Have you seen this latest news? What are your thoughts on it?

This makes me wonder about my now deceased ( 2010)
92 year old Mother who had bruises and eventually passed away extremely thin.
There were suppossed to be investigations , but have heard not a thing.

Sadly, I don’t think this is an isolated incidence and it is why I will euthanise myself before I would ever go into a nursing home. When I can no longer take care of myself, I will end my life.

I think there has to be more cctv cameras. And any employee who complains about them being an invasion of privacy should be fired on the spot because they must have something to hide.

[mod says] Minor typos in title corrected via internal edit.

We had a former member of Fluther who talked about suspected abuse of his mother in a nursing home. I wish he were here to discuss this. I can’t wrap my mind around how a person can treat another human like this. How can you be so cruel to a defenseless feeble person? It pisses me off to that despite the video evidence they are not working but receiving pay.

I wish I hadn’t started my morning by watching that video.

Sadly the care industry recruits a lot of screwed up people due to low pay and lack of education. For every CNA and nursing home administrator the actual caregivers are usually of low caliber, often semi-illiterate, plagued with personal problems and drinking/drug issues as well.
Not unlike many daycare providers.
Until we make the care of our children and elderly a job of substance with good pay and proper screening/training, these industries will continue to attract substandard care providers.

I worked in assisted living once for about 6 months and quit because most of my co-workers were ignorant and plagued with emotional problems, substance abuse issues and drama. I loved the women I cared for, delighted in cooking great meals for them, having ice cream parties on the porch, planting flowers and tomatoes around the grounds for them to enjoy, but sadly, my co-workers drove me away with their lowlife personalities.

The U.S. has no eldercare system, just a loose patchwork of retirement homes, assisted living facilities, skilled nursing facilties (nursing homes), and group homes. Very, very few of these institutions are operated as or by charities; most of them are shareholder-owned businesses. The motive isn’t to provide good or even decent care, but to realize profits and enrich owners.

Thus, management is under constant pressure to cut costs and maximize the bottom line. Many facilities hire minimum wage workers and treat them badly. Morale is dismal, and staff turnover is high. Employees have no incentive to work hard or help residents.

At the same time, costs are exhorbitant. Depending on the geographic region and type of facility, the monthly fee ranges from about $4,500 – $11,000. Medicare, Medicaid, and private insurance don’t pay for any level of assisted living. Long-term care insurance does, but that’s a relatively new concept and most current senior citizens aren’t covered. SNF care may or may not be paid by public or private insurance, but that’s hit-or-miss and often dependent on state law. In so many situations, families are paying huge fees, truly believing that their loved ones are getting excellent care.

As many of my fellow Jellies know, my Mom has advanced Alzheimer’s. She’s currently in her 4th facility of just the past year. Fortunately, I finally hit the jackpot and found a fabulous place. The staff is wonderful, and Mom, and the other residents, are treated like beloved family. (I visit Mom every day, so I see and hear a great deal.) The place is an immaculate, beautifully maintained luxury building, and the staff is wonderful. Before I found this place, however, here are just a few things that I witnessed at other facilities:

—Residents spending all day and night in pajamas or nightgowns, because nobody could be bothered helping them get dressed.

—People living in filthy diapers for several days, until some employee finally had to give in, clean the bodies, and change the diapers.

—Late-night bed checks, when the employees thought it was hilarious to turn on the bright overhead light in each room, holler “Bed check!,” wake up the residents, and laugh in glee.

—Third-shift employees yelling at each other up and down the hallways, in the middle of the night, deliberating waking up all the residents.

—My own mother wearing the same feces-soiled shirt for 3 days.

—Hyper-sexual, male dementia patients allowed to roam around freely, enter the bedrooms of female residents, and touch and grope the women.

@SadieMartinPaul, the original question is in regards to a situation in Canada; not the US. In the US, nursing homes are governed on the federal level by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

I don’t think it makes any difference whether you’re in Canada or in the US. New laws and increased governmental oversight won’t improve things much for them. Look at the dismal situation our US veterans find themselves in.

In my experience about the best thing you can do is to volunteer in a place like that and spend a lot of time there. I did, and I reported a problem to the health department. I got some action, but that was just one time.

I agree, @snowberry. More regulations and increased oversight by bureaucrats won’t change anything. Why don’t people take care of their own family anymore? I’m not making a judgement. I’m just saying that the way things are now, it takes two people working to support one family. It just seems strange to me that we’ve moved in a direction that requires two incomes and daycare for our children and nursing homes for our elderly.

If you google nursing home abuse and add a country at the end, there is no place that seems to be able to avoid this hideous behaviour. It is a sad commentary on our supposedly less violent, more kind and gentle world. And yes @bkcunningham I completely agree with you, it all seems skewed.