Inhumane Conditions Of Nursing Facilities

Abuse is a big hazard in the nursing home setting for example a member of staff could be secretly treating the patient with disrespect by calling them names, not washing them, and hurting them physically. This could lead the patient feeling worthless, upset and angry which would affect the patient emotionally and physically and may cause them to stop eating.

Choosing a long-term care facility can be very difficult because of incidents of abuse and/or neglect reported against care facilities can be overwhelming. For example in “Ending Elder Abuse: A family guide”, Diane Sandell lists many elder abuse incidents from her files such as: neglect of decubitis ulcers led to infection, sepsis, gangrene, and death. Facility failed to provide necessary diabetic diet; improper insulin administration, insulin overdose; dehydration and death. Resident left alone in chair in shower room fell, became paralyzed from neck down. Many reports of pinching, rough handling, slapping, yelling, threats (2000). It is believed that abuse is most likely to occur if the caregiver not only finds the work difficult but also (1) works full time, (2) cares for young children, (3) is poor, (4) feels little affection for the older person, (5) finds the elderly person very difficult, and (6) gets no support or help from others (Macionis, 2005). Although there is no excuse for abusing elderly Americans, it is still very prominent in today’s society. Diane Sandell explains in Ending Elder Abuse, that her 91 year old mother was beaten by a long-term care facility employee in the middle of the night for reasons unknown. It is stated that her mother died 6 weeks after the incident, unable to recover mentally from the abuse (2000).

Unfortunately, many residents in nursing homes today are being starved, dehydrated, over-medicated, and suffer painful sores. Often times they are isolated, ignored, and deprived from social contact and stimulation. Care givers are often overworked and grossly underpaid which often results in them showing rude and abusive behavior to the residents. “Studies have found that individuals in poor health are more likely to be abused than individuals who are in relatively good health. In addition, caregivers who are dependent on the elder financially are also more likely to perpetrate abuse” (De Benedictis, 2011). A simple request for such things as water or an escort to the bathroom may cause the care giver to respond in a rude and offensive way demonstrating inappropriate behavior. According to an article written by Bryan Robinson (2002), “Helen Love, a 75-year-old grandmother of three, looked into the video camera and told of being severely beaten by a nursing home caregiver who discovered she had soiled herself. He choked me and he went and broke my neck," said Love, who had to wear a metal halo in the videotaped deposition from July 1998. “He broke my wrist bones, in my hand. He put his hand over my mouth.” Two days later, Love died.

The nurse I chose to interview has been a family friend for a while, as she has worked closely with my mother for several years. She is the first nurse I met when I decided I was interested in going into the nursing field, and she is actually the person who encouraged me to apply to Truman State University’s nursing program. I was confident that she would be able to share her capacity of nursing knowledge and wisdom with me when I asked if I could interview her. I will expand on our interview which took place in her office at work throughout the next couple of pages, and to keep confidentiality, I will allude to her by her initials, J.W.

Is it worth putting your loved ones in a nursing home facility? According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “Each year, hundreds of thousands of adults over the age of 60 are abused, neglected, or financially exploited.” Family members of an elderly person might assume that because they are paying such a large amount of money for assistance and a room in the facility, that they’re getting the best treatment and care for their relative. Although one might believe their loved ones would be better off in a nursing home, they might be putting them at a greater risk of abuse due to understaffing, lack of training within the staff, neglect, nurse burnout, and low wages. 2,150,000 cases

Although it does not usually make news headlines and is rarely discussed, nursing home residents and the elderly experience abuse sometimes on a daily basis. Medical errors, physical abuse, or stealing from them could all be classified as abuse. All around the world today, a population that is not able to help itself is being harmed, whether it is physical or sexual abuse, exploitation, or not being properly supervised; the elderly and nursing home residents are being abused.

As I drank my coffee, I had to call the night nurse to get report. The night nurse reported to have an overall quiet night, although she did receive a call from Mrs. Patsy’s daughter at two AM. The family reported that she was no longer eating, drinking or

One thing every living organism has in common on this planet-- age. No one wants to age or face the fact that aging is inevitable. However, since it’s impossible to beat the never ending time clock that is life; everyone wants to be as comfortable as possible when age finally does catch up with them. When the majority of people think of comfortability in old age, they think of living in their own homes and being surrounded by their loved ones. Not many individuals want to be placed into a nursing home type facility because they can’t imagine themselves being comfortable that way. Nonetheless, even though being placed in a home does take away some of an elderly person’s independence, usually the independence lost is in activities that person can no longer do for themselves. Indeed, nursing homes do have their own set of scary stories behind them; life lost, independence lost, and privacy lost, yet many of those stories are outdated. Upon investigation, it would be easy for anyone to scare themselves out of a nursing facility due to the stories that are out there. Yet, upon even further research people would be able to see how far the United States has come in their development and evolution of nursing care facilities. The care of the elderly in the form of nursing homes has faced a tough evolution starting off with a harsh past, to what nursing homes are like now, and what people can expect for the future of these homes.

The most frustrating thing about Ms. Goodman’s job is the lack of funding from the state of Tennessee. She says that, “Memphis is the poorest area of Tennessee, yet the state government gives the same amount of money to Memphis as they do Nashville and Knoxville. Those cities have many more resources available and a much lower population of individuals that are dependent on the government assistance” (J. Goodman, personal communication, September 15, 2016). According to Ms. Goodman, there is only one assisted living facility in Memphis that accepts Tennessee government healthcare (TennCare), and there is a very long waiting list. The only option that leaves available is to place people prematurely into nursing homes, or leave them in their homes where they often do not get the help that they need (J. Goodman, personal communication, September 15, 2016).

Source: http://abcnews.go.com/US/story?id=92689&page=1 In some senior homes, many patients are treated poorly, many employees don't even take good care of their patients because they ignore them or do not give them the right medication. Over 90% of Nursing Homes in the United States have had some kind of violation or confirmed complaint in the last 3 years. Some of these issues are minor and some are life

As the healthcare system in this country has changed, so have traditional nursing homes. Families have the right to expect that their loved ones will be taken care of by professionals in a caring environment. Unfortunately, may people are being abused and neglected in nursing homes. It is very clear that abuse is a serious problem among nursing home patients, and something needs to be done to put a stop to it.

anything from insufficient protection and fire hazards, to poor food storage and preparation, to inadequate staffing hours. More distrubingly, “20% of nursing homes abused, neglected, or mistreated residents in almost half of all states for the second consecutive year, says the report card.” Fox, Stevenson (2014).

Although the vast majority of nursing homes and their employees provide exemplary care to our senior and disabled loved ones, medical mistakes, abuse and neglect can and does happen. When those whom we depend on to provide care to this especially fragile population abuse this trust – whether they be doctors, nurses, nurses aides or other nursing home employees – the resulting injuries can be especially tragic and heartbreaking. In addition, not only are the nursing home residents themselves injured, but the residents’ family, adult children and relatives are also “injured” to the extent that their trust in the nursing home was

Are nursing homes abusing and neglecting the elderly? The elderly are abused and neglected in society today by caregivers in nursing homes. Elder abuse or neglect is a single or repeated action occurring within any relationship where there is an overlook of trust which causes injury or distress to an older person.

Elderly abuse in nursing homes in America is an uprising issue. Elders make up a large portion of our population and they deserve the equality. This issue is very important because eventually this could affect you personally, or a loved one in your family. I stand for better environments in these nursing homes and find it terrible that elders get treated so poorly. The reason the number of reports on elder abuse has gone up so rapidly in the past decade is because the number of elders has drastically risen. There is an increase in the number of elders not only because Americans are living longer than ever before, but also because the next generation of senior citizens is larger than ever before. It has been predicted