Do we have to resort to filming to make sure loved ones are safe?

EVERY person before they committed an alleged crime was a straightforward, upright person. Before the cop turned bad and was on the take, the exec looted the company, the teacher baffled the coed, the caregiver ripped off the senior client or the EMT worker touched the patient inappropriately, etc. they all checked out and would pass the garden variety background check. Background checks are in reality no better than the last flight inspection, it is no real guarantee the aircraft will even make it off the tarmac, but it is all one has to go on. There might be ways to make people more honest that might border on science fiction, but for the sake of safety no one will want to give up that much control or have others tinkering with their thinking….so…we get what we get.

You get what you pay for. It’s been my experience that if the facility pays only $10/hr for CNAs, you will only get trash applying for the job. Trash with body odor and dirty fingernails. If your HR person is burned out or their moral is shot, or of weak character, how are they capable of discriminating from people of good or bad character? A person of strong character and values can smell a piece of dogshit a mile away. It’s real simple and it is ALWAYS the facility’s fault when this happens.

Under the best of circumstances, eldercare is an exhausting field. In the U.S., quality is seldom an objective; not all, but most, eldercare facilities are shareholder-owned and aim for profits over care. Staff might be paid minimum wage or, as @Espiritus_Corvus mentions, no more than about $10 per hour.

The normal, expected burnout + bad pay = bad outcomes.

Exactly what @Espiritus_Corvus said. The majority of caregivers in many facilities are paid lowly rates and often are of questionable character. I quit a job like this years ago because I couldn’t handle working with the riff raffy types. It was really sad because I genuinely liked and cared for the residents, but the majority of staff were low life, uneducated and rif raffy dimwits.

@Coloma My mom’s in a skilled nursing facility (aka nursing home) because of late-stage Alzheimer’s disease. Very fortunately, most of the nurses, CNAs, and other staff are recent immigrants from English-speaking west Africa. They’re good people who work for low wages, but who genuinely treat the residents well.

No, I’m not gullible; I know that anyone can put on a good show for the person paying the bills. I often hide around corners and eavesdrop; I also send my friends as spies. The staff really is kind and sweet to Mom, and I’m more grateful than words can express.

@Love_my_doggie That’s great but often the exception rather than the rule, sadly so.

Always disappointed to see other jellies posting such negative generalizations like those^^

It’s hard, dirty work and most people are paid absolute shit for it. @Love_my_doggie said expected burnout + bad pay = bad outcomes. It’s a good example of how you can go to school for something and get a certification and do backbreaking work and still be paid barely above the unlivable minimum wage (at least, that’s how it goes in my region). And I think we’re all aware of what poverty does to people.
please note that you should be reading that as compassion burnout

@PriceisRightx26 My comments are based on experience and various encounters with family members in these situations as well. I agree with all you say but regardless, when elderly and infirm people are being poorly cared for and/or stolen from in a facility, well… the real victims are the residents not the staff IMO.

@PriceisRightx26 It is the caregiver’s number one responsibility to ensure against compassion burnout. This is stressed in nursing school from day one. A caregiver defeats the whole process by becoming a victim. They must stay out of debt so they can provide themselves with vacations at appropriate times, they must find sleep and make sure they eat properly during disasters. If they don’t, they are being irresponsible. Among cohorts, it’s called dropping the ball and it is not tolerated. Being a caregiver is a great responsibility with great rewards, but it is constantly earned.

A caregiver’s number one responsibility is to themselves, which is counter-intuitive to most caregiver, because of the nature of the type of person who becomes a caregiver. That is why burnout avoidance is constantly stressed and taught throughout one’s career.

@Espiritus_Corvus Yes, in a perfect world where hospitals/homes aren’t understaffed and overworked, I can see how that’s much more attainable.

I’m not condoning poor care, whatsoever. My comment was about remarks such as “low life, uneducated and rif raffy dimwits” and “you will only get trash applying for the job. Trash with body odor and dirty fingernails.” I also have quite a bit of experience with STNA/CNA and I literally can’t think of a single worker that fits either of those descriptions. All of these accounts are anecdotal, mine included, I recognize that, but can we at least try to not degrade an entire group of people?

@PriceisRightx26 Point taken, I didn’t mean to generalize but if the rif raffy dimwit fits, wear it. lol

Compassion fatigue is a very real phenomenon, and it isn’t limited to health care providers. It happens to schoolteachers, clergy members, social workers, therapists, first responders…anyone in a giving profession. The most devoted workers are more susceptible, because they make the dangerous mistake of continually caring for other people while neglecting their own needs.

I know I’m lucky to have found a good facility for my Mom. There were several horror stories before we found the right place. But, as wonderful and well-supervised as her LPNs and CNAs are, most of them have two jobs. They work an 8-hour shift then go directly to a another job. This is cause for worry; how can that lifestyle not make someone physically and mentally exhausted?

@Love_my_doggie It also happens to stay at home moms, been there, done that. There was a time where the hamster cage took priority over my needs. haha
Husband, kid, animals, house work, etc. etc. Like a lot of women it took a long time to start making myself a priority way back when now.