I know, it is pitiful. Well I had other reasons too. A friend had his wife beaten in a nursing home, on that very same night another woman was killed. He really got me looking into elder abuse.

Here is a link to the Ask Dutchy post I did for him.

http://askdutchy.mycarelink.net/2005/09/nursing-home-abuse.html

It begins with the unfortunate deaths of those in the Lousiana nursing home, and ends with his story. All very sad. Please take time to report abuse! Dutchy

Here's the plan. What we desperately need in a NATIONAL organization who will be so strong and powerful that any individual, attorney, family member, telemarketer, etc, will not even THINK about going up against us. Legally, of course. What I've discovered this past year is that nightmare begins when the victimized family member has no idea what to do, or who to call for help, and then the very help they're expecting turns out to be worse than the original problem. We have the resources through the Internet and the word will get out. If the Bast----s in Florida think they've seen the last of me, they are very much mistaken. To quote Hillel, in this, the Jewish New Year 5766: If I am not for others, what am I? And if not now, when?
I think the answer is obvious....

What the world needs is more Raven West's. There is no excuse for abuse on any level...but the elderly and the hani-capped it is too sad!

I know that the abuse sometimes does go the other way too,and caregivers receive a lot of abuse from those they care for. Which I believe is unacceptable too.

Okay...great idea Raven. NOw which boomer woman is going to launch the National Organization?

Too add another two-cents worth, my grandmother AND my Daddy were both abused at a "certified" facility AND at a private homecare facility. So it goes on everywhere. The key is to KNOW how to spot it, and where to report it.

You girls know you have just hit on the tip of the iceberg. A national association for the prevention of Elder abuse has been done. There are different kinds as well. Here are a few:

http://www.preventelderabuse.org/
http://www.onpea.org/ (for Canada)
http://www.elderabuseprevention-eastbay.org/
http://www.inpea.net/ (a national org)
http://www.elderabusecenter.org/default.cfm
and of course

http://www.aoa.gov/eldfam/Elder_Rights/Elder_Abuse/Elder_Abuse.asp
from the Department of Health and Human Resources

So...the national and international org's are in place, but the WORD is not getting out to people. This is where WE come in. Maybe some of these organizations would let each of us put a link on our homepages (for starters?) Or maybe we should see about starting CHAPTERS...OR CHARTERS in our own areas?

JJ

Yes there are a number of organizations scattered all over the country and I've contacted each and every one of them about the situation in Florida and have received the same response. Sorry... but not "OUR" problem, try.. another agency. What I'm saying is we need ONE central agency which brings them all together nation wide who will actually DO something and not just a bunch of office workers who answer the phone and refer us to other useless office phone operators. Meanwhile the hearing on the guardianship/attorneys fees will be heard in court tomorrow, and the judge will rubber stamp it, that's the way "Justice" works when you don't have a huge organization fighting for you. ACLU, ADL, JDL, whatever happened to the Gray Panthers? AARP won't do it, they're way too political, but all of this will happen. We are getting stronger every day!

Nancy50 I was wondering how you actually got the ombudsman to watch out for your mother.

I thought I would relate a story here, I worked in a facility a few months ago. They apparently had really messed up with the medication. They had to have an RN oversee what they were doing. That RN came in once a week. I had just started working, I hadn't even been there a full week. While that nurse was there I began asking questions about who she reported to, etc. While I was doing the questioning she was writing down over two full pages of medication/or recording errors. This nurse stated that the State of Washington would never see her reports, just a time sheet saying she was there. That totally blew my mind. I refused to give meds that night. The girl that was coming on after me had to give them. I wasn't going near them, didn't want to ever touch meds again. This facility was so messed up. And I wanted nothing to do with them. Facilities like that should be shut down. I have not stepped inside those doors since that night.

I wrote that to say...how many blind eyes are turned? How many times do people get away with abuse, med errors, or neglect? There is a lot that goes on out there that people like you and me will never see! I think we all need to just decide that in our sphere of influence we will just try to make a difference.

This is so true. I witnessed a CNA pushing a frail old man to the bathroom as I walked by the door. THE REASON? The poor dear had wet his pants and it made the CNA mad. The man had dementia and couldn't help himself.

Did I report it? You better believe it. I was furious. When the head nurse did nothing, I went over her head to the State. I reported it and within a day there were people everywhere investigating it and the man in question was taken off the floor of dementia patients.

Is that the end of the story? Nope. Within a month this person was back on the floor and the reason I got from the Administrator was that they were short of help. No excuse! I was mortified and I said, "Well, let me tell you this. If that man comes anywhere near my Daddy, I'm holding YOU responsible." He was never assigned to Daddy, but here's the thing. I had to go home at night. What happened after I left? I was so depressed! But eventually, the man was taken off of the floor completely because of shouting at another patient and he was reported (not by me, by the woman who witnessed it).

Now get this...would you believe that some of the other patients wives got mad at me for reporting him? Yep... sure did. Said I put their loved one in danger by doing so. Hello? Do you think I cared? Not one bit. Abuse is abuse and if I had witnessed any again, I would have shouted just as loud.

JJ

The worst part of what is happening is that NO ONE warned us this would be the future we would have to face.

How many blind eyes are turned? Far TOO Many!

How many times do people get away with abuse, med errors, or neglect?

More than anyone knows and what's even worse CARES about.

Financial abuse is one of the worst because anyone with a good attorney can deplete a family's assets to the point of bankruptcy leaving the loved one depending on welfare for their very survival.

It is a very sad state in this country and a growing problem as medical advances keep the aging population's body existing longer, but the quality of life is no more than a breathing corpse, while attorneys and health "care" facitlites toast their financial success with a cup of blood.... We know of the problem.. NOW is the time to plan a solution!

Dutchy ,
Just read your message and sent you a private reply .

[ October 16, 2005, 10:27 PM: Message edited by: Nancy50 ]