Sticky Notes

You probably know them, little yellow sheets of paper on which you can write a note – usually as a reminder – and then stick it somewhere. Where you will see it so you don’t forget what to remember. On the fridge, your computer screen, a bag of shower shoes that you will have to take with you to a client later or even on the toilet if necessary. Handy – as long as you can read them.

I don’t consider myself a ‘complex’ client. Not where care is concerned. Giving me medication, emptying and rinsing Po chair, washing or showering, getting dressed and eye drops. You don’t need a special skill set for this. A carer, whether that is care and welfare or carer IG, can provide my care perfectly. The complex comes when I need to remember something and when the forgetfulness causes me to deviate from my routine, I have a hard time getting my thoughts back in order. My head spins and I quickly get exhausted. 

Every morning the nurse takes the necessary clothes, inco material towel and washcloth before we go to the bathroom. I like to shower every other day. When showering, I like to put on clean clothes. When washing I only need clean underwear, bra and socks. I can put on the shirt and pants one more time before they go into the wash. When washing, I also like a clean towel and washcloth. I use it again the next day when I shower. Then if the towel is used to dry the floor after it’s dry, it can simply go in the wash and I will never run out of towels. Are you confused yet?! 

One of the regular nurses knows that confused. If you would see my care plan and read the life story it contains, after you have helped dozens of other clients, you would recognize that feeling too. But we’re not going to point all fingers at that one nurse. Every now and then a nurse comes who does not come to help me regularly and during the summer holidays I often have to deal with strangers. Then I can’t expect these people to remember my life story and all the instructions in my care plan. 

When my regular nurse asked me again one morning if I wanted to wash or shower and if I needed a clean towel, she came up with a brilliant idea so that both she and her colleagues no longer had to ask. Sometimes I didn’t know the answer myself and sometimes I just wasn’t awake enough to talk and answer. It was annoying, both for me and the sisters. 

‘Sticky Notes’! she said enthusiastically. “Maybe we can stick one on the wall by the towel rack so we don’t forget when you need a clean one.” 

Then I looked around and I imagined that she might want to stick one on the medicine cabinet as well to point out exactly where the eye drops are. Then I thought about the age-old question of ‘washing or showering’? Then I was startled at the thought of the approaching summer holidays and all those questions that I would have to answer from the summer team. We could also make that easier with sticky notes… but, uh… little problem… I can’t read sticky notes. You can’t do that if you’re legally blind. 

‘Yes’… I said. ‘Good idea. But I don’t want those yellow things all over my room if I can’t read them myself. I’ll take care of sticky notes. But then my way. I’ll text you later and show you what I came up with.” 

After the care moment, I went for breakfast and was thinking about what old device I could use to make digital sticky notes. Not my own phone or iPad, because the sisters must be able to look at the notes without my permission. Not even via the CarenZorgt environment, my care plan is already there. It also asks for a password. I just want them to be able to look without having to have a good knowledge of technology. 

I have some old tablets and iPads lying around. Unfortunately, these are so old that it took ages to start up. Then I grabbed my old MacBook. Thought to have removed the password and made a series of notes available on the desktop. With the MacBook in standby, I thought swiping on the trackpad would wake the computer and make the notes instantly readable. But no… If a MacBook could swear, mine would too. I swiped on the trackpad later that day and was greeted with ‘enter password’. I closed the lid and shoved it under a pile of clothes in my wardrobe. 

Then my caregiver came home from work and I talked about my battle with technology. 

‘Why didn’t you take my Android tablet’? she asked in astonishment. ‘I don’t use it anymore. I now have an iPad.” 

“But it’s not in the impossible-to-reach pile of old tablets,” I said. 

‘Correct. It’s in my bedroom.” 

Without saying what I was thinking—something about swearing for fighting a dinosaur of a MacBook all day—I took the tablet to bed that night. Added a new account, which I was able to set up without a PIN, and again posted a series of sticky notes on the home screen. 

The tablet is in a ‘book sleeve’. All the nurses have to do is open the case and swipe up on the screen with one finger. Notes for the first 6 days are on the first screen. Swipe to the left once, you’ll find the note for Sunday plus some extra information about where certain things are in the house. Everything is the same as the care plan, only it is much clearer. On Sunday evening I edit the notes so that washing or showering is on the correct day. Then I can also write some extra comments if I need to remember and/or tell something extra. 

Some of the nurses had to get used to it because they prefer to talk to me and ask questions. So I have occasionally had to explain that sometimes this is not possible because I am physically unable to answer. Besides, it doesn’t take anything away from talking. Nor is it a ‘punishment system’ for those who cannot remember everything. The nurses are people too. Everyone forgets things from time to time and that can happen more often if you help multiple clients with different needs. It should simply be seen as an additional tool. 

This tablet is my own device. It was not reimbursed by the district care nor by the health insurance. I grabbed the nurse’s idea of the sticky notes with both hands and started running with it in a direction that works for both me and them. But that won’t work for all clients. In many cases, you do have a care folder that you can put next to a client’s bed. The same notes with a similar structure can also be placed in a care folder. For clients with more severe memory problems, you might have to put that folder somewhere out of sight so that it doesn’t go for a walk. But somewhere where all colleagues can easily reach it. 

We are moving forward with technology. So make sure to use it if you can, but above all make your tasks within healthcare clear. With tablet, pen and paper or even those fabulous yellow sticky notes!