A must read.

[ABSTRUSE]

Ms Brio posted this in the blurt thread, but I think it needs its own thread. The gentleman in the story was a member of our community, not just as a writer but as a fellow human being.

Embedded

It's definitly worth the read.

thank you Imp.

 

[Harry Leg]

Good call. I was thinking that it needed its own thread too.

 

[angelicminx]

Wow... just, wow.

Thank you, Abs. Thank you, Imp.

This hits close to home. My grandfather is talking of putting my grandmother in a nursing home. She has advanced Alzheimer's. He's still able to handle her care on his own, but there will come a day when he simply can't. They live in Colorado, but the rest of the family is in Alabama, Kentucky, Texas and New Jersey. I haven't spoken directly to my grandmother in more than two years. I have always been her favorite grandchild, but she no longer remembers who I am and gets aggitated while speaking to me, so I just don't. They are both in their 80's and as bad as it might sound, I sincerely hope that death claims her before the nursing home does.

 

[Dr_Strabismus]

Thanks, a wonderfully written peice too.

My late father was an invalid, who thankfully was able to live at home with my mother until his death. Whenever she would speak on behalf of him in company, the way wives do (e.g. "He always forgets to do his exercises") he used to quote James Thurber: "Don't third person singular me! Next thing it will be first person plural, for God's sake."

 

[Alessia Brio]

Thanks, ABS.

This is the work I do every day -- trying to get the "institutional bias" out of Medicare & Medicaid so that the services & supports can be provided in people's own homes.

 

[Liar]

Indeed. Thanks for the link.

 

[dr_mabeuse]

Someone once said that we should judge a society not by how it rewards its most successful, but by how it treats its most needy.

That was a beautiful and affecting piece of writing.

 

[Explaura]

hmm.. Thats kindof what I did. For a year I was an aide in a group home for severly retarded adults. These are people that are non verbal, mostly couldn't walk, some autistic as well as developmentally retarded, some had seizure disorders and it was also a home for behavioral problems so they all did stuff like PICA or try to eat non-food items. I did all personal care, administered meds, took them into the community, implemented programs to try to let them take as much control of their lives as possible. It is a crazy world. I guess it was a real learning experience too. Its not quite the same at all, but there are a lot of similarities.. Issues of restraints, attitudes, how we relate to people who are powerless in a physcal or communication situations. Even the idea of making the personal and functional aspects of someones daily life your job is a bit odd. There are a lot of elements to think of but it comes down to a failure of a persons ability to live their life and how we want to treat that..

 

[moonlight elf]

Thanks for the link.

 

[amicus]

Yes, thank you.

 

[SeaCat]

Yes indeed, thanks for the link.

I worked for a year as an Aide in a Nursing home, although I was in the Alzheimers Wing. (For some reason they decided that because I had worked in Psych. for several years this was a good place for me. Ha!)

Much of what he describes is unfortunately true. I saw it in passing when I was going through the rest of the "Home" to get to my wing.

The use of restraints is epidemic in most Nursing Homes. Unfortunately he does a diservice to many of the Aides and other Staff Members in these homes by his comment about the restraints being used for the convenience of the staff. (Yes I am sure that it does happen.) The use of these restraints, either physical or chemical is often used for the safety of the patients, and not just the patient being restrained.

One of the biggest problems in Nursing Homes and other "For Profit" medical facilities is lack of staffing. Cutting your staff is the easiest way to save money, and therefore make money.

You can't tell me that an Aide in any facility has the time to care for 15+ patients. You can't tell me that an L.P.N. can safely watch over 10+ patients on a daily basis. Nor can the R.N. safely monitor the four or five L.P.N.'s under them. Yet this is what is expected.

Today is a good example. I started the shift with 12 patients. 5 of these patients are total care. 5 more are heavy assists. (Post Operative and such.) I also had one Alzheimers and two Dementia among my Total care's.

This works out to ten full baths.

Three of my patients needed to have full vitals done every two hours. Two of them had Blood Sugar Checks done. (One every hour on the hour.)

Two of my patients were post operative, which meant that they needed to be walked at least twice during my shift.

Two of my other patients had C.B.I."s (Continous Bladder Irrigation) which meant their foley's had to be emptied every hour.

During this time I also had to admissions. One was a Post Operative, which meant vital signs had to be taken every 15 mintues for the first two hours, then every half hour for the next four hours. The second came from the E.R. and was going through Alcohol Withdrawal. Which means he had to be closely monitored.

Also during this time one of my patients was informed that her Breast Cancer had mestastized prior to her Mastectomy. It has spread to the bones in her Pelvis as well as her Liver. I had to take care of her.

My R.N.'s They had six patients each and were running their asses off.

My Supervisor? She was in meetings for half the day, no doubt looking for more ways to trim the budget. (She got a $10K bonus last year and the C.E.O. got a $50K bonus, on top of their large salaries.)

Then again I work in a for profit hospital.

Cat

 

[shereads]

Thank you for this.

 

[privyjo]

Thank you.