Eagle, we also learned this while caring for Mom when she was sick with cancer. Honestly, I don't know how people do it without a loved one in town, or a good friend , or someone to be there for them. In some cases, they probably get the worse care. Sad, but true.

Being independent has always been my desire in life but I agree wholeheartedly with Eagle. Everyone needs someone to watch out for them when old and sick. I feel so bad for those left to the moods of caregivers when alone and there is no one to speak for them. I mean their nurses and doctors as well.

Eagle Heart,
You sound so loving when you talk about your husband and the experience you went through with him. I like to think my husband and I would do the same. We both have brothers and sisters but because of family dysfunction, no one is close. We have each other and you make it all sound as if it can be done.
I am sorry for your loss, but one can learn much from your attitude and experience.
Dancer9

Dancer, just to clarify that Gary was my brother (also my best friend & closest confidante). My very healthy-and-alive hubby still supports me all the way; Gary was my much-beloved 43-year-old brother who was in hospital and died of Hodgkin's lymphoma 17 months ago.

Oh, I see, Eagle Heart. Thanks for the clarification and sorry for the mistake. Compliments still stand, however!
Dancer

The past three years, I've visited a nursing home often. Paychecks seem to be an employee's single motivation. Workers' do as little as possible; are unkind to residents; and make fun of the elderly, when they think no one is listening. During these
past months, I've also visited hospitals and find the same attitude. "Laziness and getting by" seems to be the fad. I feel sorry for any in-patient at these facilities.

This all really saddens me to hear. If it matters at all, there are some very dedicated nurses out here struggling with overwork and unimaginable stress from having to do so much extra. I know there are the bad apples but there are in any profession. It just saddens me so because it's so personal to me.

I was a nurse for 20 years until I got burned out. Fortunately, I recognized the symptoms and left before I lost my compassion. Perhaps the 'bad' nurses are merely suffering compassion fatigue (aka burnout) and don't feel they have any way out. I knew several excellent nurses like that. I also know how hard it is to find a job outside the profession when that is all you have done. I'm not excusing the behavior of these nurses, but they often do feel trapped, which only compounds the problem. I felt trapped between administration, patients, their families, and doctors and felt pulled in so many different directions. Hospitals are not known for being good to their nurses - I could tell some real horror stories about how nurses are treated - and that doesn't help the problem either. You couldn't pay me enough money to go back into the profession now!

Yonuh, I understand completely. I've also known nurses that were trapped and with major burnout. The pressures are immense. It's simply to say that they should get out of the profession but life dictates a lot of what we do and if that's what we know then we do it. If you to talk to most healthcare workers they'll give you a list of places they've worked. Only a few have stayed in the same place. You've got to find where you fit in and where you get the support you need for what you do.

Yonuh,
Would you mind posting some of the ways that the hospitals are not good to nurses? I have seen good nurses where I am, yes. As a whole, they do their job in the E.R.. But I would like to understand their plight.
Dancer0