Nursing Homes. The bodies are just pilling up.

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I just read an article about a New Jersey nursing home that was storing a body in the shed, and when police arrived they discovered 17 bodies in a small morgue meant for 4 bodies. All around my state I keep hearing all residents and staff positive along with several deaths at each facility already. Mind you this isn't in the news! LTC/CCRC are a small community and word gets out. When did the generation that helped build this country become to expendable? Yes, us LTC nurse might not be on the front line, but we are fighting a silent battle, and no one can hear us. The amazing nurses who are on the front line can barely get proper PPE . So how can we? Imagine the virus coming into your home. Thats what it is like for these residents. We are their salvation, but might also be their end....Stay strong everyone!!

Specializes in Pediatrics,Hospice.

That is so scary to think of

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Specializes in Corrections, Dementia/Alzheimer's.
On 4/16/2020 at 5:38 PM, A Hit With The Ladies said:

Well, where else would they be in society?

Why not with their families?

When did we decide they weren't worth our time? They are smarter than us, wiser than us, and loved and cared for us. They earned the same. They deserve a better more honored place in society than you do. Where can we store you? BTW: a hit with WHAT ladies?

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18 hours ago, Trampledunderfoot said:

Why not with their families?

When did we decide they weren't worth our time? They are smarter than us, wiser than us, and loved and cared for us. They earned the same. They deserve a better more honored place in society than you do. Where can we store you? BTW: a hit with WHAT ladies?

Thank you! 100%

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Specializes in Psych.
7 hours ago, Trampledunderfoot said:

Why not with their families?

When did we decide they weren't worth our time? They are smarter than us, wiser than us, and loved and cared for us. They earned the same. They deserve a better more honored place in society than you do. Where can we store you? BTW: a hit with WHAT ladies?

Because their families may not have the means or ability to care for their needs on a 24/7 basis? Or they may be busy raising their own kids? I thought that much was obvious.

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On 4/16/2020 at 4:09 PM, xanderx said:

Thank you! I can’t believe two nurse actually said “store”! My mind was blown !

My sentiments exactly. I was staggered. Just the guy you want taking care of someone you love, right?

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18 hours ago, Trampledunderfoot said:

Why not with their families?

When did we decide they weren't worth our time? They are smarter than us, wiser than us, and loved and cared for us. They earned the same. They deserve a better more honored place in society than you do. Where can we store you? BTW: a hit with WHAT ladies?

Thank you. My mother was 91 when she passed. She was raised in a rural island community with a population of about 200. She was the first person, let alone woman, in the community to go to college. She became one of the first women to program a computer in the USA. She could do differential equations and quote Fitzgerald or Ralph W. Emerson or the bible. She could cook award winning Italian dinners. She raised two children who became productive members of society and taught us to respect people and be kind and fair.

Bluntly, in my mind 8 more hours of her life was worth multiple years of the type of people who write things like that offensive remark we are responding to. The fact that it it was written by an (alleged) nurse is all the more revolting.

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On 4/16/2020 at 9:27 AM, A Hit With The Ladies said:

I hate to say this, but isn't the point of a nursing home to store very old people until they die anyway? ?

Ugh. Just ugh.

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"Store" is a harsh word but it is what some people are doing. I think he was referring to the mindset of what the families of these people is ,sad but true. Now some of you get offended by the wording but at the same time claim that nursing is just a job and nothing else.

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Someday we will be called to God's table

He will judge us

By the way we treated those least able

Who were among us

Someday we may be among the least

Our compassion is what will bring us to God's holy feast

MGK

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In the past week we have lost two beautiful sisters in our church who were in nursing homes infected with COVID. The one who was buried this morning was separated from her family by several hundred miles. They could not even be here to bury her because of travel restrictions. She was a college professor still teaching and living on her own until 3 weeks ago when a fall necessitated temporary rehab. She walked the Appalachian Trail at age 70 and had lived and taught all over the world. Stored like used furniture? Hardly. We are all precious souls to our creator, whether or not we choose to believe that. What has happened to our humanity and compassion for our fellow human beings when as nurses we begin to refer to people as furniture? Thank you Signet.

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On 4/15/2020 at 10:20 PM, xanderx said:

I just read an article about a New Jersey nursing home that was storing a body in the shed, and when police arrived they discovered 17 bodies in a small morgue meant for 4 bodies. All around my state I keep hearing all residents and staff positive along with several deaths at each facility already. Mind you this isn't in the news! LTC/CCRC are a small community and word gets out. When did the generation that helped build this country become to expendable? Yes, us LTC nurse might not be on the front line, but we are fighting a silent battle, and no one can hear us. The amazing nurses who are on the front line can barely get proper PPE . So how can we? Imagine the virus coming into your home. Thats what it is like for these residents. We are their salvation, but might also be their end....Stay strong everyone!!

It's awful. I'm familiar with this incident as I've seen the reports as well, and I'd not be surprised if there were dozens upon dozens of similar incidents across the country, and perhaps with no end in sight on the near horizon.

My parents were much older when they had children. So Mom was in a religious CCRC by the time I was 39 That (midwestern) CCRC has since had about 50 infections (last I looked) with many of them fatal. It's the first time in 5.5 years I'm glad my mother already passed (before Corvid) I can't even imagine what the families of people in CCRCs, SNFs and other institutions are going through, nor what it would be like to listen to blowhards spout off about how they're expendable.

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Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.

My MIL and dad are both in ALF's. Luckily they are doing well and have great care provided.

Nursing homes though.............I think we all know even the best are lacking in resources for this kind of battle and they have the most fragile residents due to age, illness, etc. Unfortunately, there are many reasons that this will affect them disproportionately.

Not everyone can bring their loved ones home. I can't pay my mortgage unless I can work and there is no way they could be in my home on their own. They wouldn't survive. That is just reality. No matter how loved they are it is just not as easy as it sounds to care for ailing elders at home.

They are not being "stored".

On the other hand there are many in nursing homes who do not have a loving family for reasons that may or may not be deserved. They are being "stored" by society.

In a perfect world this would not be how it is, but this will never be a perfect world. It wasn't before and it won't be after. At least most in the nursing homes have lived a good long life before they ended up in the NH.

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