Ok, this is unbelievable!!

I called my mom to ask her how her back treatment was going at her memory care. Earlier this week her geriatric nurse agreed with me to let me buy a Walgreens gel pack for the back that can be microwaved to use as a heating pad, or cooled to use as an ice pack for the back.

My mom's geriatric nurse calls my sister and I to consult with us about our mom's healthcare treatment. Recently my sister told the geriatric nurse just to call me as my sister is pro-medication and I am anti-medication. Fine. Anyway, the geriatric nurse was going to prescribe 3 treatments of lidocaine patches to be placed on my mom's back every day for two weeks. I said no. Too many side effects. I suggested the Walgreens gel pack that is large enough to be strapped around someone and covers their entire lower back. The geriatric nurse agreed and she said SHE SAID she'd submit written orders from HER to the memory care head nurse who then tells the CNA staff there in memory care, what to do with each memory care patient's treatment orders.

Well, that did not happen. During our phone call today, the head of NURSE TRAINING was in my mom's room demanding to know where the memory care library books were. My poor mom. She has dementia for god sake. How would she remember she'd taken them?!

My mom answered my question that the CNAs used a heating pad on her. That went directly against medical advice and directly against family advice. I was livid. I asked my mom to put the head of nurse training on the phone, regaled her with the whole scenario and told her I wanted to speak to the head of nursing.

Then, I composed and sent an email to the memory care executive director, cc'd the director of nursing, the head nurse, the geriatric nurse, the nurse trainer lady, my sister and kept it simple.

I texted my sister to ask if she knew about the heating pad. She responded no. But, she couldn't help herself. She texted that I overreacted per my email.

No, I didn't. The memory care staff directly violated medical orders written by my mom's geriatric nurse who gets the orders signed by my mom's geriatric doctor PLUS I am family and left a note taped to the freezer outside of my mom's memory care room where the gel pack is, and how many times to use it. Clearly the CNAs could see it as its directly below the locked cabinet where my mom's medications are stored.

My sister is wrong. I did not overreact. I believe that I responded correctly.