So I had high hopes for this facility. It was well reccomended and the reason we chose it over a much closer facility. The place is beautiful and the program looks good on paper (ie, the parent handbook). The problem is that no one seems to know what is going on!
difficult child was admitted on Thursday. I met with social worker and difficult child on Friday. I also met briefly with doctor at my request. SW informed me that prior to discharge there would be two extended visits. One is a four hour on ground visit, follwed the next day by an 8 hour off ground visit. If all goes well on the visits then he's discharged. There is also an outline in the handbook of the things we would be working on with difficult child in the SW sessions. We visited difficult child on again Sunday and things went well. It is my understanding that Saturday was a difficult day where difficult child got into a fight with another patient and spent some time in the quiet room. (I asked, no one offered this info). So Monday is the next scheduled SW session, I show up and she informs me that I am going to do an on-ground four hour visit. Not that I mind but there is nothing to do on grounds and if she would have called me I would have brought a picnic lunch, some games, books, etc... I was expecting a counseling session. She then tells me that if all goes well, we will do the 8 hour off ground today. I say, does this mean he is being discharged? She says possibly. So I would be hapy to have difficult child home but I am leary about a switch the psychiatrist made form clonidine to a larger dose of tenex, as we had problems with irritation/agression on the one and from what I've read could expect problems with the other. So I ask SW if difficult child is any more stable than when he arrived? She says, how do YOU think he's doing? How would I know? I've seen him a for only a few hours since Thursday and no one calls me. She goes to get his chart which she had not read before hand and discovers that he had a rough day Saturday. Well maybe he's not ready to go home she says. Let us know how the visit goes. The visit went fine but no one was available to talk to me afterwards. No one scheduled an 8 hour vist with me and the discharge coordinator listed in the handbook has not been in touch. I call last night at the hours appointed for the nurse to take calls and ask, how was the rest of the day? The nurse replies that she thinks he did fine but let her double check. She comes back and says that actually things did not go fine, he crushed another patient's art project, hit a patient, and knocked over a bunch of chairs. He spent some time in the quiet area, calmed down took a shower and went to bed. I tell her what the SW said earlier about the visits and she says that she has not heard anything and SW should contact me. Yeah, right!
So as of now. I plan to call difficult child at phone hours, call the nurse at nurse hours, ask for a call from the psychiatrist, and not visit today as this place is pretty far away and we had planned to visit every other day. I am curious if the SW will call me. Maybe she has had a chance to read the file. I am begining to think she had us mixed up with someone else who was scheduled for an on ground visit.
Thanks for letting me vent,
Christy
difficult child was admitted on Thursday. I met with social worker and difficult child on Friday. I also met briefly with doctor at my request. SW informed me that prior to discharge there would be two extended visits. One is a four hour on ground visit, follwed the next day by an 8 hour off ground visit. If all goes well on the visits then he's discharged. There is also an outline in the handbook of the things we would be working on with difficult child in the SW sessions. We visited difficult child on again Sunday and things went well. It is my understanding that Saturday was a difficult day where difficult child got into a fight with another patient and spent some time in the quiet room. (I asked, no one offered this info). So Monday is the next scheduled SW session, I show up and she informs me that I am going to do an on-ground four hour visit. Not that I mind but there is nothing to do on grounds and if she would have called me I would have brought a picnic lunch, some games, books, etc... I was expecting a counseling session. She then tells me that if all goes well, we will do the 8 hour off ground today. I say, does this mean he is being discharged? She says possibly. So I would be hapy to have difficult child home but I am leary about a switch the psychiatrist made form clonidine to a larger dose of tenex, as we had problems with irritation/agression on the one and from what I've read could expect problems with the other. So I ask SW if difficult child is any more stable than when he arrived? She says, how do YOU think he's doing? How would I know? I've seen him a for only a few hours since Thursday and no one calls me. She goes to get his chart which she had not read before hand and discovers that he had a rough day Saturday. Well maybe he's not ready to go home she says. Let us know how the visit goes. The visit went fine but no one was available to talk to me afterwards. No one scheduled an 8 hour vist with me and the discharge coordinator listed in the handbook has not been in touch. I call last night at the hours appointed for the nurse to take calls and ask, how was the rest of the day? The nurse replies that she thinks he did fine but let her double check. She comes back and says that actually things did not go fine, he crushed another patient's art project, hit a patient, and knocked over a bunch of chairs. He spent some time in the quiet area, calmed down took a shower and went to bed. I tell her what the SW said earlier about the visits and she says that she has not heard anything and SW should contact me. Yeah, right!
So as of now. I plan to call difficult child at phone hours, call the nurse at nurse hours, ask for a call from the psychiatrist, and not visit today as this place is pretty far away and we had planned to visit every other day. I am curious if the SW will call me. Maybe she has had a chance to read the file. I am begining to think she had us mixed up with someone else who was scheduled for an on ground visit.
Thanks for letting me vent,
Christy
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