Let down at the most crucial time

My name is Brenda. I worked in the aged care industry for over 20 years.

During those years I was involved with palliative care both at work and at home. My Mother had dementia and an acquired brain injury and we, her family, had to put her into care. The last 3 years of her live was terrible. Palliative care in her nursing home was not up to standard. Fortunately, we did have the support of a palliative care in our area so at least her pain levels were addressed.

Then a few years after that, my husband was dying. Once again, the situation was terrible. The last 6 days of his life the poor man was in pain because of the policy of the nursing home. The nursing staff refused to allow the same palliative care team to review him, even though he was already a client of theirs. His regular doctor refused to treat him in the nursing home, so another doctor took him on. But in such a short time, he was not able to help much. Besides, the nursing staff refused to administer the DDA's ordered by the doctor.

Because I worked in the industry I knew that more could have been done for both my Mum and my husband, but I was made to feel as though I was out of line when asking for more assistance.

I virtually lived in both of these nursing homes for the las week of both my Mum and my Husband's lives to help where needed.

I was always respectful to the staff in the nursing homes, and I know they worked hard at their jobs, but more training in this area would have been so helpful.