Survey on Assisted Living Facilities and the Like

Nascar nurse, ASN, RN · Apr 23, 2011

i am writing a paper on assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and hospice houses for my online psychology class. i personally do not know anyone living or working in any of these settings and i would love to have the opportunity to interview someone. i have a few questions that i would appreciate anyone taking the time to answer. i feel that this would my paper a valuable perspective that i would be unable to gain otherwise. i thank you in advance and feel free to private message me with your answers too.
1. what nursing home do you work at and where is it located or what kind of facility do you work at? i work in a nursing home in indiana. most of us will not identify the exact facility we work at. this could potentially lead to a hipaa violation
2. what do you see as the greatest advantage for residents in one of these settings?they receive skilled nursing care 24 hours a day/365 days a year. families do not have to worry about obtaining caregivers for round the clock care, etc
3. what do you see as the biggest disadvantage for residents in one of these settings?despite staff best attempts it is not a 1:1 care setting. residents do not receive immediate attention they request and i believe many times they do not receive the emotional psycho/social attention they deserve. everyone is just to busy
4. do you feel that residents have too little freedom as a result of living in one of the facilities?well of course. the culture is changing to allow residents more options but anytime that you live in a community setting you are bound to lose freedoms.
5. is there much outreach at your facility; i.e. do scouting troops come to visit or do choirs or other performing groups come and perform for the residents?yep, we have several groups that come in on a weekly basis. at christmas time it gets really busy with visitors.
6. are the residents' families actively involved in their lives? do families visit often or call/e-mail with their loved ones?this varies widely from person to person. have many families that visit everyday, some that visit weekly and some that don't visit at all. this can be for many different reasons, ie: the families often have their own families at home, they have jobs to go to, they live a distance from the facility, they are just crappy people that don't give a crap about mom/dad....or mom/dad (the resident) was a very crappy parent and after a lifetime of mistreating their family they now cry because no one will visit them. karma's a _itch but i've seen this happen a lot.
7. are there any other questions i should have asked or any other comments you may have for me.
again, i appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions for my paper. i look forward to hearing what people have to say.

you are welcome.

Joyfull77 · Apr 24, 2011

1. What nursing home do you work at and where is it located or what kind of facility do you work at?

I work at an assisted living facility (not a nursing home) and it is located in Oregon.

2. What do you see as the greatest advantage for residents in one of these settings?

The greatest advantage for residents is that they are fairly independent. But when they do need help there is always someone available to assist them 24/7.

3. What do you see as the biggest disadvantage for residents in one of these settings?

The biggest disadvantage is that some people need higher levels of care, and either they themselves cannot accept this or their families don't want to accept this and hire a private caregiver (much like a CNA without the training) when they need a nurse available at all times. We have nurses on site but not 24/7 on site.

4. Do you feel that residents have too little freedom as a result of living in one of the facilities?

The residents have a lot of freedom and can really come and go as they please.

5. Is there much outreach at your facility; i.e. do scouting troops come to visit or do choirs or other performing groups come and perform for the residents?

There are orchestra's that come to our facility and a lot of volunteer's come too. The volunteer either help out with activities or do grounds work. Massage therapists also come to the facility and there is a salon on site! (and yes, some of the staff take advantage of this service too...whether they are supposed to or not.)

6. Are the residents' families actively involved in their lives? Do families visit often or call/e-mail with their loved ones?

Most of the residents have family that come to visit them regularly. Some families will spend the night with them or stay in our independent living building on our campus on the weekends. And I always see family members in the dining room having lunch or dinner with the residents.

7. Are there any other questions I should have asked or any other comments you may have for me.

Hope this helps! Let me know if you have any more questions!

Ruby Vee, BSN · Apr 25, 2011

i am writing a paper on assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and hospice houses for my online psychology class. i personally do not know anyone living or working in any of these settings and i would love to have the opportunity to interview someone. i have a few questions that i would appreciate anyone taking the time to answer. i feel that this would my paper a valuable perspective that i would be unable to gain otherwise. i thank you in advance and feel free to private message me with your answers too.
1. what nursing home do you work at and where is it located or what kind of facility do you work at?
2. what do you see as the greatest advantage for residents in one of these settings?
3. what do you see as the biggest disadvantage for residents in one of these settings?
4. do you feel that residents have too little freedom as a result of living in one of the facilities?
5. is there much outreach at your facility; i.e. do scouting troops come to visit or do choirs or other performing groups come and perform for the residents?
6. are the residents' families actively involved in their lives? do families visit often or call/e-mail with their loved ones?
7. are there any other questions i should have asked or any other comments you may have for me.
again, i appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions for my paper. i look forward to hearing what people have to say.
addendum by a moderator: do not name the facility.

i work in the ccu of a large, east coast inner city teaching hospital. my mom is in a small assisted living in the small town where she's lived for 80 years. she's had alzheimer's for the past ten years or so, and when dad was alive he took care of her at home. long before dad died, mom decided that when the time came, she didn't want to leave her hometown and move nearer to either me or my sister. she wanted to stay where her friends and relatives were. so when the time came, that's what happened.

mom couldn't be trusted on her own -- the time that i stayed with her and took care of her between my dad's death and the assisted living were absolutely miserable weeks. i couldn't take my eyes off her for a minute without her turning on the stove and putting newspapers on top, wandering outside without a coat, turning on the gas and forgetting to light the burner, etc. i didn't dare close the bathroom door nor did i get to sleep. i finally put a cowbell on the door to mom's bedroom so i could tell when she wandered at night -- which she did most of the night. she'd sleep all afternoon, but i had a steady stream of condolance calls, so i couldn't sleep. it was absolutely miserable. getting her into assisted living saved my life and my sanity!

for my mother, the biggest disadvantage to the alf is that it's unfamiliar. she lived in just two houses in her life -- the one she grew up in and the one dad grew up in where they lived until he died. she's constantly wanting to go home . . . and i cannot explain to her or make her understand that she cannot. if she weren't so altered in terms of memory, i think the biggest disadvantage would be lack of privacy. alfs are communal living, and few of us aspire to communal living in adulthood.

too little freedom? mom has too much maybe -- for others it might be too little. the other residents seem to come and go pretty much as they please, but when meals are served that's when they eat. none of the "i'm not hungry now, i'll eat later." the more independent residents may go out to eat, either by themselves or with friends, but if they're not able to do that, they eat when meals are served. and there's only one shower room, so you shower on your shower day. or not.

there are plenty of church groups, scouting groups, youth groups, grade school classes, etc. that come and perform for the residents. there's something every afternoon.

i call my mother every day as does my sister. mom has me on speed dial and calls me often -- sometimes several times a day. she's not capable of email anymore, and letters i send her aren't always opened. so i call. i used to write once a week, but she cannot always relate my letters to me, while she always knows who i am when i call. i visit as often as i can, but each visit costs in the neighborhood of a thousand dollars, so i don't visit more than three or four times a year. as i've run through all of my savings traveling back and forth to check on and help out my folks over the last decade, i'm going to have to cut back even more on the visits.

my mother is safe, well looked after and fed. the alf people are wonderful to her, and they've been wonderful to me each and every time i've visited. it's a bright, clean and cheerful place and i feel happy whenever i walk in the door. i am so grateful that i found such a wonderful place for my mother, and i'm so grateful to the staff who take care of mom when i can't. mom likes it sometimes, and other times she's lost in the past and angry that she can't make anyone understand that she's independent and is ready to go home now. i have to live with that. i just know that without the alf, her life and mine would be so much worse.

i wish i could name names and acknowledge all of the wonderful people who take such good care of mom. but maybe it's better if i don't, because then every alf worker could believe i was talking about her.

taalyn_1, CNA · Apr 25, 2011

i am writing a paper on assisted living facilities, nursing homes, and hospice houses for my online psychology class. i personally do not know anyone living or working in any of these settings and i would love to have the opportunity to interview someone. i have a few questions that i would appreciate anyone taking the time to answer. i feel that this would my paper a valuable perspective that i would be unable to gain otherwise. i thank you in advance and feel free to private message me with your answers too.
1. what nursing home do you work at and where is it located or what kind of facility do you work at?
i work at a ltc in nrth central indiana. we also have a rehab wing, and an alzheimer's wing
2. what do you see as the greatest advantage for residents in one of these settings?
the biggest advantage is that the residents are safe, they are checked on regularly and have activities in place to keep them.. well, active.
3. what do you see as the biggest disadvantage for residents in one of these settings?
the biggest disadvantage i can see is isolation from family, the outside and losing their independence.
4. do you feel that residents have too little freedom as a result of living in one of the facilities?
yes and no. the residents can do whatever they wish to do,within limits of their dx. but i do feel that they should be able to choose their own schedule for things like eating, showering and the like.
5. is there much outreach at your facility; i.e. do scouting troops come to visit or do choirs or other performing groups come and perform for the residents?
there are a few, but not as many as i would like to see. a few churches come in and do services, sing etc but the community involvement is lacking in my opinion.
6. are the residents' families actively involved in their lives? do families visit often or call/e-mail with their loved ones?
sadly, not as much as we and the residents would like. there are a few residents that have family visits all the time but the majority rarely have visitors.
7. are there any other questions i should have asked or any other comments you may have for me.
ltc has a stigma attached to it. maybe another question would be "how can we, society, change the stigma attached to ltc and the care of our nations elderly". i think community involvement and family involvement are key in changing the way the elderly are cared for, after all we all will end up there at some point. we need to make things better for them.
again, i appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions for my paper. i look forward to hearing what people have to say.
addendum by a moderator: do not name the facility.

hope that helps, good luck on your paper!

amsba20d · Apr 25, 2011

Thank you all for your responses. These will be valuable while writing the paper. Again, I appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions.