My parent was a resident at Koorooman House who passed away recently.
I am very disappointed about the lack of communication from the Staff and Doctors who attended my parent about how serious their condition was.
My sibling arrived to visit my parent late in the afternoon a few days before they passed and noticed a marked cognitive decline that night as well as a grey colour in their face.
We had to leave Koorooman House due to a Covid lockdown and expressed concern to staff about my parent's decline but felt that the staff didn't seem to realise how serious their situation was.
The next morning we arrived mid morning to find our parent exhausted and lying in a soiled bed and too weak to press the nurses buzzer to get assistance.
During the day nobody came to see how we were and to see how our parent was. We were reduced to googling what are the symptoms of an elderly person dying and I also called a nurse friend to try and get some clarity.
Later that afternoon my parent became very unsettled trying to get out of bed in their weakened state, non verbal and clearly distressed.
I decided that I should ask a nurse to please get some medication to make my parent more comfortable.
Morphine was eventually give but later that night after this dose had warn off, my parent again became quite agitated. My sibling tried to get assistance but was told that the staff were very busy and my sibling had to physically prevent our parent from getting out of bed.
The next morning one of the regular staff not the charge nurse said that we could stay as long as we like and have as many visitors as was needed.
A Doctor came to see my parent the following morning and prescribed a drug infusion of morphine and midazolam which still took many hours before it was finally administered. My parent was still very uncomfortable and unsettled until this was finally administered
My family are well aware that there was a Covid outbreak at Koorroman house at this time and that you were short staffed and that it was a difficult situation.
I am writing this Feedback to ask you to please have better procedures to communicate with families if there loved one is at End of Life Stage and to please help organise medications and to generally come and talk to families to see how they are going.
I would not like other Families to experience the stress and frustration we felt during our parent's last days in Koorooman.
"Communication at end of life care"
About: Koorooman House Koorooman House Leongatha 3953
Posted by andromedagk56 (as ),
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See more responses from Jenny Dempster
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