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My dad is in a wheelchair most times and staff often take the foot rests totally off the chair at various times. Well last week I noticed he had a metal one which wasn’t his and the black plastic one which is his. They had no idea where the other foot rest went. Mind you this was a new wheelchair in December. Then today I noticed the padded gel cushion we bought for it is missing. I am irritated that we will have to buy a new one when it’s not our fault it’s gone. Do nursing homes ever reimburse or purchase items that go missing through their own negligence?

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My mom’s nursing home misplaced her things, too. And she also threw them out. (Usually out the door). Once, they said they were having her easy chair cleaned because she’d had an accident in it. I never saw the chair again. But I understand how you feel. Go to administration and report the losses. Is it possible it was left in physical therapy if he has therapy sessions? Drop a mention to the floor nurse and his aides, or even to the director of nursing.

Make sure your father’s name is on EVERYTHING. Use masking tape and permanent marker on his footrests. Also, don’t bring in irreplaceable items.
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Well dad has lost both of his hearing aids already. and they checked his room with a fine tooth comb and the laundry. Never found them. So we had to choke out another $3800. That was fun!
It just seems to me they should be responsible for his wheelchair items. I’ve talked to the care coordinator and sent an email to her, the DON and the administrator. Will see what they say. I can only fight so many battles but I’m getting tired of things disappearing.
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Ah I joy, he hasn’t been in therapy so that’s out. I didn’t think I had to put his name on his footrests and cushions or I would have. I’m so tired of this and he’s only been in 4 months. Argh!
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What does the contract say? Some NHs state they're not responsible for lost items.
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If you are missing a hearing aid, glasses, false teeth, or jewelry look under the hospital bed with a bright flashlight. My Mom's eye glasses were missing for a couple of days, had no idea where they went.

I brought in a flashlight and low and behold, the eye glasses were leaning up on the side of the heavy duty cross legs under the hospital bed. No way anyone would see it without using a flashlight.

Usually nursing home/long-term-care do not reimburse a person for something lost. Too many times the patient misplaces it, or it gets wrapped up in a tissue and thrown out, or the person gives away the item to another resident in the facility.... [sigh]
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The NH my mother was in had a reimbursement fund that they would utilize to reimburse patients for lost items. The NH my mother was in was relatively small - 2 floors only - but they routinely lost her clothing, put someone else's clothing on her, or broke/lost items in her room. The staff helped themselves to the sugar-free life saver candies I had in her room (I'm sure Mom told them it was ok) - but they were taking handfuls of them at a time and putting them in their scrub uniform pockets to carry around with them. I was replacing them at a ridiculous rate.

I started taking Mom's clothing home to launder it myself, because:
1) The clothing kept disappearing - Mom was a large woman and her clothing was not cheap. A simple muu-muu nightgown in the style she liked could be $30 to replace.

2) I just couldn't stand the thought of her clothing being tossed into a communal hamper with other residents' soiled clothing - they kept these wheeled hampers in the hallways at all times, and all dirty bedding, clothing, etc all went into them. I don't know about you, but even if they are laundering them in hot water, etc - I don't want my mom's clothes in with someone else's that may have C-Diff or something else. And just the thought of someone else's waste getting on the clothes is just gross. They lose enough dignity being in a NH as it is - no need to make it worse.

Sometimes, the missing clothing would turn back up, no worse for wear. Sometimes it just never would re-appear at all. I never filed a claim for the missing items - I got tired of fighting the battle.
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Stencil Dad name on the back of his chair. I used address labels for the feet. Then I took the wide clear tape and wrapped it around the address label. I did this on Moms walker and cane. They have to be cut off so not easy to remove. Take pictures of glasses, hearing aids, clothing and shoes. Make sure his name is on everything.
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I was sitting across from Mom in the AL and thought something was off. I finally realized she wasn't wearing her own glasses, they were rectangle not oval. The CNAs and I were trying to figure out where her glasses could have gotten mixed up. Realized that Mom had her hair done that day. The hairdresser was gone but...she is a friend of mine so I called her and asked who else had she done at the same time. TG she remembered and we found the lady who my friend had given Moms glasses to.
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Joann. Thanks for your suggestions. I guess I was naive to think a wheelchair wouldn’t be a problem. Found out yesterday they lost the cushion I bought for it too. I looked at the guidelines and it says they aren’t responsible for lost items. (Rolling eyes here) very convenient. Especially since they’re the ones that take the foot rests off when they get on the bus for outings and mix them all up. I never thought about labeling all these things. I will now.
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Mixing up clothes is an annoying but relatively inexpensive mistake.

Losing prescription glasses or hearing aids is much more costly and replacing them is often difficult, although their small size make it easier to understand how it can happen.

Losing part from a wheelchair is a whole 'nother level of incompetence and I would insist on a door by door search. My mom's chair cost over $5K and her ROHO cushion almost $700, if something happened to it there is no excuse that would satisfy me.
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Just a thought;
If you wind up finding or buying new footrests, tie AND tape a heavy canvas bag with a drawstring to the wheelchair handle (with his name on it!) so they can put the footrests in the bag when he is being transported.
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Whenever ANYTHING went missing in mom's nh, they offered to replace it. Missing pants, a Christmas angel, anything at all.

Are you talking directly to the SW and/or Administrator?
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SueC, good idea. Where I worked we put them in a plastic grocery bag and put on the handles. We still made sure our stickers were on them.
Barb, you are lucky. When they lost Moms glasses the first time at NH, they were going to call in the eye doctor and let Medicaid pay for them. I said no, lets find her glasses, they did. Never tried to get reimbursed for clothing. When she died, I was told anything in the laundry would be put at the nurses station when washed. I waited a week, went back, no clothes. They kept saying there wasn't any. Really, she had at least 10 prs of socks and a pair of slacks. All with their iron on tags. No, not worth making a big deal about. They could use them for another patient.
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As suggested. I would make them find the correct leg.
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Ok...here's an update. I continually "dogged" them and emailed all 3 (the DoN, The care coordinator nurse, and the administrator). Yesterday the care coordinator nurse, said she was looking for his footrests and located them on another wheelchair!! So she labeled them and put them back on my dad's. Then she said they did a search that turned up 3 wheelchair pads. They are all in a sack at the nurses station for me to look at. I think by my telling them they needed to replace what went missing through no fault of my dad's or that they could buy new ones, got their attention. I’m sure I’m known as a "b...tch" but the squeaky wheel gets the grease. It burns me up they are so careless with people’s belongings. I can only fight so many battles but this was one I was willing to fight. Some of the lost items and broken things are my dad's own fault. He threw away a lot of things in anger after moving in and also with his dementia he took scissors and cut up all the new socks I bought him, saying they weren’t his. (Even though his name was on them). I just have to say..."oh well"... and move on. He wrote with a sharpie on the top of his brand new slippers because he didn’t like them. I tell you I think he will outlive me if this continues. Thanks everyone for you great suggestions.
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I put mom's name on everything at least twice, lol.  I take all her clothes home to wash myself .  But it turns out her latest roommate is the culprit regarding most of my mom's missing things. I caught her in the act of rummaging through mom's bedside drawers early on. She seemed confused, placing her own things in mom's drawers but embarrassed that I caught her, however. I now say nothing to her one way or the other and would never take anything out of her hands. The staff now try to keep her out of the room during the day because she actually has all but demolished the shared closet, placing her stuff on mom's side, arranging and rearranging her own things, etc. She's maybe in her 50s, very heavy and wheelchair bound, so how she accomplishes some of her destruction is beyond me. She has plenty of room but keeps extra things in big plastic bags that I wish to God her family would store elsewhere. They do come in and have made her side of the room very nice with all her knick-knacks. But daily now, when I come in and the roommate isn't there, I shut the door and immediately survey mom's closet and her drawers. I often find something of the roommates' on mom's side and do a reversal of what I find. Some things I've taken home. I now go through everything of the roommates', no holds barred. I'd informed the resident manager early on, and they did go through her things but didn't find everything. Management offered to reimburse me, but I declined that. The roommate has been caught with mom's glasses on. Anyway, the only thing I haven't found is mom's newest prescription eyeglasses, but there's no doubt in my mind that they're somewhere in the roommates' stash, and I still hope to retrieve them.
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My mom has been in 3. Wedding ring went missing. clothes, hearing aids. they never paid for anything lost. If you complain enough, they do make an effort currently to look for things but you have to keep after them& definitely label every item.
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Sometimes other residents take things (often due to dementia), so this can't be discounted. Fortunately, the nursing home staff probably learn quickly who these residents are. However, I know of a case in which a resident walked into another room, took someone's dentures and threw them away!

My mother's nursing home has occasional "laundry days" on which one can search through a stack of clothes and find missing items. Sometimes name tags fade or get torn off. My sister found a few of my mother's missing items by searching through the laundry stacks.
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I made my mother in law an Afghan for her bed in the nursing home. I even made sure her name and room number was sewed on it. Yet every single time I came I had to go from room to room looking for it. I'd usually find it on someone's bed or room chair. Then one day it was finally gone. I talked to the nurse's aide about it and even questioned why they didn't put it in her room when her name and room number was on it. It did no good. I feel your frustration.
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They lost my mother's glasses. It is my opinion that things like eyeglasses and hearing aids are lost when the aids pull their clothes off over their heads, these items come off with them and are tossed in the laundry basket. Then they are sent to the laundry where they become permanently lost because it is next to impossible to put a name on these things.
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the NH that my husband was in label everyones clothes. I would launder my dh clothes but it seems that one of his sweaters kept going into his roommates closet so I kept checking.
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I think that unfortunately the simplistic answer is no.

As has been suggested mark EVERYTHING ! Use a marker pen that cant be removed and put name in a not so obvious place on item. If you see something similiar ask staff to check out for name.

Keep in mind that the item may be out the door.
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No, they won't replace or reimburse you. They are thieves that prey on victims who cannot tell on them. My mother had the basics stolen e.g, hearing aide(s), teeth, any new clothing (yes they were labeled) ANY jewelry (cheap, fun, holiday stuff) and finally her wedding band. She had never taken it off before and with RA would never have been able to get it off herself. Someone had to forcibly remove it. I called them and got a "sorry". There's a special place in h*ll for someone who steals from a person who cannot help themselves.
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I would definitely inquire about it. Once my loved one was staying at a memory care facility and at the time of check-out while I was packing his bag, I noticed his Carhart jacket was missing. I asked about and everyone said they hadn't seen it. So about a month went by and guess what? It was suddenly found more worn than before.
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Those NH's ought to be responsible for lost items; if not, take 'em to court and sue 'em
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I remember one posting from a time back that recommended purchase second hand clothing, so if it came up missing it wouldn't be a big deal.

As for jewelry, when my Mom was in long-term-care, her watch and rings came home with me. Eventually I had to take my Mom's hearing aid home, too, as she kept taking if off and misplacing it. I made sure nothing of value was in Mom's room except for herself.

Too bad someone doesn't design a metal detector or scanner to catch items before clothing and linens are placed in the wash. Same for emptying trash. That would catch quite a few hearing aids, watches, eyeglasses, etc.
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PUT THEIR NAME ON EVERYTHING - use nail polish on items that won't take a pen - use a bright colour that will show well in contrast

My aunt would take out her hearing aids & wrap them in kleenex & put them in a pocket so they went into the garbage because who checks used kleenexes - get big bulky hearing aids to avoid this issue - my grandfather [died in 1961] had hearing aids that were built into the arms of his glasses & they never got lost so look for that type if they wear glasses too
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It is definitely a problem in nursing homes. My dad lost his upper dentures when he vomited and they unwittingly threw the bed linens into the laundry. That mistake meant he didn't have uppers for 4-5 months - aggravating. There was another occasion where his glasses were pocketed (absentmindedly) by the bedside doctor and deposited at the nurses station on the rehab side (the only place I didn't look!) In both of those cases, the facility replaced them at their cost, not dad's. When my mom was in a lengthy stay in rehab, one of her roommates families emptied BOTH closets when helping a loved one discharge. Ridiculous as my mom was tiny and their mom much taller/larger. More ridiculous was that the facility didn't seem to be concerned when suddenly mom's closet was empty. Maybe they thought I took everything home to launder...even her winter coat?? They were able to contact the family and got back all clothing except all of the slacks. I had to replace all, not easy when mom is a size 2 Petite. Sigh. One day, I came in to see mom and her lovely roommate at the time was wearing mom's cardigan sweater. I quietly asked the CNA to help the patient into a piece of her own clothing. The long and the short of it is label everything, which leads me to my last loss.....my label maker. I kept it in dad's bureau and someone from the facility thought it belonged to the facility and took it. Never got that back because (wait for it!) I never labelled my label maker. Ugh. It is what it is; just pick your battles and speak up when you need to:)
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Nursing homes are very bad at misplacing cell phones, clothes, jewelry, blankets, etc. Go to the head person at the nursing home and send them complaints.
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I think you will have to label everything . .if they let you. As an LPN who worked in nursing homes there are Privace rules. There are times when they are taken to extremes and silly. I had one resident whose family did her laundry . Her Family put a sign up telling staff not to take laundry for washing as they did it. Nope , we had to take it down . Someone else might read it . One man had a hard time reading his remote. We took the time to make a cardboard drawing of it so he could see it better . Nope it had to go .. Someone might see it and guess he had bad vision .( i guess) On the other hand most Nursing Homes do have extra things they keep . We had to take someones floor lamp because it was potentially dangerous . The Nursing Home just took out one of the extras they had to replace it.
Oh as far as, hearing aids go. The company we got our hearing aids for my Mother from . Well they attached a (removable) wire and clamp to them . That we can just clip on her shirt. It wont stop them from being taken to laundry with cloths but at least you wont have to dig on floor , sheeting and trash.
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