Grams Funeral
Subject: Nursing Home Neglect/Abuse and the Caregivers Burden
We live in a time where no one cares, even those paid to do so. This is ever-prevalent in nursing homes. Often times, nursing home visits can be daunting experiences to the families seeing their loved one's conditions worsen. These facilities are often under-staffed with a majority of employees who don't/can't care enough. Unfortunately the residents are the ones who suffer because of this.
There are certain procedures that nursing home employees are trained for, and protocol that they have to follow, but some of the things I've witnessed are highly unethical. At 82, who wants to be told that your quality of life isn't as important as a 62 year resident, for example. Well this is something my grandmother was subject to and indirectly died from. What started as a simple hip injury, would snowball into a stroke, Stage IV bedsores, amputation and finally death all because of the lack of care between each increasingly bad condition.
Each nursing home made excuses and covered up any mistakes made on their end(s). Mistakes ranging from two dislocated knees, to malnourishment. We sought legal help but to no avail, at this point my grandmother was "in no position to make decisions for herself". This is what we were told by lawyers and nursing homes alike. Her quality of life changed, she was no longer a priority patient and her chances of improvement were slim to none they believed. In turn, each diagnosis we received was coupled with the "this is probably the end" speech as the doctors and nurses followed protocol. They gave up on my grandmother long before she gave up on herself.
She was mistreated and I'm sure she isn't the only one. Not enough people are looking into nursing home neglect. The brunt of the burden is often left to the caregiver who many times has to give up their job to care for their loved ones instead of leaving their loved one at the mercy of a nursing home. There a little resources available to provide the families with help, options and care. I wish there was something I could have done while she was alive but perhaps I/we can help another family before it's too late.
We live in a time where no one cares, even those paid to do so. This is ever-prevalent in nursing homes. Often times, nursing home visits can be daunting experiences to the families seeing their loved one's conditions worsen. These facilities are often under-staffed with a majority of employees who don't/can't care enough. Unfortunately the residents are the ones who suffer because of this.
There are certain procedures that nursing home employees are trained for, and protocol that they have to follow, but some of the things I've witnessed are highly unethical. At 82, who wants to be told that your quality of life isn't as important as a 62 year resident, for example. Well this is something my grandmother was subject to and indirectly died from. What started as a simple hip injury, would snowball into a stroke, Stage IV bedsores, amputation and finally death all because of the lack of care between each increasingly bad condition.
Each nursing home made excuses and covered up any mistakes made on their end(s). Mistakes ranging from two dislocated knees, to malnourishment. We sought legal help but to no avail, at this point my grandmother was "in no position to make decisions for herself". This is what we were told by lawyers and nursing homes alike. Her quality of life changed, she was no longer a priority patient and her chances of improvement were slim to none they believed. In turn, each diagnosis we received was coupled with the "this is probably the end" speech as the doctors and nurses followed protocol. They gave up on my grandmother long before she gave up on herself.
She was mistreated and I'm sure she isn't the only one. Not enough people are looking into nursing home neglect. The brunt of the burden is often left to the caregiver who many times has to give up their job to care for their loved ones instead of leaving their loved one at the mercy of a nursing home. There a little resources available to provide the families with help, options and care. I wish there was something I could have done while she was alive but perhaps I/we can help another family before it's too late.
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