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You
know what annoys me seeing Facebook posts about how bad nursing homes
are and how a old person would be better off in prison or cruising
the oceans what a load of shit.
As
you all know I visit my Aunty Pat who is in a nursing home once every
month or so and my grandmother who is in a nursing home every week
and years ago before she passed away I would visit my great-aunt who
was in yet a different nursing home each week.
So
I can tell you that both the nursing homes Aunty Pat and Nanna are in
are nice, both have their own bathroom and their own tv, Aunty Pat
shares a room with two other ladies because sharing a room is cheaper
but she likes her room and isn't interested in changing. She gets
alone with one of the women in the room, the other one is more like
Nanna unable to communicate.
Nanna
shares her room with another lady who is usually out in the wards
community room the room they often have breakfast in that room and it
is the room used for games and there is a large tv in that room as
well.
Nanna
has her own bathroom and her own tv as well, although as most would
know Nanna is bedridden and unable to feed herself or move at all
really. She becomes distressed if she is hungry or has soiled herself
otherwise she spends most of the day sleeping.
When
she is distressed there is one man who works there that is very good
with her, he sings to her as Nanna loves singing and he finds if he
sings to her while he is changing her and cleaning her up she becomes
less distressed. Also at times she will become distressed and want
Ron, my pop who passed away in 2010, so this same man will hold her
hand and say I'm here Flo and this will calm her down.
We
find the staff on a whole nice, caring people and the nursing homes
to be clean and don't smell and the food for the general residents is
quiet nice according to my Uncle who usual has Christmas lunch over
there with Nanna.
Now
the nursing home my great-aunt Joyce was in did smell sometimes the
smell was overpowering and this meant that mum and I would only stay
a short time, Aunt shared a room with three other women and didn't
have her own bathroom that I can remember but she liked the food and
said the staff were nice and friendly and Aunt always looked well
cared for.
So
yes I know some nursing homes may not be that great but if your loved
one is in a nursing home you don't like move them you can do that if
you want my Nan first went into a nursing home 45 minutes away that
place mum and I only visited once and mum cried the whole time as
they had cut Nan's hair into a bowl cut that looked awful and it was
grey and up until then Nan had never had grey hair. The woman we
visited wasn't Nanna she was someone else in Nanna's body in face
when we first arrive at the nursing home we couldn't find her she
looked so different. Well we thought she looked different her hair
wasn't blonde and it wasn't styled and she had only been there a
week.
I don't know... for me the negativity attached to a nursing home wouldn't be so much about the place as what it said about me... that I was at a point of unable to fend for myself. But that's pride talking, and when do we ever really fend for ourselves? You have to make the best of the hand you are dealt. As for the homes themselves, I just wish there could be a way that they don't drain the life savings to live there.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah the cost is a joke at times and so hard for so many to meet, with both Aunty Joyce and Nanna the cost is more then the age pension and with Aunty Joyce my parents made up the shortfall, with Nan it is my Uncle Frank who makes up the shortfall
DeleteHere where I live the majority of nursing homes are very nice. They are for the most part divided into assisted living care facilities and skilled nursing care facilities. Most resemble small apartments and while there may be some with shared rooms, I have never visited one with that set up. (I used to work for a church and my job was to visit elderly members of the the church so I have been to a lot of them.)
ReplyDeleteWith that being said, while they are nice, they are expensive. A lot of people here take out "long term care" insurance that covers the cost of it.
I think the main thing is that the person is being treated kindly and the facility is clean so it sounds like your family members are in a safe and caring environment.
I don't think we have anything like long term care insurance but it does sound like a good idea as the cost of a nursing home is bloody high. I think many people do not want to go into on because they feel like they will be losing their freedom but truth be told that is not the case for most. The nursing homes have lots of outings and fun things going on for the residents
DeleteAs in anything in life, there are good ones and there are bad ones. My Aunt who is 97, is in a retirement community. She has her own apartment but she does have nursing check in on her. My father-in-law is a Veteran and he is at the Veteran Home. He is in the skilled nursing section. He loves it and we love it. We could not care for him with all that he has. It's not like a hospital - its a nice home, and he has his own small studio like apartment. I did visit my husbands aunt, in a horrible one in southern California. It's where her kids wanted her - it was cheap.
ReplyDeleteYes some a good some not so good some down right awful and to some degree you get what you pay for if you have money and can afford an expansive place then good but if you can't you still should get good care just not some of the luxuries other more expansive places have.
DeleteNursing homes serve a purpose, and the people who work there do care. I know that they take care of our loved ones in ways that we simply cannot. They deserve our respect.
ReplyDeleteSo true most who work in nursing homes do so because they care and looking after people in the last years of their lives is something that means a lot to them
DeleteWe often only hear about the bad nursing homes which are but a few.
ReplyDeleteI believe that all Tasmanian ones are good.
It's necessary for some people to live in them.
Sad though.
Yes it is sad that we here more about the bad nursing homes and not enough about the good ones and there are more good ones then bad
DeleteThere can be a big difference between nursing homes. I had my mum in one which wasn't the best. It was very hard to find another one which was better and had a vacancy but I did in the end.
ReplyDeleteYes sometimes we take what we get offered and sometimes we settle for not so good because it is convenient to were we live and then there is the cost at times we may not be able to afford something better
DeleteI think there are good and bad. But a lot of nursing homes are great. One of my grandpas loved the nursing home he was in. He loved the food and socializing with people and going on the excursions they had.
ReplyDeleteAgreed and if one likes the nursing home and the staff they are in it is better, most of those who chose to work in aged care do so because they want to care for those who are at the end of their lives
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