The Professional Geriatric Care Manager’s Blog

A Geriatric Care Managers Week

Monday: Snow storm outside, so I spent the time calling all my clients I was supposed to visit to see how they were doing, and  to make sure everything was well. I also made some phone calls to doctors to get test results and called my clients with their results. Caught up on emails

Tuesday: Making up for lost time, visiting Monday’s clients and Tuesday’s clients. First visit with Mr. A, he lives alone so he has a tendency to get bored and lonely, he is very happy when I arrive and his personality changes. I check on his medications, which he hasn’t really taken and I spend the time telling him the importance of taken his medications. Last week went on a little trip to visit an Assisted Living facility, he says at this time he is not ready but will let me know when he is. We talked about this for a little while, he is showing signs of depression and it is sad to see the decline that he has had in the recent months.

Visiting M today, her UTI is gone and she is feeling much better, but her Blood Pressure is still high. I advise her live-in to take her blood pressure only after she has rested. I will check in tomorrow and if her blood pressure is still high, I will take her to the doctor tomorrow.

Mr. T, I see every couple weeks, he lives in long term care facility in Bergen County, NJ and suffers from Alzheimers. I do a chart check and not to much has changed, he did suffer from a UTI but seems to be doing much better. I check in to see him while he is eating lunch and he still has a hearty appetite. Even though he doesn’t remember me, I can see that he is grateful for the visit.

Wednesday: I visit with Ma to do her medications and to see how she is doing with all the changes she has gone through. Moving back home and having a live in can be a big deal to some people. She seems to be handling everything great though. She is happy with her live-in and she gets out daily.

There is an IDCP meeting for G today, since she just moved into a new facility and I go to give her family support and make sure that everything is being taken care of. There has been a big changed in G since the move. She doesn’t speak, but you can tell that she is very happy where she is. She is walking using a merry walker, where in the other facility she was belted into the wheelchair and left alone all day. Here in the new facility, she participates in all the activities and is very social. What a change in personality a move can do.

Since I am there I visit with P who is in the same facility as G in Bergen County. Everything is the same with her, there is nothing new added to her charts. The only complaint that she had for me was that they forgot to tell her that the monthly birthday party was today, so she was unable to attend.

I called M and her blood pressure was still high, so off to the doctor we went, where another blood pressure medication was added and she was told that she had to cut salt out of her diet completely.

Thursday: We having our weekly meeting today, since there was a storm on Monday and we couldn’t get together any earlier. We go over all the clients we have and everyone seems to be doing well.

I visit Mr. A for the 2nd time this week, just to help with his loneliness and he talks about his wife some more, and his life in Cuba. I check is medication and he still hasn’t taken them. He then brings up the subject of Assisted Living and says that he has been thinking about it a lot lately. We see what happens.

A visit with A. I fill her medi-minders and call in refills to the pharmacy. We had a short discussion, but she was just waking from her nap and her physical therapist was coming, so I decided that she needed to rest some before he came, since it can be exhausting.

After each visit with the client I contact their loved one, to let them know how everything is and what has been going on.