are nursing homes really that bad in the US?

Question

I've read so many terrible comments about nursing homes....are there no government checks on these facilities? I work in one here in Australia, and we are constantly under scrutiny. No home would be able to get away with the sort of thing I've read on this site. I can understand not wanting to end up in one.... loss of independence, lack of choices, etc, but the standards here are very strict and people are provided with good quality care. Any comments would be enlightening.

Scuba Dude I'm amazed about the medication situation. Here, anyone on an aged pension (as well as unemployed, single parents and disability pensioners) get all their medications for A$3.50 per script, no matter what the real price is.

I'm so sad to read all these stories - it reminds me of a saying I've read, that you can judge a nation's worth by the way it treats its most vulnerable members. As one of the wealthiest countries in the world, the US seems to be lacking in this most important area of care.

Answer 1

Nursing homes here are working with one hand tied behind their backs. Although there are a lot of good for profit homes, the majority of them are running on Medicaid, which pays less and less every year and expects them to do more and more with it. So the salaries drop and the people they can hire for those rates are people who can't get anything else and do not care about their jobs. (I know there are exceptions.) And the quality of the food drops and maintenance drops, etc. The for profit homes cost up to $3000 or $4000 a month, which only people who are fortunate can afford. If my mom didn't have a good savings account, I couldn't afford to keep her in a for profit home. The agencies that oversee nursing homes are stuck in the same situation. Their staffing is such that they can barely manage to inspect a home once every three to five years, and in the meantime, things fall as they may.

Sad but true.

Answer 2

It is not the nursing home but the people they hire. I would like to make these comments from the Black community perspective. I live in Brooklyn, and my grandmother is in a Nursing Home. It is a wonderful place but not the floor that she is on. The level of care and treatment is all dependent on what stage of life the person is on. I think the more immobile they are, the worse they are treated. Many patients get roughed up (not beaten) but just treated poorly. I remember going to a family council meeting, and one of the daughters of the residents noticed a bruise on her mother (who had become bedridden to muscular failure) and when the daughter of the patient said that she would say something her daughter said "DONT, YOU DONT KNOW WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU ARE GONE". It is quite unfortunate that many patients are getting hit. That is one major thing that I hear about all the time. Another problem is the neglect. Residents are being left in their own urine (etc.) for extended periods of time. The "nurses aides" (or whatever they should be called) are not caring enough. Especially the ones from Haiti and other areas of the Caribbean -- yea I said it.

Answer 3

The state of North Carolina USA, has very strict guidelines and most nursing homes are graded on a monthly basis. They have doctors, nurses, and certified nurses aids.

However I know that not all nursing facilities are up to code in a lot of places. It pays to check these facilities before placing a family member in any facility. I would give them a tough inspection and ask a lot of questions. If you see dirt and grime, if staff looks dirty, if you hear verbal abuse, if a patient complains they are not getting treated properly, not getting food and medications and treatments etc. Look for red flags in any facility.

As the old saying goes: If in doubt DONT.

Also, dont be confused by the terms nursing home and rest home. That is two very different settings.

Answer 4

They certainly should be, and the government makes all sort of noise that they are highly regulated.... which is a load of garbage. For two weeks my brothers are I had to place my mother in a nursing home... she wasn't sick enough to be in a hospital but could not stay alone. A typical American scenario, and none of us could quit work to care for her.

What a nightmare! Among other problems, her clothing was stolen. After hours, when the hospital administrators went home, the orderlies let their boyfriends in the back entrance and " entertained" there. Of course, none of this could be proven. Complaints are brushed off as just " old people who don't know what's going on".

People who can afford it opt for assisted living facilities . More and more are being built and are at 100 % occupancy. Very nice and well staffed. But.. the typical American cannot afford such luxury. Perhaps when I become old, I will come to Australia!!!

Answer 5

They're not all bad. My grandmother is in a nursing facility here and she gets very good care, despite the lack of independence, etc. I think it depends on the location of the nursing home and the income of the residents and surrounding area. It seems that the homes in more affluent areas tend to have higher quality care. Another home about 30 minutes from hers and in a lower income area, is rumored to be subpar. They are regulated, at times poorly, and often underfunded. Hope this sheds some light for you =)

Answer 6

It all depends upon the staff hired. There is such a turn-over of nurses aides due to the strenuous, difficult work. CNAs, not RNs, do the 'grunt' work', and are paid very little. The trick to having someone in a nursing home, is to visit often and at all different times. And always remember to thank the staff members that you see kindly helping your loved one. Appreciation goes a long way, and each staff member usually has several residents that are their 'pets', that they give that extra hug to each day!

Answer 7

YES! They are only good if you have money, and lots of it! And once that is gone, they kick you to the curb, start moving you off to other facilities that will take state aid patients (which by the way, are very few) where you can be raped, and abused by low paid staff. Yes the almighty dollar is much more important than dignity and care in your old age. Why I've even heard of a nursing home that will dump patients in the street downtown, driving away and just leaving them there to fend for themselves.

Answer 8

SOME nursing homes, I'd even say most nursing homes, are quite bad. It's a function of the type of people you can get to work there. These are not highly skilled, highly paid, or highly enjoyable positions. There are strict government regulations, but as long as the people aren't complaining, no one is going to really look beyond the surface. I believe the required staff to resident ratio is too high to be effective. One of the biggest problems is not with the nursing homes, but with the family who often simply abandons their "loved one" in a nursing home so they aren't a burden to them anymore.

Answer 9

I am sorry to say that in the last 20-30 years senior citizens have simply become disposable here in the US. My inlaws, had they not both died recently, within six months of one another, would have had to sell their home of 55 years in order to afford their medications.
But what can we do? Taking care of seniors is VERY costly. Their kids can't do anything...they have their own kids to take care of as well as jobs. Its a catch 22.
Did you know that the average American lifespan in 1900 was 40 years old? Now its 80. In just 100 years we have DOUBLED the life expectancy. Society was simply not designed to handle this issue. So, seniors go to nursing homes, hospitals or are just left neglected in their own homes.

Its terribly sad, but there really is nothing we can do.

Answer 10

At age sixty , I have visited in a good many nursing homes and , have found only one that I would want to be confined to.
I hope and pray that I die quickly and surrounded by loved ones, at home .
We found it necessary to place my mother in a nursing home at the very end of her struggle with Alzheimer's,.
One of us tried to be there at all times -unfortunately -the moment we were not -something negative would happen.
In order to save money nursing homes hire uneducated minimum wage earners to do the moment to moment care of patients -meaning that they are the ones with the most patent contact.
I have witnessed some pretty low , stupid and vile behavior from these people hired an helping hands.