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Whilst working one night I was alerted by a member of staff shouting. I came out of the office to find out what was going on. A resident was lying on the floor, she had blood coming from her head. I went over to the resident. The lady is living with dementia, and only sleeps a few hours a night. She also has congenital deafness, she lip reads. I asked the staff member what had happened then told him to phone the other unit and get a nurse to come over and check the resident over. I tapped the floor as a sign to the resident i wanted to talk to her, I asked her if she was ok, she said yes. By this time the other carer had arrived I asked her to sit with the resident and ensure she did not move whilst i collected a blanket and a cold compress from the medication room. I rolled up the blanket and placed it under the ladies head, i covered the cold compress in a towel then placed that on the swelling. it appeared to be a small cut caused by her falling onto her glasses.

The nurse from the other unit came over, I asked her to check the woman over. I have had basic first aid training over ten years ago so did not feel competent enough to assess the lady for possible broken bones(code of conduct 6.6 6.7)

The nurse said she did not appear to have any broken bones, but advised me to phone NHS 24 for further advice regarding the head wound. I asked the nurse if I should contact the residents family, she said no as it was only a small cut to the head it would be better to leave it to the morning to call.The resident managed to stand independantly, I asked a carer to sit with the lady whilst I contacted NHS 24. Before leaving I checked her wound and the bleeding appeared to have stopped.

I spoke with a nurse from NHS 24, she asked about the ladies condition and her medical history, and asked for her G.P.’s Name and address, I relayed all this information to the nurse.

I was advised by the nurse to observe the lady, as the bleeding had ceased and the wound was not deep, it would not be advisable to send the lady to accident and emergency in the middle of the night. If bleeding started, or if she started vomiting or became