Sunnyside Nursing Home

My parents were both in this home, and although our father has since passed, our mother still resides there. Although she suffers with dimentia, she has no major health issues.
I may start to sound like a cheerleader, but here goes! I think a huge part of liking any nursing home, is being there yourself, and getting comfortable with it. All of the staff, and I do mean all, have become like friends, that we as a family are lucky enough to have look after our loved one. I know that even housekeeping staff will sit with Mom if she is having a bad morning, and in my opinion that goes above and beyond!
The day our Dad passed away, we were contacted immediately to let us know that he was in a bad way. The Dr was there when I arrived, followed closely by the Chaplain, who stayed with us for the entire day and night, taking only small breaks for herself. She guided us through this, and the day, evening,and night staff were simply wonderful! After Dad had passed, the Dietary staff had coffee, fruit, and muffins at the ready for us. All of this was So appreciated.
So, while I am sure there are those with opposing views, we as a family are without exception, grateful to have our Mother there.

I do not recommend sending anyone to this care home. Care aid workers seem not well trained and do not deliver good care to their patients. Staff do not follow proper procedures and safety precautions. For example, when transerring their patients they do not use proper TLR safety such as not putting transfer belts on their patients. Lots of improvement and changes need to be made to this faculity. It does have the potential to be a great place but needs to make some major changes and better management.

I would not recommend this facility. They are as nice as pie when you meet them but the actual care is terrible. I left my father in this facility for respite and they didn't know the first thing about catheter care. I had to physically go over there myself because they left him in a terribly uncomfortable state. I taped up his catheter and tubing and the exact same tape was still on there two weeks later. I know this because he told me and they did not have the type of tape that I brought from home. He is physically unable to move at all during night. On one occasion they left his feet crammed against the bars at the foot of the bed and refused to help him. He was in so much pain and didn't sleep at all that night. On other occasions they left tubes underneath him causing pressure sore spots. When he asked for help to get the tubes out from underneath himself they told him to be quiet and go to sleep. My father in law was also at this facility for a short time and we transferred him out as soon as possible. I have been involved with health care for twenty years and this is the worst facility for care that I have experienced in Saskatoon.

I would agree about the lack of communication. I am the only child of a single parent who has been living at Sunnyside since this January 2009. The communication to me has been greatly lacking. I have discovered some mishaps there which were not reported to me-thankfully, nothing major. Also, I feel as if I am intruding when I need to ask one of the nurses a question.
That is completely unacceptable.One major concern is the director has little real training other than hands on and there is no Social Worker on staff. I think that may or may not violate Saskatoon District Health guidelines.

With the aging population, there is a need to expand this facility. Ideally, the rooms should be larger for those residents that are roommates together. I also believe that the director of care has to communicate better and more often to resident's families so that they understand what is going on.