s careless use of the phrase public report is the an erroneous tone for an “investigation”
    that TPM was more reliable than it shows to be in this report.

  • Mike Meyer says:
    March 29, 2014 at 2:24 am

    Christie thinks he can still run for Prez. I think he’s dreaming.

  • save_the_rustbelt says:
    March 29, 2014 at 11:19 am

    Coberly:

    She is going to donate them, but the running joke here is a burning ceremony (which probably would violate some state law anyway).

  • save_the_rustbelt says:
    March 29, 2014 at 11:23 am

    For the record, the majority of long-term residents and their families are nice folks and any problems develop from cognitive problems which are not the fault of anyone.

    But every once in a while…….

    Mrs. R. has a collection of cards and thank you notes from families that are really poignant and sweet.

  • save_the_rustbelt says:
    March 29, 2014 at 11:28 am

    Great respect here for your 20 years of service – kudos.

  • EMichael says:
    March 29, 2014 at 12:02 pm

    Obamacare is four years old.

    Happy Birthday!

    Name: Kathy Bentzoni, 58
    Hometown: Slatington, Penn.
    Job: Freelance graphic artist/part-time school bus driver

    I started feeling sick in January, but I thought driving a school bus, I was picking up whatever the kids had. But when I was checking the school bus early in the morning in the cold, all my fingers would go numb.

    I had signed up for health insurance early enough to get coverage for Jan. 1. I had to drop my old, useless insurance back in November because I could no longer afford the premiums. The insurer denied every claim I sent in because they said it was a pre-existing condition. That’s the wonder of Obamacare … they can’t say that anymore.

    I have a Highmark Blue Shield silver plan. I pay $55 for the premium with the tax credit. I almost cried when I saw it. I thought ‘Oh my god, I can actually afford this. It’s amazing!”

    On March 1, I had to go the ER. They found my hemoglobin level was 5.7, and the normal is 14. I needed a transfusion. It was due to a rare blood disorder.

    Where would I be without Obamacare? ER, 3 units of blood, multiple tests in the hospital and a 5-day inpatient stay without insurance? Probably dead.

    I have to thank Obamacare for saving my life.

  • save_the_rustbelt says:
    March 30, 2014 at 10:42 am

    Christie is toast. Very large toast.

    I met him once in Phili. In line at Pat’s Phili Sgteak. Funny story.

  • EMichael says:
    March 30, 2014 at 11:19 am

    Only tourists go to Pat’s or Geno’s(unless it is after midnight).

    Bad steaks.

  • EMichael says:
    March 30, 2014 at 12:24 pm

    Happy Birthday, ACA!

    “As the first deadline for coverage in 2014 drew near, the Administration announced that the number of people who signed up had passed six million. That’s short of the original goal of seven million, owing largely to the disastrous launch of the federal Web site last fall. The methods for tallying beneficiaries, like everything else about the law, are being disputed, and regional disparities remain severe. Still, it’s clear that the law is helping a lot of Americans. Three million young people remain on their parents’ health-care plans; more than eight million uninsured people are eligible for Medicaid; and, according to the Department of Health and Human Services, more than a hundred million people have received preventive-care services, like mammograms and flu shots, at no cost.”

    http://www.newyorker.com/talk/comment/2014/04/07/140407taco_talk_toobin

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