We put my grandmother in a nursing home that was close by her house so we (my parents, brother and grandpa) we would have close easy access to her. This seemed to work out at first. The access was not that easy.

The nursing home had strict visitation schedules that were held to like the running of a train schedule. Even if you had a good excuse they would not let you in to see your loved one. They would say that it “disrupts” the other patients by having the schedule changes and odd visitors. It seemed to me that they would welcome a break in the routine; at least my grandmother voiced this to me.

“Will you come tonight after dinner

The personnel that worked at this particular nursing home were not the friendliest either. I had read and heard from friends nothing but good things about it when my family was looking for a possible place. The nurses seemed to be annoyed by having to do their job. Not all of them, but on the whole I would say that very few of the nurses who had contact with my grandmother spent any time with her. They would come in and change the linen, wash her, etc…and be gone. I guess that I/she was hoping they would sit and chat, but in these hard economic times it seems that the status quo is to assign as much work as possible out of employees. The end result, in my opinion, is that the workload for nurses (as an example) is so great they don’t have time for the human interaction that is vital in aftercare programs.

At home she had all her paintings in her room that she had made. Killian, her dog was always present and keeping a close look out on her. An animal has been shown to add time to terminal patients and I truly believe this. Having her dog by her until the end made her very happy as she expressed it to us on many occasions.

The actual “healthcare” of the home was questionable. Twice I had had noticed some bedsores on my Grandma. I couldn’t believe it. She had told me that she asked to be washed and looked at more than once, but the staff would let her know tersely that in due time…The staff let “us” know sometimes bedsores are “unavoidable” no matter how much attention is give. I disagreed.

“I’m not cleaning; it’s the same nursing home ‘smell’ that you complain about everyday. I am sorry I can’t light a candle in here but the oxygen lines and the rules…” etc… This was yet another letdown for her that I had no answer for.

“You know that only on Tuesday and Thursday can I visit late, and I will ask, again as usual, to extend the visitation hours.” I exclaimed, dreadfully.

Just about on every occasion when I would visit her I would stop at the nurses s

Some topics in this essay:
, Sara Sharon, Riveter” Bombers, nursing home, home hospice, grandmother nursing home, nursing home caregivers, nursing home environment, aftercare programs, friends family, terminally ill, hospice grandmother, chance recovery, own home, grandmother nursing, home environment,