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Nov. 29, 2004 Recently Judy Ramsook wrote an article on nursing home safety. It was an interesting read and now I see that Amanda Baker has an article about the Bill Of Rights. This document is the introduction to the constitution. Now these two article have a co-relationship. Tracey has also written some very unique articles, but let me get back to some basic rights most people don't know about. When ever the decision is made to enter an aging parent into a nursing home it is by no means easy. You want to be able to care for that parent that took good care of you but then it becomes necessary for some to look for a good facility. People are unaware of the rights of residents in nursing homes but they should go to their social security office and find out about them. There is some strict rules about what can or cannot happen when your parent is enrolled into a facility. Look them up and while you are at it try to find the blue book put out by the regulators. All facilities should make it availabe to you and if they don't then leave that facility. I worked in nursing homes and adult care centers, and came to one conclusion that there was only one I would go to if I became to sick to remain at home. This is because I saw first hand the types of abuse that goes on in these facilities that you can only hear about. However each resident cannot be made to do anything unless a doctor orders it. I recently read an author on another source talking about how she sold insurance for Medicare and Medicaid. Nice trick except in our state those insurances are run by the government. Perhaps she sold supplements but she sure did not sell Medicare insurance. I have done that too so it was an elaborate scheme on her part. However despite your insurance you should always check out any facility before putting your parent in one. You will have enough to deal with because of this decision and often that parent is resentful. Look I would feel the same way and would probably be dragged kicking and screaming to a facility. However there are a lot of things to be careful of. One is how does the facility smell? Of course some will say it reeks of urine but with the products produced these days that should not occur. That is if the ratio of nurse's aide is appropiate for the residents in the facility. Make sure you visit the facility at least once a week if that is possible but have the ombondsman number just in case you can't. Have a designated spokeman for your family and make sure that your parent has age appropiate clothing. Check out the rooms and provide shoes that are slip proof. Respect the privacy of others. Visit at mealtimes but don't try to force food or anything on the resident. Many cases they are upset over someone not coming to see them and they won't take their medication but you must remember this is still your parent. Many times I saw people with crash helmets on. This may look silly but it is to protect that patient from a head injury. As the elderly have a tendency to fall. Some even have problems with the residents takeing a nose dive out of bed. So they are fitted with a moniter and placed on a thick mat close to the floor. That may seem gross but when you realize that the elderly bruise easier. They also fall out of bed it is more practical to have them on a padded mattress. Always check with the nurse's desk with food because sometimes certain conditions arise which makes eating or drinking a certain item dangerous. One guy in the facility that I worked in always ate sweets and had his family bring him candy and other sweets. He tried refusing to eat regular food because he royally pissed at his family for putting him in the home. He came as close to dying after engorging himself on nothing but candy. The doctors ordered that the candy be taken from him because he was a diabetic. It got so bad with him that they had to put in a feeding tube in order to save his life and no he did not have a living will. I have seen patients that suffered from dementia roam all over the facility moving diapers into another patients room. It was hard to explain to Mrs. C's irate children why their momma kept an infection. Crime occurs in nursing homes as well as any other place. My mother-in-law had her finger broken by a friend that was after a opal ring. My mother-in-law died a few days later but that freind insisted that she was entitled to the ring. I became a member of 65 Seniors Crime Stoppers and saw a lot of things that would curl your hair. The elderly have a right to speak privately with their visitors. They have a right to have wine etc. in their rooms. They have a right to have sex as long as it is mutually agreed upon by the parties involved. Some men walk around the facility doing what men have done since Adam was created. The thing to do is to put them in a room where they can do there thing. It is not for an aide to scold, smack or make fun of that person. I considered this how would I like to be treated if I were here in this facility. So make sure that your parent's right are posted and you have a copy. Should problems come up and they do make sure you report it to the facility first and to the ombundsman. Then to your state health department. On one occasion in a facility that I worked there was a resident that had been dead for eighteen hours before the nurses's noticed it. Christopher Reeves got an infection from a bedsore and that should never happen. One bedsore costs about one hundred thousand dollars to cure. Our seniors deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. It has been awhile since I worked because of an accident that occured in one facility. But in two incidents I wrote a thirty page document against one facility. The other that document was about ten pages long. Finally after a lenghty investigation the first one was closed down and another company took over. The second went through changes in management as well. But I still wonder just how many needless deaths occured before these changes were implemented. It is not always easy being the person to blow the whistle on mistreatment. But I was trained that all life is valuable and the best you can do is to offer comfort to a person at the end of their lives. It never made any difference to me what color my residents were. I loved them all they were people that needed my help. I just wish sometimes that I had not gotten hurt so that I could have been with a few of them when they passed. But I also believe that most should have a living will. I also believe that no person should have to be subject to pain. One thing I would like to see is the Bill Of Rights to include the right to proper medical care. Irregardless of the ability to pay. Someone once said that civil rights or human rights does not mean a darn thing when your neck is in the noose. To be secure in our persons yes but I have seen courts reject that right more times than not on rights to be secure. The problem that we face has been here all along. The haves and the have nots. The extremely wealthy know nothing of what the have nots go through. But I still love my country and appreciate the right to voice my opinion for as long as I can. One of those opinions is that please check out any nursing home facility before taking your parent there. Ask questions but especially ask to see that blue book written by the regulators. Trust you instincts if it does not feel right then it isn't. ------------ About the author Judy T. Lloyd: The author of four books. "If Ever I Would Leave You" is about cancer a personal battle but also is fiction because it explores the many faces of this disease. Sent to the publisher for review. www.poetrypoem.com/trooperdkinex.net http//www.authorsden.com/judytlloyd Email: nancyl1948@earthlink.net Tell a friend about this site! ------------ All articles are EXCLUSIVE to Useless-Knowledge.com and are not allowed to be posted on other websites. ARTICLE THIEVES WILL BE PROSECUTED! |
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