You are so right. Most nursing home are predators.
Mum had a stroke in April 07after bilateral knee operation. Hospital installed trachea and stomach peg. Tragically mum's eye muscle also affected and she still cant open her eyes
Sent to a nursing home at the end of May with 3rdstage bedsore.
At first home was excellent but now I believe they reduce her milk and dont turn her much.
They probably benefit in keeping her bedsore at a certain stage as if fully cured we may bring her home. I dont visit mum much anymore, cant take the emotional pain.
At least your grandma is at peace now. I hope caregiver will continue her misson.
Some members of the family benefit by having mum put away in a home so I understand the girlfriend is up to. With all that money, the guy should be in his own home with private nursing and with his girl around.
Thank you for your response. You can tell you are very concerned for your patients well being. I am suprised Medicare does not require some type of advanced directive to be on file with them. or have rules governing the payment for these unneccesary procedures. When this all happened I was not well myself..about to have hip surgery and I didnt want to upset my mother. I tried to explain to her it was a trick. The nursing home first said that grandmother could not be reentered to the nursing home because of Medicar required number of days between stays, etc. A couple of days later they called back and changed the answer saying yes Medicare would cover her return. Based on that mother made the decision to put the tube in because she felt she was being "kicked out of the hospital" That was in Aug first part of Sept. I think it was In Nov. maybe in Dec. the nursing home gave mother a billI stating grandmothers coverage was not a qualified stay and that we owed about $12000 for her stay that Medicare did not cover. After that mother asked that the tube be removed and after telling them she had no money to continue paying they finally removed it. I do not havae that good of relationship with my mother. She herself is no caregiver by any means, but a martyr , it is always about her. So I am not sure how much of it is her fault vs. the doctor and hospital. At best, I consider it poor medical judgement and I am now leaning toward criminal intent since I have recently found out that the treating doctor is either on the staff of the same nursing home or a part owner. I have been told to stay out of it etc. But that is not going to happen...as soon as I can get an attorney I will see if there are any grounds to sue them to be shut down. The way I see it is that they let her suffer for nearly 3 1/2 months to just bill Medicare. Empty beds do not pay the bills. I had told mother this at the time etc. but she said she didnt have a choice. I had suggested hospice at home. Something is really wrong here and I will get to the bottom of it. I am sure you see this all the time. I could not do your job. I get to involved and would end up either having a stroke myself or being put in jail. I consider them at this points predators on the greiving family.
As for the feeding tube being emplaced, the nursing home is giving you a snow job about it beiong "required". That being said, a person has the right to die in dignity. A have had a long battle with various nursing homes over various patients at various times, which usually involved them calling security and me calling the police and threatening to have them all arrested, the situation generally ending in a mexican stand-off. When I find a nursing home worth the powder to blow it to hell I'll let you know. I have had more than one nursing home owner arrested and indicted. All being said and done do not punish yourself for decision that could have been made. The situation is structured so as to minimize input by outsiders, and patients are usuallyu just "numbers" that represent cash flow to the owners. Yeah, I know I'll get another post telling what wonderful care their mom/dad/son lover gets, but over the course of my professional life I have been in probably a hundred nursing homes, and I have not found a single one I found satisfactory. I am presently involved with a patient who they did the same routine on, but not only did they put in a feeding tube they put in a trach, all on the apprival of his "girlfriend", who lives in his multi million dollar apartment and managed to get power of attorney over a number of skyscrapers he owns. It is very difficult to assert yourself with these nursing homes. You have my condolances, and I am sorry the last days could not have been more dignified. I will say a prayer for your grandmother.