My mother has been in a nursing since August. Myself and since links were always able to go and sit with my mother in the dining room and assist her if need.
Recent. The rules have changed and the nursing home is saying that no family members are allowed in the dining with with the parent / resident. We reside in Mass. Thus is very upsetting to my mother. Have you heard of this before?
I agree, that this would be a hardship that would severely restrict visitation. My mother has always been a slow eater (1-1/2 to 2 hours to finish). Most of my family’s visits take place in the cafeteria with her. We often bring in meals from outside and we eat together. This is true for other residents as well. I feel that having family around while the residents eat is comforting and reminiscent of past time spent with family. I can’t imagine “residents’ privacy” could be more important than that.
Family visits were encouraged, especially at mealtimes. If the resident needed assistance beyond what family/visitor could provide, a staff was assigned to help to ensure the resident was not denied food. This also meant family could not be banned at mealtimes.
I suspect if families or other visitors were banned arbitrarily, there would be much push back as policies prohibited isolation unless there was some "medically necessarily" or "safety" issues that could only be handled if visitors were banned. If it was a privacy issue that required extra chair/table space, there were other areas/rooms for small, private meetings.
I would ask your mom's nurse about this. If no satisfactory answer, supervising nurse. Still not satisfied, go to Social Services or Administration. Someone will have an answer. If the resident is capable of understanding, it should be explained to the resident. Isolation is a violation of resident/visitor rights.
Because I had to sign a form that said we understood the rules and we would be notified in writing of any changes with 30 days to object.
I would contact the ombudsmen if this change is causing distress for your mom, the facility needs to offer an alternative if your moms wellbeing is adversely affected.
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