"Poor communication to relatives of dementia..."

My mother, who has advanced dementia, was admitted with a broken hip. The doctors we encountered were excellent and took trouble to communicate with us a next of kin, as my mother has lost the ability to speak and communicate. However visiting hours on her ward were at times when doctors were not noticeably present and it was quite tricky getting information from some of the nursing staff. Some of them seemed quite reluctant to disclose any information. I only discovered she was being discharged from a patient in the bed opposite. When I approached the nursing station to try and locate her named nurse and find out more, I was asked why I wished to see them (in a fairly hostile manner). One of the nurses also seemed to feel communication with the patient was a waste of time (in view of her advanced dementia) and commenced procedures without even speaking to my mother. My brother politely suggested to this nurse that it might be better to treat my mother with some dignity and warn her when a blood sugar test was about to be performed. Overall I think the quality of care could be improved with better communication skills.