My mom also had frequent UTIs in a nursing home. She wore pull ups and could still use the toilet, however, the aides weren't taking her to the bathroom frequently enough. We had to pester them and then finally wrote them up to get them to take her to the bathroom regularly. We also had to pester them to give her more showers during the week. Its negligent for your mom to end with frequent UTIs from lack of hygiene care. Use the word negligence when you speak to them about this issue.

My mom just passed away in the nursing home. We still had to pester till the end for proper care! My goal is to keep myself healthy enough so that I never end up in a nursing home after what we've been through with both my parents having been in several nursing homes. So I am very grateful to the contributors to this site because I implement a lot of the remedies to remain as healthy as possible.

I'm so sorry you're going through this with your Mom! Please read the following suggestions carefully & completely:

1. First and foremost: any UTI, if left untreated long enough COULD result in a very serious KIDNEY INFECTION (blood in the urine, etc.). The RN should know this, and should be immediately sending urine samples out to a lab to have a culture done to determine exactly what antibiotic should be prescribed. I myself have been to Urgent Care for UTIs and they always prescribe something immediately while waiting for the culture results. If the culture comes back and requires a different medication, the prescription is changed. Also, the RN should know to give the over-the-counter UTI pain medication called Azo (brand name Pyridium; generic name Phenazopyridine). This pain medication does NOT cure the infection, but it does provide temporary pain relief while waiting for the prescription to be filled.

2. If at all possible, I would strongly suggest you schedule an appointment for your Mom with a reputable Urologist and not rely on this RN's "treatment". Take your Mom to the Urologist appointment. Make sure the Urologist takes Medicare, or whatever insurance your Mom has.

3. At the appointment, make sure they request a urine sample from your Mom.

NOTE: ask the nurse at the urologist's office to place a plastic "hat" on the toilet seat to allow your Mom to sit on the seat and pee into the "hat". Much easier for older folks than standing and peeing! Request that they send out the urine sample to a LAB to have a CULTURE done. This is the ONLY way they can tell exactly what type of UTI your Mom has. It could be E-coli or klebsiella pneumoniae, or something else. The TYPE of UTI is extremely important because this tells the doctor exactly which type of antibiotic will CURE the infection.

4. The recurrence of your Mom's UTI is most probably a combination of a) the wrong type of antibiotic for the specific infection; and b) lack of regular and ongoing hygienic and preventative care.

5. Ask the caregivers & the RN at the nursing home if they have urine cleansing wipes (you can Google this for various brands, which can be bought in bulk). Since they're only allowing one shower a week (really?? this is outrageous! ), I would hope they would have cleansing wipes available for sensitive personal hygiene (these wipes do NOT contain alcohol and do NOT sting! ).

6. And last, don't bother talking to the RN at the nursing home about alternative/natural remedies since you now know she doesn't "believe" in them. Just focus on getting a qualified Urologist for your Mom and making sure the nursing staff can provide, and help her use, the cleansing wipes.

I wish you the very best in this!