Due to the prolonged spread of the new coronavirus, elderly patients continue to be hospitalized without being able to visit their families or leave the hospital room, which makes them feel "lonely" and their cognitive function declines. The issue of potential is raised.
Under these circumstances, hospitals in Tokyo take care of each and every one of them with various ideas, "let's feel the atmosphere of family and home even at the hospital."
Saiseikai Central Hospital in Minato-ku, Tokyo has a ward dedicated to the new virus, which has about 20 beds and accepts elderly patients.
With the new Corona, patients may feel "lonely" and their cognitive function may decline due to prolonged hospitalization in which they cannot meet with family and friends to prevent infection and cannot leave the hospital room. Challenges have been raised.
For this reason, at this hospital, we take care of each patient with various ideas, "Let's feel the atmosphere of family and home even at the hospital."
Read "Family Letter"
At Saiseikai Central Hospital in Tokyo, some patients stayed in the hospital for more than 3 months for a long time.
It is said that there are many patients who complain of anxiety and cannot sleep due to such a life and ring a nurse call in the middle of the night, so that the nurse may listen to the story for about an hour to calm the mind. ..
In addition, if the hospitalization life away from the family is prolonged, the cognitive function will deteriorate and the life after discharge may be affected, so we are taking various measures.
On the day I visited for the interview, the nurse read a letter from my family to the woman in the hospital room of an elderly woman in her 80s who had been hospitalized for a long time.
The letter was lined with words of encouragement, such as "I'm looking forward to the day when I can see my face," and the patient said, "I want to see my family soon." Thank you, always. "
The nurses displayed the letter by the bed, which was always visible, as the patient sometimes heard with tears.
According to the hospital, it is expected that family letters will prevent cognitive decline, and even when patients complain of anxiety, reading the letters again will be used for mental care. It means that it is.
Risa Kobayashi said, "Because it is peculiar to Corona that you cannot see your family, stay in the hospital for a long time, and cannot get out of the hospital room, many patients complain of anxiety. Letters from grandchildren and wives really tear I'm listening while playing. "I wonder if I'm dying, maybe it's no good." Even when the patient makes a soft noise, everyone is waiting, so I feel like I'm supporting them to do their best again. " I did.
Feel your home in the "foot bath"
Efforts are underway to make people feel at home even for a long period of hospitalization with the new Corona.
At Saiseikai Central Hospital in Tokyo, we provide "foot baths" for patients who cannot take a bath frequently to wash their feet with hot water.
On the day I visited the interview, "foot bath" care was given to elderly female patients, and when nurses in protective clothing poured hot water on their feet, the patients seemed to feel comfortable.
Even in that case, the nurses are devising.
I listen to the bath salts that patients often use at home and their favorite scents that they are familiar with, and use them in hot water.
The scent that I usually feel is drifting in the hospital room, which stimulates the patient's five senses, and some elderly patients say, "I want to go home early."
Risa Kobayashi, the chief nurse, said, "I want the nurses to feel that they are at home with all five senses, rather than just adding hot water and having them take a" foot bath. " I use bath salts for care to create the usual atmosphere. Elderly patients sometimes don't even know if they are at home or at the hospital, so it feels as close to home as possible. The nurses are thinking about creating an atmosphere. "
Corona correspondence Nurse revealed to children
A female nurse in her 40s, who works as a chief in the new corona ward, wears a gown and a special mask from the morning on the day we visit, and is busy dealing with newly accepted elderly patients. Was there.
The nurse said, "I feel distressed when I hear that the patient's family is also worried that the patient's family may be at risk of life, but it is hard to come to the visit. I'm responding to patients who can't meet their families and can't stay at home, and whether they can feel at home as if they were at home. "
The nurse also didn't say he was working in the Corona ward because he didn't want to worry about the three children, but he confessed this month.
Regarding the situation at that time, I was deeply moved by the fact that the lower child said "it's amazing" and the upper child said "I'm proud". Of course, this crisis is very difficult, but in the given environment There is new learning in it, and there are staff who are working positively, so I want to convey that it is not all hard things. "
For the power of nursing while collecting "small light"
In the new corona ward of Saiseikai Central Hospital in Tokyo, we are in charge of elderly people with relatively severe symptoms and elderly people with dementia, and along with the treatment of the new corona, we have made efforts to prevent cognitive decline. It is said that it came.
Risa Kobayashi said, "Some people don't even know why elderly patients are hospitalized, whether they are corona, whether this is their home or hospital, so we first tried to get them accustomed to the environment. Even when the patient makes a soft noise saying, "I wonder if I'm dying, maybe it's no good anymore," I continue to support by reading the letter from my family again. "
On top of that, he said that he wanted to encourage each other and overcome the crisis as a team even in a difficult situation. I was able to go to work, I am in charge of Corona patients and I am in contact with them every day, but no one is feverish. Nursing while collecting "small light" that our skills and knowledge were not wrong It is connected to the power of. "