Are any nursing home patients happy?

[KatieAgain]

In the mean time...I am doing EVERYTHING in my power to keep this disease at bay. Tysabri, Diet, Exercise, and Stress Relief. Its my part time job and I take it quite seriously. For me its working really well..I am content and life is good. I have more adventures left in me. But honestly, if I get any more C-Spine Lesions, I am going to start yodeling very loudly.

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[Marie12]

I would like if someone would bring me breakfast, lunch, and dinner

I used to go to nursing homes, to pray with the residents. I finally realized that almost everyone there was healthier than me : )

So, now I'm at home, taking it easy and praying at home.

I comment, nursing home residents are mostly like my high school students, except at a more mature age. They do all have various personalities. Just like high school, some behavior is excused because of their finance, etc.

[KatieAgain]

I don't know. My money is running out like sand in an hour glass and last summer I had a taste of what nursing home life would be like. I have bad allergies which cause more suffering than the MS. With MS, I can't run away from the allergies anymore.

Maybe if the laws were different here I wouldn't feel such urgency. It's a long way to travel. I'm going to request the provisional green light. Then, we'll see how I feel.

I totally understand the Allergy issue. My best friend has horrible allergies. She is even allergic to the sun. She has a pretty good Allergist though and she takes weekly shots that were formulated for her. Not a cure by any means, but it is tolerable.

Do you have a good Allergist? Because if your allergies are worse than the MS...it is probably not time to "yodel" and explore some other options...like maybe a new doctor.

Besides...your advice that you give people is too good and it would be missed. ((()))

[Tawanda]

What scares me is that my mother had MS as bad as you can have it but was still "there" in mind. I was the last person who could understand Mom's weak, garbled speech and translate it to my family members (by literally growing up next to her wheelchair, it was like a kid growing up learning a "second" language"). For my mother, and others like her, having an able mind existing in a disabled body is the cruelest fate that can be visited upon a human IMO.

[DianeD]

No, unless they are unaware of surrounding.

It is always hard for me to write about or talk about the Nursing Home experience. I had to put my mother in a nursing home; broke my heart.

The biggest issue is funding. If you or your loved one does not have substantial means you will have to go in as Medicare/Medicaid. When Medicare runs out you will be Medicaid and no one wants you. My mom didn't have substantial means. Private homes are upwards of about $6,000 a month. More of them come in at around 10,000. This does vary from state to state.

The condition and ability of the resident also matters. My mom couldn't stand or walk, so she could not do anything for herself. I spent 6 yrs. going a 50 mile roundt trip every day to care for my mom in the home. Aides basically take care of residents; there are few, if any RN's present. There is a huge shortage of aides. Often a wing with 30 residents receive their care from 2 aides. A huge problem is staffing and the existing staff is overworked.

When my mom first went into a nursing home the aides would at least lift her out of bed manually and place her in a wheelchair. Then she was on her own, often left sitting in the hall for hours (painful for my mother). When I came I'd get two aides and have them move her (lots of angry words and looks from them after that).

I insisted that they toilet my mother using the bedpan, no diapers. They did this begrudgingly. Sometimes they'd leave her on the bedpan for an hour or more.

I even had a phone installed in my mothers room so I could speak to her everyday. I became an advocate, was involved in everything possible to try to improve things (never did). I wrote letters to Congressmen and Representatives, even the President. I still have the letters, but the gist of the was 'we'll keep this on file'.

Okay, I could tell you so many hair raising stories, but it would take forever. My suggestion to all is to do as much research as possible; try plan ahead.

[Thinkimjob]

My poor old Nana certainly wasn't happy in her nursing home. We (her family) really didn't have a choice. We looked after her in her own home for ages, after my grandfather died.
We had a daily nurse, Meals on Wheels, a house-cleaner and a woman to sleep there at night when one of us couldn't.

Problem was she had slowly advancing dementia, and she was self-medicating big time with whiskey. One morning I got the phone call, "I've fallen over and I'm blind."
"You can't be blind or you wouldn't have been able to dial the phone."

When I turned up, she'd fallen, smashed her face, blood everywhere, crawled from one end of the house to the other. Ambulance, brain surgery, rehab and on to the Old People's Home.

It was all right, but she hated it. Every visit, "I want to go home. When am I going home? I'll just drown myself in the river" etc etc etc.

Took another three years and she had to move into the Dementia Wing. It was truly awful. I know the staff were doing their best, but it was horrible. Every visit, she'd cry and afterwards we'd cry.

I don't know what would have happened if she hadn't had family visiting every day. For instance, she seemed to have a very sore arm one day.

"Oh no, she's all right." "Don't think so." We took her to a doctor. Turned out her arm was broken. They hadn't called a doctor, let alone an ambulance.

Sorry about that long screed of misery. Many of the other residents seemed reasonably content.

[jskmssss]

18 years working in same nursing home

I had the privilege of working 18 years oin the same nursing home. I worked in Administration, nurse on the floor and the last 10 years in Social Services. I no longer live in that state so I had to resign
from a job that I loved. Working in Social Services is where people would come if there were any issues or complaints. Overall it was a good place, with most of the employees doing a great job and the residents were happy. If we did get a complaint on an employee, a full investigation would be done. Our residents ranged in ages from 20-105yrs old. Of course, there is no place like home but
if you have to be in a nursing home, there are many good ones out there.

The residents had a choice if they wanted a whirlpool bath or a shower weekly and the rest of the days
they had a bed bath. However, some of the younger residents requested more frequent bathing
and their requests were granted.
I interacted with all of the residents and their families. We had different activities daily, wifi available for the residents.
I am not comparing it to being at home but it wasn't a bad place if you needed to go for rehab or long term care.

[Jules A]

I had the privilege of working 18 years oin the same nursing home. I worked in Administration, nurse on the floor and the last 10 years in Social Services. I no longer live in that state so I had to resign
from a job that I loved. Working in Social Services is where people would come if there were any issues or complaints. Overall it was a good place, with most of the employees doing a great job and the residents were happy. If we did get a complaint on an employee, a full investigation would be done. Our residents ranged in ages from 20-105yrs old. Of course, there is no place like home but
if you have to be in a nursing home, there are many good ones out there.

The residents had a choice if they wanted a whirlpool bath or a shower weekly and the rest of the days
they had a bed bath. However, some of the younger residents requested more frequent bathing
and their requests were granted.
I interacted with all of the residents and their families. We had different activities daily, wifi available for the residents.
I am not comparing it to being at home but it wasn't a bad place if you needed to go for rehab or long term care.

This sounds like a nice place. Thank you for working there so long and being dedicated to helping others.

[hunterd]

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