I am so sad today...
...I went to visit some of my old patients in a nursing home that I used to work at. A nurse that I worked with was still there. She had been telling me some horror stories about the facility that have been caused by a number of changes in management. I thought she had been exaggerating a bit, but actually, she didn't even tell me the half of it.
I found residents lying a urine soaked beds, begging for help as I passed them and most of them had filthy, matted hair. The men and women were unshaven and the staff was nowhere to be found. I fed a lady who had been left in her room with her food sitting on a table. I had to warm the food up in the microwave and then I tried to feed her. She refused to eat anything after the first bite because, "It doesn't taste right." I took a bite of her meal and she was right, the food was so salty that no one could have eaten it. I mentioned it to the nurse friend of mine and she said that it was ALWAYS too salty. Apparently, the cook likes salty food so she prepares it with far, far too much salt. The meat looked like the meat on a McRib sandwich from McDonald's, but it tasted like a watery sponge. I found a tray in another room that had been left there since breakfast. That patient had been served burnt toast and a bowl of grits. Other than the orange juice, that was all that this person had been served.
There was an Chinese lady who spoke very little English. When I passed her, she was in tears and I finally figured out that all she wanted was to go to the bathroom. Like most nursing homes, this place slaps diapers on EVERY person who is admitted because the CNA's don't want to be bothered toileting the residents. I took her to the bathroom and she cried tears of gratitude and held onto my hand, thanking me and telling me how much she loved me, and that she would "love me forever." She offerred, in broken English, to pay me when her daughter came.
I took a gentleman to the bathroom because he was begging anyone who passed to help him. The staff just ignored him. He was a totally alert man with both legs amputated. I took him to the bathroom as well. Once again, he thanked me like no human being should have to thank a person who performed the simple task of toileting him.
While I was there, a woman fell and broke her foot as she was trying to reach the bathroom herself. As the EMT's took her through the lobby, she was apologizing profusely. I took it to mean that she was in fear of some punishment for falling.
I knelt next to a man in a wheelchair and noticed a bandage on his leg. It was dated 8/10. The redness from the brewing infection was visible beyond the borders of the bandage. I told his nurse who responded by telling me that, "I am not the wound care nurse." Perhaps she wasn't, but a nurse is ultimately responsible for the care of their patient. I asked for help for residents at least 4 times and each and every time, "That's not my resident." was the answer that I was given. They didn't know that I was a nurse so they saw no reason to even attempt to be decent. As a visitor, they were offended at my "interference".
The entire place was filthy and the staff walked past filth on the floor, creating a safety hazard to any elderly person who might slip on the filth.
As I passed one room, I overheard a CNA scolding a resident for using the call bell to request help. Her exact words were, "I told you not to bother me, you aren't the only person that I have to take care of! If you push that button one more time, I'll put it where you can't reach it!" She was so nasty that I wanted to smack her. When the CNA was gone, I went in to offer the woman some help. All she wanted was water. That bitch CNA took longer scolding the patient than it would have taken her to pour the pitiful woman a glass of water.
The nurses sat at the nursing station when lights were going off all down the halls. I wanted to cry. One man asked me if I could get him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When I asked his nurse if it would be OK, she said, "NO! He already ate his breakfast!" First of all, this was a big man and I doubt that toast, burnt or not, and a bowl of grits would have filled him up. Secondly, SO WHAT IF HE DID EAT THAT SLOP! The man was hungry. I went to the snack machine and got him some crackers and apple juice. Once again, the man cried with gratitude.
The Alzheimer's Unit was like something out of a horror movie and the staff sadly reminded me of Nurse Ratchett from One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. The supervisor sat at the nurses station eating and chatting for most of the day. The staff ordered themselves Chinese food to be delivered, apparently it was payday and they all had the money to buy themselves a nice meal while the residents, mostly lined up in the halls, watched them eat. I couldn't believe how many trays were left at the bedsides of helpless residents who couldn't feed themselves. Then, when the staff began picking up the trays, they wrote on slips of paper that the residents had eaten anywhere from 75-100% of their meals when they had not been given a bite of food.
Walking down the halls, I noticed that most of them were in wheelchair's, lined up and down the halls like cattle. The stench of urine and BM was overwhelming. As I drove home, I was in tears. The frustration of not being able to help those people was too much for me to bear. Some of them were in filthy clothing, others in mismatched clothing and I even saw one woman, as I passed her room, lying on her bed stark naked, attempting to eat while holding a sheet to cover herself.
One of the men that I visited today was in the Bataan Death March. He survived that while he was protecting us and our way of life. I think it's a damn shame that we can't treat him, and all others like him, in a manner befitting a veteran who fought for us, and...almost died for us.
I am so angry now and I am going to report this place to the State of Georgia. Our elderly deserve so much more that what we do for them. They raised us and worked all of their lives only to end up in a warehouse for humans. Those people are somebody's mothers, fathers and grandparents. They were teachers, accountants and caregivers at one time. I would never, under any circumstances, allow my father to be placed in a nursing home. Not all of them are so bad, but most are not at all what a human being deserves. One day, anyone of us might end up in a nursing home and it would behoove us all to bitch until things are better at ALL nursing homes. If you would like to do something that mught help these people, here's a link that will help you locate the email address of your representatives:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
If you'd like, you could just send them what I've written. Please, help these people in whatever way that you.
...I went to visit some of my old patients in a nursing home that I used to work at. A nurse that I worked with was still there. She had been telling me some horror stories about the facility that have been caused by a number of changes in management. I thought she had been exaggerating a bit, but actually, she didn't even tell me the half of it.
I found residents lying a urine soaked beds, begging for help as I passed them and most of them had filthy, matted hair. The men and women were unshaven and the staff was nowhere to be found. I fed a lady who had been left in her room with her food sitting on a table. I had to warm the food up in the microwave and then I tried to feed her. She refused to eat anything after the first bite because, "It doesn't taste right." I took a bite of her meal and she was right, the food was so salty that no one could have eaten it. I mentioned it to the nurse friend of mine and she said that it was ALWAYS too salty. Apparently, the cook likes salty food so she prepares it with far, far too much salt. The meat looked like the meat on a McRib sandwich from McDonald's, but it tasted like a watery sponge. I found a tray in another room that had been left there since breakfast. That patient had been served burnt toast and a bowl of grits. Other than the orange juice, that was all that this person had been served.
There was an Chinese lady who spoke very little English. When I passed her, she was in tears and I finally figured out that all she wanted was to go to the bathroom. Like most nursing homes, this place slaps diapers on EVERY person who is admitted because the CNA's don't want to be bothered toileting the residents. I took her to the bathroom and she cried tears of gratitude and held onto my hand, thanking me and telling me how much she loved me, and that she would "love me forever." She offerred, in broken English, to pay me when her daughter came.
I took a gentleman to the bathroom because he was begging anyone who passed to help him. The staff just ignored him. He was a totally alert man with both legs amputated. I took him to the bathroom as well. Once again, he thanked me like no human being should have to thank a person who performed the simple task of toileting him.
While I was there, a woman fell and broke her foot as she was trying to reach the bathroom herself. As the EMT's took her through the lobby, she was apologizing profusely. I took it to mean that she was in fear of some punishment for falling.
I knelt next to a man in a wheelchair and noticed a bandage on his leg. It was dated 8/10. The redness from the brewing infection was visible beyond the borders of the bandage. I told his nurse who responded by telling me that, "I am not the wound care nurse." Perhaps she wasn't, but a nurse is ultimately responsible for the care of their patient. I asked for help for residents at least 4 times and each and every time, "That's not my resident." was the answer that I was given. They didn't know that I was a nurse so they saw no reason to even attempt to be decent. As a visitor, they were offended at my "interference".
The entire place was filthy and the staff walked past filth on the floor, creating a safety hazard to any elderly person who might slip on the filth.
As I passed one room, I overheard a CNA scolding a resident for using the call bell to request help. Her exact words were, "I told you not to bother me, you aren't the only person that I have to take care of! If you push that button one more time, I'll put it where you can't reach it!" She was so nasty that I wanted to smack her. When the CNA was gone, I went in to offer the woman some help. All she wanted was water. That bitch CNA took longer scolding the patient than it would have taken her to pour the pitiful woman a glass of water.
The nurses sat at the nursing station when lights were going off all down the halls. I wanted to cry. One man asked me if I could get him a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. When I asked his nurse if it would be OK, she said, "NO! He already ate his breakfast!" First of all, this was a big man and I doubt that toast, burnt or not, and a bowl of grits would have filled him up. Secondly, SO WHAT IF HE DID EAT THAT SLOP! The man was hungry. I went to the snack machine and got him some crackers and apple juice. Once again, the man cried with gratitude.
The Alzheimer's Unit was like something out of a horror movie and the staff sadly reminded me of Nurse Ratchett from One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest. The supervisor sat at the nurses station eating and chatting for most of the day. The staff ordered themselves Chinese food to be delivered, apparently it was payday and they all had the money to buy themselves a nice meal while the residents, mostly lined up in the halls, watched them eat. I couldn't believe how many trays were left at the bedsides of helpless residents who couldn't feed themselves. Then, when the staff began picking up the trays, they wrote on slips of paper that the residents had eaten anywhere from 75-100% of their meals when they had not been given a bite of food.
Walking down the halls, I noticed that most of them were in wheelchair's, lined up and down the halls like cattle. The stench of urine and BM was overwhelming. As I drove home, I was in tears. The frustration of not being able to help those people was too much for me to bear. Some of them were in filthy clothing, others in mismatched clothing and I even saw one woman, as I passed her room, lying on her bed stark naked, attempting to eat while holding a sheet to cover herself.
One of the men that I visited today was in the Bataan Death March. He survived that while he was protecting us and our way of life. I think it's a damn shame that we can't treat him, and all others like him, in a manner befitting a veteran who fought for us, and...almost died for us.
I am so angry now and I am going to report this place to the State of Georgia. Our elderly deserve so much more that what we do for them. They raised us and worked all of their lives only to end up in a warehouse for humans. Those people are somebody's mothers, fathers and grandparents. They were teachers, accountants and caregivers at one time. I would never, under any circumstances, allow my father to be placed in a nursing home. Not all of them are so bad, but most are not at all what a human being deserves. One day, anyone of us might end up in a nursing home and it would behoove us all to bitch until things are better at ALL nursing homes. If you would like to do something that mught help these people, here's a link that will help you locate the email address of your representatives:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/
If you'd like, you could just send them what I've written. Please, help these people in whatever way that you.
See ya,
Meg
Send comments to: meg.kelso@gmail.com
posted by Meg Kelso | 10:46 PM
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