Vigilance

A home health nurse was recently recorded on a video camera beating, and abusing in various other ways, a man in his nineties that she was supposed to be caring for. Kudos to the mans family for realizing that something was wrong and installing the camera.

As loved ones age we like to think that we will be able to care for them, and many families do so, just as long as they can, but there often comes a time when there is no choice other than either enlisting the help of a home care nurse, or placing that loved one in a nursing home, or similar elder care facility. More often than not the people we turn to for help are good caring people, who really want to help, but we need to remember, even though you will often pay them outrageous sums of money for the service, it is up to the family to make sure that the elderly person is receiving quality care, and not being neglected, or abused.

Another thing to remember when it comes to nursing homes is that, while the people working there usually do care, and want to do what's right, many of these facilities are understaffed, and it is not at all uncommon for what staff there is to be underpaid, and overworked, never a good situation. The only way to make sure your loved one is getting quality care in one of these places is to visit often, on a wildly variable schedule, and not always during designated visiting hours. If you are alone yourself, or have a very small family, and so can't get to the nursing home as often as you'd like, enlist the help of some friends to keep the visit frequency high, and remember, a patient that gets a lot of visits from an attentive and involved family is a well cared for patient. And if you have brought someone into your home to care for a family member, be vigilant there as well, installing video camera's is a good place to start, and keep an eye out for any other warning signs as well, and hopefully this will never happen to you.