Last night, Christmas Eve, I forgot to charge my phone before falling asleep. I wake up this mornjng to two missed calls from Mom's nursing home. One at 11:47pm where a generic voicemail was left with the nurses name and to call them. Another call Christmas day at 12:02am. No message.
I called as soon as I saw the missed calls. The receptionist put me through to the nurses station where I received voice mail and left a message. 30 minutes later I called back and no one at the facility even picks up the main line.
I realize it's Christmas and they are probably on a skeleton crew. But could they not have left me some details of why they called twice last night. And #2 is there no one to even answer the phone?
So I'm guessing it wasn't an emergency. Probably the usual "your Mom climbed out of bed and was found on the floor but she's not hurt" or "your Mom has been yelling/hitting/spitting on the staff".
I'm not going to disrupt the one day I have off with my family to drive over to the nursing home to find out what happened.... I feel like a jerk. Will try calling again later this afternoon.
This crappy disease that Mom has has eaten up a year of my and my family's life. I'll be damed if it's going to ruin Christmas day as well.
Going to put on my makeup, do my hair, and put on a smile for my family. They deserve this one day.
Merry Christmas all!
I hear you. My Mom's memory care place is hard to connect with as well. I tell myself that they have trained staff to handle things and if it's really important, they can leave some details in the voicemail or call again during normal hours. Like the flight attendants say, put your oxygen mask on first. Take care of yourself and enjoy the holiday with your family. Merry Christmas!
This is exactly why she is in a facility - to give you the ability to enjoy your holiday while knowing that she is safe and cared for. Don’t feel like a jerk!! Enjoy your holiday.
Most medical facility facilities won’t leave a voicemail unless they have specific permission to because of HIPAA is how I understand it. They need to make sure only the person that it’s intended for can hear it. I usually have had them asking ahead of time if they can leave messages at a certain number, though, so that it does not become a problem like this.
Yup. I had surgery on Tuesday but got a call from my dad's facility at 4am. It was looking like he was going to have to go to the ER so I told them that I was having surgery but someone would have my phone and they were allowed to talk to them. I told my friend who had my phone to answer any call that came in. Come to find out my phone kept ringing but because it wasn't a local number (staff often call from their personal cell phones) my friend didn't pick it up. She said had they left a message she would have called them back but they didn't leave a message so things fell through the cracks. Ugh, I tried...
Surely there must be a way of leaving a voicemail that doesn't give details but does give an indication if it's urgent or not.
This also applies if you have a generic phone number, as there’s no way to know it is for sure the person you mean to call unless it has your name listed.
Boundaries. They are so important and please have a wonderful day. Merry Christmas 🥰
You feel like a jerk because they left no message and can't answer their phone? This is not on you!
The MC where my friend lives has instructions only to call me at night when there is a question I have to answer. I don’t get calls that she fell again. I get calls if she fell, hurt herself, and is refusing to go to the ER to have it checked out.
You can also give them permission to leave message.
the staff is very likely required to call & document they called the family member (even if it’s a minor thing) of the fall.
We have the same issues with the phones in Mom's AL. She forgets to hang hers up and when I call her from out-of-state daily, I frequently get the busy signal. So I call the front desk to ask them to check on her and I either get an answer from the attached MC facility that they can't transfer to AL, no answer at all, or an opportunity to leave a message for an inbox that is full. It's infuriating! The facility blames the phone company but I know that they're understaffed, not just on holidays.
Going through this too. ❤️ to you
Oh that is so stressful! It drives me mad when people don't leave a message. My mom's in LTC with dementia a few hours away and that would cause a panic attack!