Big Contradiction

[+ purplekow]

Usually people are in nursing homes because they cannot be cared for at home of the family is unwilling to care for them at home. That should have changed a bit with so many people out of work and more people at home to care for their elderly relatives. But caring for elderly relatives is a challenge under the best of circumstances and If your relative is demented and unable to control their bowels and babbling endlessly, the challenge becomes too much for some. Culturally, in many countries, it is a dishonor to place an elderly person in a facility. It was in my family when I was a boy. Now, it is more the norm in the US rather than the exception.

As such, the reality is there will be people in nursing homes. The good ones will take good care of their patients and their staff. The bad ones, have perhaps gotten worse in this crisis, but they were likely bad all the time.

In the hospitals in my area, Mother's Day is one of the busiest days for admissions. Long neglectful children go to Nursing Homes and despite the efforts of the NH to cover up faults, the children find out a lot of what is going on with their patents and are shocked and guilty. They are appalled and get the parent brought to the hospital. This is not every patient, this is not every nursing home, but it happens often.

The perfect storm of sick or demented patient, neglectful family and poor NH allows substandard care to thrive. Add in a pandemic which feasts on the sick and elderly and you have our situation now.

[+ E.T.Bass]

I am not surprised. Nursing home are trying to do their best, I assume. But, of course, they often fall short.

My mother lives in a top congregate facility. But it is clear that even in that place, the support staff pay is low. Mom notices the staff is often paying little attention to tasks. Turnover is high. I would dread to have her living in most of these facilities I've read about. But even where she is, two of the staff tested positive so far. They are quarantined.

 

The idea that infected staff be invited to report to work by a care facility is doubtful to me. The facility could not afford to accelerate their rate of infections.

[+ g56whiz]

Only in our view perhaps. It tends to work in homogenous societies where “common” generally pairs up well with as a descriptor of “experience” and “perspective”

Fortunately, the society in which I live is not homogeneous. It make life far more interesting.

[Guest]

Fortunately, the society in which I live is not homogeneous. It make life far more interesting.

I agree on both points. Hence the challenges

[+ WilliamM]

Usually people are in nursing homes because they cannot be cared for at home of the family is unwilling to care for them at home. That should have changed a bit with so many people out of work and more people at home to care for their elderly relatives. But caring for elderly relatives is a challenge under the best of circumstances and If your relative is demented and unable to control their bowels and babbling endlessly, the challenge becomes too much for some. Culturally, in many countries, it is a dishonor to place an elderly person in a facility. It was in my family when I was a boy. Now, it is more the norm in the US rather than the exception.

As such, the reality is there will be people in nursing homes. The good ones will take good care of their patients and their staff. The bad ones, have perhaps gotten worse in this crisis, but they were likely bad all the time.

In the hospitals in my area, Mother's Day is one of the busiest days for admissions. Long neglectful children go to Nursing Homes and despite the efforts of the NH to cover up faults, the children find out a lot of what is going on with their patents and are shocked and guilty. They are appalled and get the parent brought to the hospital. This is not every patient, this is not every nursing home, but it happens often.

The perfect storm of sick or demented patient, neglectful family and poor NH allows substandard care to thrive. Add in a pandemic which feasts on the sick and elderly and you have our situation now.

 

In many cases, close relatives have jobs they can't afford to give up for their families.

 

I am one of oldest members here, but there came a time when my grandma couldn't stay at home with us any longer (in 1948). My mother visited almost every day in the nursings home.

 

And my mom was the youngest of eight children. I don't remember *any feeling of dishonor," rather different cultures.

[+ bigjoey]

You are assuming the family has as much experience as you or me. Not everyone is socially knowledgeable to "put on their big pants." You must know that from your volunteer work

 

The better senior living places like where I volunteer have a social worker on staff to help families with transitioning. In our case, she educates families about different options.

 

Even without a social worker on staff, in many places government agencies serve that function. However, in times of extreme emergencies, you just have to learn on the fly what to do. You do not have a choice: “big boy pants” or risk the life of your loved one.

For the people whose loved one is in a poorly run skilled nursing facility and they become aware of what is happening, the choice becomes to leave the loved one in a place where they may have a good chance of dying or to find other accommodations. Yes, there will be some people frozen with fear and just can not act; I have seen many people over the years who just can not make decisions on anything, yet alone moving someone out of a facility.

 

It is never easy. It was most likely not easy to put the person in a nursing home in the first place. Moving into a nursing home is usually not a move of choice but necessity. Hopefully, what the family learned with the move of the loved one into the facility the first time, will be if use to them for the second move.

[+ WilliamM]

The better senior living places like where I volunteer have a social worker on staff to help families with transitioning. In our case, she educates families about different options.

 

Even without a social worker on staff, in many places government agencies serve that function. However, in times of extreme emergencies, you just have to learn on the fly what to do. You do not have a choice: “big boy pants” or risk the life of your loved one.

For the people whose loved one is in a poorly run skilled nursing facility and they become aware of what is happening, the choice becomes to leave the loved one in a place where they may have a good chance of dying or to find other accommodations. Yes, there will be some people frozen with fear and just can not act; I have seen many people over the years who just can not make decisions on anything, yet alone moving someone out of a facility.

 

It is never easy. It was most likely not easy to put the person in a nursing home in the first place. Moving into a nursing home is usually not a move of choice but necessity. Hopefully, what the family learned with the move of the loved one into the facility the first time, will be if use to them for the second move.

 

My mom was in a nursing home in Philadelphia until the end of her life.

I was prepared to interfere, but I had been a consultant to the Philadelphia Corporate for Aging. Folks have different backgrounds, I believe.

[+ sniper]

If the nursing home has enough patients that already have COVID, staff that is infected might be taking care of just those residents.

[+ Kman]

Most of the staff at long term care facilities are not nurses.

 

I tend to think you have not got the facts right.

 

Where are you getting this information?

 

Like I said, there was a letter handed out while waiting to be tested that stated if you test positive, and I assume are asymptomatic you can still work. And yes there are other employees besides nurses but they are still around the residents such as housekeeping, activities (who are still at work), therapy, some of the cooking staff, and even maintenance.

 

I did not get much more clarification today as management was not around. But a lot of the nurses are interpreting the letter the same way...so with some degree of certainty you could say that a majority of the residents have been exposed so people have been thinking that the positive staff would work in the covid-19 units or with residents who have already recovered and not in the one unit it hasn't come to yet.

 

I work in therapy and my company is contracted out this facility so we don't always follow the same rules/guidelines...so I did find out that I would not be allowed to come to work if I tested positive asymptomatic or not.