...so...iin

40% Normal
15 Comments

6:45am to 7:00am they get woken up, there teeth get put in they get a drink of water.
7:00am to 8:00am they get washed or showered there incontinence aids (pads) get changed. Most of them are incontinent of urine and feces.
The ones with dementia don't know what you are doing, some of them strike out and are physically and verbally abusive some of them are just scared.
8:00am breakfast comes on a tray it's the same every day, some of them have to be fed, they don't have the dexterity or cognitive ability to feed themselves, there food has to be pureed because they have trouble swallowing.
After that it's round after round after round of pad checks and meals, there even woken at midnight and 4:00am.

Most of them will spend hours just staring at a blank wall, restrained to a chair so they can't stand up and have a fall, or they will get through the day by sleeping, if there lucky they will get to play bingo once a week, some of them are violent and abusive, that's the dementia, but for the most part it's repetition, routine, and waiting to die.

So...is this normal?

Voting Results
40% Normal
Based on 40 votes (16 yes)
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Comments ( 15 )
  • charli.m
    10 years ago | pl

    In aged care facilities, yes. That is the purpose of such places, no?

    It sounds thoroughly awful. My cousin has been an aged care nurse for six years. The stories she tells are depressing and disturbing in equal measure. I don't know how she does it. I'd hate to live like her residents.

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    • Shackleford96
      10 years ago

      Immense respect for people who handle and work in those facilities.

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      • charli.m
        10 years ago

        Definitely.

        My cousin works with a lot of people who have grown to resent and hate their job. They're so poorly paid, and they work such shitty hours and it's hard fucking work. My cousin has been physically attacked by some of the residents...slammed against walls, hit, spat on...Yet she's still very gentle and compassionate. I couldn't do it.

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        • [Old Memory]
          10 years ago

          My wife worked at a facility for the mentally disabled. She would sometimes come home with chunks of hair gone from being attacked..all the while maintaining composure.
          They are severely underpaid and scrutinized for every discrepancy. My wife and her collegues were investigated by the state after a patient with Downs hit and bruised her own face during a fit of rage, typical of residents with that syndrome. They were cleared of any wrongdoing...but that's when my wife quit. Too many liabilities for the pay.
          God bless the people willing to take the risks for such a depressing, low paying, difficult job.

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  • [Old Memory]
    10 years ago

    This is one of the reasons I want to go somewhere between the ages of 65 and 70.

    My dad has taken really good care of himself. Watched what he ate, never smoked, etc.

    At 83, he has the heart of a 60 year-old...but his mind is slipping. I'm watching the mind of a genius degress into a childs'...and it's hard to watch. A college professor and father of four will soon require constant care as if he were a baby. He deserves more dignity than that...but what else can we do?

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    • Devyn
      10 years ago

      I have two grandparents, one aged 78 and one aged 82. Both live on their own and are independent enough to visit us regularly. They can look after themselves and pursue their interests. Why would you want to die between the ages of 65 and 70 when you potentially have another decade of life to look forward to?

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      • [Old Memory]
        10 years ago

        I'm glad you have grandparents who were lucky enough to keep their faculties. My family's not so lucky.

        My mother is burdened with a husband who hurls suspicions at family members who love him dearly, obsesses on insignificant details, and can barely control his bowels. He's alienated his own sister...who loves him dearly.

        He was a college professor. Brilliant and well educated. Dignified and prestigious. Hard-working humanitarian. He was a good father and dignitary. Now he's a burden...no matter how badly we wish he wasn't. No matter how badly he wouldn't want to be...and he'll live at least another 10 years like this.

        He took really good care of himself...and while I'm glad he did...

        Yeah...I want to go before I do that to my family.

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  • Hottigene
    10 years ago

    I hope when its my time to go I Go quickly dont want to live (if thats what you call it) like This.

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  • noid
    10 years ago

    Hello hand signals.

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    • Anonymous Post Author
      10 years ago

      Sorry...I'm not sure what you mean?

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      • noid
        10 years ago

        thought maybe you were that user - does that type of work and has posted about it.

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  • Sog
    10 years ago

    And on the other end of the spectrum, my grandmother is almost 100 and refuses to be admitted into a facility. She can't really care for herself so she just lives in her own filth. Her home reeks of urine. There's dust and dirt everywhere and her food is growing moldy because she forgets about it.

    She still meets the minimum legal requirements to be independent so there's nothing that can be done unless she dies or has some kind of incapacitating accident. I would be grateful if she had nurses to care for her.

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  • RoseIsabella
    10 years ago

    I miss my poor dead grandmother.

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  • Mooohgertje
    10 years ago

    I work in such a facility as a vacation job. Makes you think twice about sending your parents/grandparents there. It's sad to see people that way, and I feel like they should be treated better. It are still people, but I see how impatient the workers (especially the nurses) there are and they get clearly annoyed by the elderly and all the things they ask. Well, I'm going to that work now, hurray! I'm going to die 'cause it's too damn hot.

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  • Karmasbitch
    10 years ago

    Sounds normal unfortunately.

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