Admission Anxiety
It’s Admission Day. You’re a family member about to bring your loved one to their new home for the first time, and you’re going to leave without them. You’re anxious, scared, sad, maybe even a little relieved. You know this is the right thing to do- your loved one is having a harder time living on their own, or with you and your family, and it’s creating risk. Perhaps they’re having more falls, or forgetting to eat, and you can’t be with them all the time to ensure this doesn’t happen…and if it does, who will be there to help? Your loved one has been placed on a waitlist for a long term care home, and finally, you get the call that a bed is ready for them.
All the emotions that you’re feeling are normal, and I call it “Admission Anxiety”. I’ve been there myself, after all!
The day of Admission can be hectic. Staff have their policies and protocols they need to explain, their paperwork they need you to fill out, and to them, this is a normal task on their daily list of deliverables. But to you? This is not normal.
The reason I talk about Admission Anxiety is to shed some light on how the families are FEELING that day, and how the people who work in long term care can make that day just a little easier.
I wrote an article once called “The Power of a Phone Call” – which I’ll link here. I discuss how much of a difference it can make when staff take a few extra minutes in their day to call their new resident’s family member and ask one simple question:
“How are YOU doing?”
After the admission day dust has settled, and that family member has gone home without their loved one, emotions can be hectic. Frustration, anxiety, sadness, and yes, sometimes even relief (then the guilt that comes along with that feeling of relief). Alot of the time, families are left to sit with those emotions. Having a staff member call, ask how THEY are, and provide an update on how their loved one settled in that evening can not only ease that Admission Anxiety, but start to build a positive and supportive relationship between staff and family right from the start.
If you’d like to hear more about Admission Anxiety check out Episode 2 of The Empathy Exchange here.
Share
Related Articles