Nursing Homes



J

Justin

Guest
My mother-in-law's in a nursing home for not being able to walk due to diabetes. We were informed
that it was one of the cheapest facilities around -- at $130 a day! 30 days times $130. $4000/month
-- $48,000/year. She's been there for about a year and most of the residents are still there who
were there when she first went there, and about 75% of them are in a vegetative state -- strapped
into bed, unable to control bodily functions, unable to feed themselves or speak, etc.. Me
personally, I'd rather swallow a Remington 12 guage than live like that and would hope that I'd be
allowed to die naturally and not fed or medicated.

With older people being the fastest growing population group, perhaps we need to rethink our
philosphies on aging/euthanasia, etc.. With record deficits, baby boomers retiring and expecting
their turn at the entitlement teat, fewer workers to pay taxes, etc., can we afford to keep millions
of elderly vegetative state people alive? I think it's more ethical/humane to allow some of these
people to die naturally. If someone's brain functioning is to the point that they're a veritible
"meat machine", what good is being alive? These nursing homes are all corporate owned and must
surely rake in a lot of dough because they are horribly understaffed even though they charge the
patients an arm and a leg. Most days there are only like 4 orderlies there/1 nurse where my mo-in-
law is at and there are about 60 patients there. Do the Math. Healthcare is the fastest growing
industry. Could economics and profits be determining our ethics as a society?

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In article <[email protected]>, Justin
<noggie> wrote:

> With older people being the fastest growing population group, perhaps we need to rethink our
> philosphies on aging/euthanasia, etc.. With record deficits, baby boomers retiring and expecting
> their turn at the entitlement teat, fewer workers to pay taxes, etc., can we afford to keep
> millions of elderly vegetative state people alive? I think it's more ethical/humane to allow some
> of these people to die naturally. If someone's brain functioning is to the point that they're a
> veritible "meat machine", what good is being alive? These nursing homes are all corporate owned
> and must surely rake in a lot of dough because they are horribly understaffed even though they
> charge the patients an arm and a leg. Most days there are only like 4 orderlies there/1 nurse
> where my mo-in-law is at and there are about 60 patients there. Do the Math. Healthcare is the
> fastest growing industry. Could economics and profits be determining our ethics as a society?

When have they not? It's one of those problems that the sharks among us exploit, while the babies
just refuse to admit that it's there, so between them we continue on an untenable course that will
beggar our grandkids -- but hey, who cares? Most of us can't seem to think past our next SUV (though
I only speak about USA citizens, and even there not immigrant groups, which tend to have much more
old-fashioned values and aspirations for their kids).

C.
--
Crow
 
I commend both of you for voicing this shameful state of affairs that is taking place across the USA
and perhaps many other Western nations. Succinctly, the fact that we are throwing away innocent,
aged citizens (loved ones) to rot away in loneliness. The following is an excerpt from an article I
published in this issue of Newtopia Magazine. It is important because it presents a sure-fire method
for curing many of these needlessly suffering senior citizens.

"I have seen old people brought back from the lonely recesses of presumed senility by simply
engaging them in conversation. Paying attention to them, which in turn made them pay attention to
the environment outside their private inner worlds. And to respond to that outside environment, they
had to work their brains to formulate their thoughts and conversation; which meant that the brain
needed an increased amount of oxygen and other nutrients to fuel the cognitive exercise; which meant
that the body went into action to deliver the necessary nutrients to the brain. But when they were
left alone, with nobody engaging them, they deteriorated fast both mentally and physically." (If you
care to read the whole article, it is at
http://www.newtopiamagazine.net/content/issue15/features/dementia.shtml).

In the article, I cite just a small sampling of the research that proves our brains continue to grow
new neurons even in old age -- even after death!

James H. Bath

http://www.geocities.com/jimbath1/

"Crowfoot" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> In article <[email protected]>, Justin <noggie> wrote:
>
> > With older people being the fastest growing population group, perhaps we need to rethink our
> > philosphies on aging/euthanasia, etc.. With record deficits, baby boomers retiring and expecting
> > their turn at the entitlement teat, fewer workers to pay taxes, etc., can we afford to keep
> > millions of elderly vegetative state people alive? I think it's more ethical/humane to allow
> > some of these people to die naturally. If someone's brain functioning is to the point that
> > they're a veritible "meat machine", what good is being alive? These nursing homes are all
> > corporate owned and must surely rake in a lot of dough because they are horribly understaffed
> > even though they charge the patients an arm and a leg. Most days there are only like 4 orderlies
> > there/1 nurse where my mo-in-law is at and there are about 60 patients there. Do the Math.
> > Healthcare is the fastest growing industry. Could economics and profits be determining our
> > ethics as a society?
>
> When have they not? It's one of those problems that the sharks among us exploit, while the babies
> just refuse to admit that it's there, so between them we continue on an untenable course that will
> beggar our grandkids -- but hey, who cares? Most of us can't seem to think past our next SUV
> (though I only speak about USA citizens, and even there not immigrant groups, which tend to have
> much more old-fashioned values and aspirations for their kids).
>
> C.
> --
> Crow
 
Your eloquence is unimpeachable. Your command of language is superior. But your fairness is a little
shaky (probably not intentional but a little careless never-the-less. I'm sure you'll agree that not
all the individuals of the groups you mentioned are ill hearted people). But if we want to speak in
that kind of blanket terminology, you left one group out - American citizens.

The atrocities we see in nursing homes and other healthcare venues is as much the fault
of the average American Joe as it is the fault of any illegal alien. Just differently
and more insidiously performed. The average American Joe or Jenny accepts the assumed
professionalism of nursing homes, hospitals, and doctors' offices without question.
They'll think about anything else -- how to plan a vacation, how to afford a luxury car,
how and where to invest their money to produce the most profitable returns -- but when
it comes to thinking about healthcare issues, the gray matter shuts down.

Why?

Because it's difficult and it takes sacrifice, especially if a loved one's life is at
stake. Sometimes career sacrifices must be made, in which a healthy person must give up
his aspirations to status and riches because such aspirations take away from the
considerable amount of thought and energy necessary for yanking a loved one from the
jaws of death, from brutal torture, and indifferent neglect. This is no joking matter.
Many Americans simply willfully blind themselves to the stupid mistakes and horrors of
the healthcare system so they don't have to change the routine of their lives, and they
use the idea that "professionals know best how to take care of my poor loved one" as a
blinder to hide behind so they don't have to face the guilt of making the selfish
decision to toss away their now costly loved one in favor of pursuing their dreams.

What they don't realize is that they can never completely fool themselves into believing
they did their best to save their spouse or parent, if they did not indeed do their
best. And what is loving someone if not doing your best to keep them healthy and free
from suffering?

Those who fight relentlessly in the jaws of death, refusing to give in right up to the
bitter end and even beyond, no matter how many doctors tell them nothing can be done to
save their loved one's life -- that 's love. This person will feel no guilt. And this
person will know that no amount of riches and fame could match the worth of a life,
especially the life of a cherished loved one. And furthermore this person will learn a
piece of divinity from his struggle to save her life, and from that he will know that in
the essence of things everything is all right. For our spirit, the real part of us,
never dies.

James H. Bath

http://www.geocities.com/jimbath1/


<[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> Nursing homes in U.S. big cities are one of many safe havens for illegal aliens to make money as
> nurses and aides while caring little for the elderly in their care.
>
> These refuges from third and fourth world carribbean sesspools are arrogant, cold hearted and
> incompetent. They use falsified documents to gain entry into health care training programs many of
> which do not even require birth cirtificates, soc. sec. numbers or residency satus paperwork. Just
> show them the money.
>
> Many of these nursing schools and nurse-aide training programs cater to this unscrupulous
> population of pagan interlopers. They blatently "group-cheat" their way through these programs.
> And then your sick, helpless and suffering parent winds up in their grubby hands.
>
> Hatians, Jamaicans, Trinidadians, Africans, Philipinas. They care nothing about and share nothing
> about American cultural and traditional sensibilities of compassion, professionalism, and personal
> accountability. They are a mongrel pagan voo-doo disease infiltrating American society and eroding
> it from within.
>
> They are your heath care experience of the future.
>
> OUCH!!!!
 
>>>Because it's difficult and it takes sacrifice, especially if a loved one's life is at stake.
>>>Sometimes career sacrifices must be made......

Don't put it on the elderly person's family. Heck, they're just trying to survive and get by
themselves. They have to earn a living.

The nursing home system could be drastically improved if the corporations were taken out of the
equation. Because of their desire to wring every ounce of profit out of the situation, they have
maybe 2 or 3 orderlies making like $6/hour responsible for maybe 40 patients and maybe 1 nurse. I've
seen how many nursing homes work (lots of relatives have been in them over the years). There
shouldn't be a profit motive in nursing homes. They should be ran by either non-profit charitible
entities or counties. Because it's non-profit, it'll save Medicare/Medicaid/private insurance a lot
of money and there could be more workers and better care. The system is broken right now. There
needs to be structual changes and better oversight. They can start by putting the people on
Medicaid/Medicare in non-profit homes. Also give people a choice of where they want to go (like it
is now). Right now, people think that the profit motive works to ensure that homes are run well;
that's a joke! It just means there isn't enough staff and lackluster care!

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> <My mother-in-law's in a nursing home for not being able
> to walk due to diabetes........$4000/month ........>
>
> For that amount, can't you hire home health aides and let
> her live at home? This can be done even if she's on IV.

She's totally bedridden and needs 3 shifts of help (24
hours), plus she's about 270 pounds so it takes 2 people to
shift her around. So she'd need 6 people a day. It'd cost a
fortune and drive my wife and I insane if she were here with
us. Her insurance won't cover home care for her, so she's at
the nursing home. This is what is meant with all the reports
that "obesity is costly to the healthcare industry." My mother-in-
law has no underlying, causal factors besides her own
actions. She just laid around on a Lazyboy recliner the past
15 years and ate a lot, so now she's morbidly obese and
diabetic. My mother-in-law has a grown autistic son (like
Rainman) who she has used as her personal fetch boy for the
past 15 years, thus contributing to her non-movement and
massive weight gain.

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