Philip Y. Kao PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText

an X-ray, and that we could issue a mobile X-ray but that it would cost her an extra
amount. Because of this, the nurse said she needed the family’s permission. It was only
after a few more hours that the nurse was able to get a hold of the family to order the
mobile X-ray machine. The family was not there during the resident’s fall, but the
medical treatment and the consequences thereafter needed her family’s support and
acceptance. When I followed up with the nurse later that day about why we waited so
long to act, she said, “One of the things I’ve come to learn and that we’ve been taught in
that recent nurse’s webinar is that if you have good relations with the family members,
you seldom see law suits.”
To shift topics a bit, death was an ordinary event at Tacoma Pastures, but certain deaths
sparked controversy, because they put into relief the precarious and imperfect nature of
caregiving. Tracy was a resident on the third floor who suffered from mild dementia. She
was fairly heavyset, and because of a stroke she suffered several years ago, her entire left
side was paralysed. This made transferring her in and out of bed, and taking her to the
toilet extremely difficult. Yet even with all of these challenges and mobility issues, she
always maintained a cheerful and patient outlook on life. She had a Harvard nursing
certificate framed on the wall, from a conference she attended during the peak of her
professional life. One day when I was off work, Tracy died in the afternoon. Someone
from the hospitality (kitchen and food department) forgot to puree her broccoli, and one
of the newer caregivers did not pick up on the mistake. Tracy was brought her food as
always on a tray for lunch. This time, however, she choked on the broccoli and died
immediately. Rumours began to swirl, and caregivers started blaming Tacoma Pastures
for not paying people enough of a salary to keep them employed. According to one
caregiver, who also shared my fondness for Tracy, “The high turnover of staff at Tacoma
Pastures, and not just the caregivers, is literally killing us.”
On another occasion, Heather a resident over ninety-five years old had contracted some
kind of a throat and chest condition. She was coughing violently, and could not drink
water. The doctor for Tacoma Pastures came in to see her in the middle of the night, and
arranged for her to go to the emergency room. Upon Heather’s return to Tacoma
Pastures just two hours after her visit to emergency room, she passed away in her bed.
Over the next two days, her daughter came in the morning and swiftly emptied out her
mother’s room. Accusatory rumours started to spread. One caregiver said that the doctor
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