An assisted living home shuts down, and the staff leaves the residents to fend for themselves, excep - Polidicks

[img]http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2014/11/20/rowlandnpredit_wide-ae030fb5aaa1c047787ca0de69bcf3486cf27d62-s800-c85.jpg[/img] [quote]Maurice Rowland (left) and Miguel Alvarez were working at an assisted living home last fall. When it shut down, Maurice - the cook - and Miguel - the janitor - stayed to take care of the residents left behind.[/quote] [quote]When an assisted living home in California shut down last fall, many of its residents were left behind, with nowhere to go. The staff at the Valley Springs Manor left when they stopped getting paid — except for cook Maurice Rowland and Miguel Alvarez, the janitor. "There was about 16 residents left behind, and we had a conversation in the kitchen, 'What are we going to do?' " Rowland says. "If we left, they wouldn't have nobody," the 34-year-old Alvarez says. "I would only go home for one hour, take a shower, get dressed, then be there for 24-hour days," says Alvarez. Rowland, 35, remembers passing out medications during those long days. He says he didn't want to leave the residents — some coping with dementia — to fend for themselves. "I just couldn't see myself going home — next thing you know, they're in the kitchen trying to cook their own food and burn the place down," Rowland says. "Even though they wasn't our family, they were kind of like our family for this short period of time." For Alvarez, the situation brought back memories from his childhood. "My parents, when they were younger, they left me abandoned," he says. "Knowing how they are going to feel, I didn't want them to go through that." Alvarez and Rowland spent several days caring for the elderly residents of Valley Springs Manor until the fire department and sheriff took over. The incident led to legislation in California known as the Residential Care for the Elderly Reform Act of 2014. "If I would've left, I think that would have been on my conscience for a very long time," says Rowland.[/quote] [url=http://www.npr.org/2014/11/21/365433685/if-we-left-they-wouldnt-have-nobody?utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=2046][img]http://taxprof.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8341c4eab53ef019b000f3798970c-800wi[/img][/url]

lovely that officials finally did step in to lend assistance. The situation vaguely reminds me of those guys in the first season of the walking dead. At least someone cares, shame it wasn't the certified employees who were trained to help instead of a cook and janitor but at least they gave enough of a damn for their fellow man.

Good blokes

What a beautiful thing. This warms my heart, and it honestly goes to show that those who you may think are the least important may in fact be those that care the most, for whatever reason. I wish these two the best, the world needs more people like them, it really does.

I wish there was a way to give some money to these guys. This seems like an incredible act of kindness.

As much as I'm going to sound like an asshole, these guys don't look anything like I thought they would. And you all know what I mean by that, so I'm really glad that it's guys like them stepping up to do the right thing. Good on them.

Reminds me of that old persons home in season 1 of The Walking Dead. Good on these guys, what a kind thing to do

Sad that the nurses all just left, I mean you would think they would have more of an obligation to make sure the residents received proper care. Luckily these two were willing to put in the extra work to do the right thing. Honestly they deserve some sort of official recognition, maybe an award or something.

[QUOTE=imptastick;46548945]Sad that the nurses all just left, I mean you would think they would have more of an obligation to make sure the residents received proper care. Luckily these two were willing to put in the extra work to do the right thing. Honestly they deserve some sort of official recognition, maybe an award or something.[/QUOTE] it's a pretty well known fact that for whatever reason, nurses at nursing homes hate their jobs. we can cut down on this if people fucking took care of their grandparents/parents by not shoving it off on someone else.

[QUOTE=Tmaxx;46548969]it's a pretty well known fact that for whatever reason, nurses at nursing homes hate their jobs. [B]we can cut down on this if people fucking took care of their grandparents/parents by not shoving it off on someone else[/B].[/QUOTE] I just want to respond to this with a hearty fuck you. I've two great Aunts who had multiple strokes, and had to live in a nursing home because no one in the family could afford to care for them. My family was about to put my grandmother into one before she died. You know why? She couldn't go to the bathroom on her own. She couldn't feed herself. In order not to have a panic attack, she had to have someone in the same room with her. It cost 90$ a day (fortunately offset by a 75$ daily allowance of insurance) to have a live-in aid for just 6 hours, long enough for someone else in the family to get off of work and come stay with her. Do you have any idea how hard it is to take care of an elderly person? Are you really willing to give up four hours a day at least to feed, wash and tend to the bowel movements of your grandparent? On top of work and everything else?

[QUOTE=Viva;46547248]shame it wasn't the certified employees who were trained to help instead of a cook and janitor but at least they gave enough of a damn for their fellow man.[/QUOTE] or the certified employees had families of their own to take care of and they needed a job

[QUOTE=Tmaxx;46548969]it's a pretty well known fact that for whatever reason, nurses at nursing homes hate their jobs. we can cut down on this if people fucking took care of their grandparents/parents by not shoving it off on someone else.[/QUOTE] nursing is a very mentally demanding and stressful job. there's perfectly clear reasons for them not enjoying their work very much

[QUOTE=imptastick;46548945]Sad that the nurses all just left, I mean you would think they would have more of an obligation to make sure the residents received proper care. Luckily these two were willing to put in the extra work to do the right thing. Honestly they deserve some sort of official recognition, maybe an award or something.[/QUOTE] Unfortunately for a lot of nurses, its more about the paycheck than providing actual care for their patients. I'm in nursing school right now and some of the shit I've seen with the shittier facilities (think of a nursing home, or hospital that has a really shady reputation) just blows my mind. They see the patients as a burden rather than a person, it really breaks my heart seeing people treated like that. Tmaxx, what are they supposed to do when their elderly family members are incontinent of both stool and urine, have a severe altered mental status and need assistance doing everything that we take for granted? They need help, a lot more help than just what family can provide too.

These 2 men are.. Absolutely incredible. I'm so glad to finally see something wonderful in the news for once. A damn shame on those who abandoned those elderly. Makes me SICK thinking people would do something like that. Yeah, sure, the elderly can be somewhat "burdening" but its almost like taking care of a child. Just one that you can, hopefully, have a decent conversation with and learn a lot from. Last time I went to an old folk's home, there was this old War Vet who was in a wheelchair, all alone. I started talking to him when I came around him and thanked him for his service. I wasn't planning on staying any longer with him, but he started going on about the war and I sat there and listened. And what I heard was astonishing. The guy flew the bomber planes over Germany and bombed like at least 3 or 4 cities, he said. Then after that, he became a math teacher, retired, and landed there in the home. The best part about him; he had tattoos EVERYWHERE and actually told me that he hasn't had a conversation like that in months and that I made his day... Which in turn, made mine.

[QUOTE=imptastick;46548945]Sad that the nurses all just left, I mean you would think they would have more of an obligation to make sure the residents received proper care. Luckily these two were willing to put in the extra work to do the right thing. Honestly they deserve some sort of official recognition, maybe an award or something.[/QUOTE] They are trying to get paid too, these two can probably live off some money and help, the other nurses might not have been so lucky to put their morals before their family and health.

[QUOTE=Tmaxx;46548969]it's a pretty well known fact that for whatever reason, nurses at nursing homes hate their jobs. we can cut down on this if people fucking took care of their grandparents/parents by not shoving it off on someone else.[/QUOTE] Have you tried taking care of someone who is seriously ill? I have, it is exhausting and emotionally draining. It also takes a lot of time and money. It easy to look at it as shoving them off on someone else, but it is really fucking hard. Its also hardly selfish to put someone in a care center with QUALITIFED people. When you work full time, then try to take care of someone full time - you're relationships with people and even family deteriorate, you're overworked, stressed, etc. Then try dealing with the fact the person you're taking care of thinks you're the bad guy and trying to control every thing they do. It isn't easy.

[QUOTE=Tmaxx;46548969][b]it's a pretty well known fact that for whatever reason, nurses at nursing homes hate their jobs.[/b] we can cut down on this if people fucking took care of their grandparents/parents by not shoving it off on someone else.[/QUOTE] I've never worked in/for a nursing home, but I've done work in nursing homes, and I can tell you that its probably because they're hands-down the most depressing places I've ever been to. A good deal of the residents I've seen seem to be mostly okay with where they are, but there are far more that don't even seem to know where they are or who they are, and there are even those who just sob constantly. It's a building full of human beings that aren't even themselves anymore, and it's heart-breaking.

[QUOTE=Zero-Point;46549746]I've never worked in/for a nursing home, but I've done work in nursing homes, and I can tell you that its probably because they're hands-down the most depressing places I've ever been to. A good deal of the residents I've seen seem to be mostly okay with where they are, but there are far more that don't even seem to know where they are or who they are, and there are even those who just sob constantly. It's a building full of human beings that aren't even themselves anymore, and it's heart-breaking.[/QUOTE] When I was a kid my dad went to an old age home to see one of his old bosses and I tagged along because I thought there might be something interesting. The lady he went to see had decided not to have kids and pretty much spent most of her life dating some man or the other until finally she just ended up there. Some of her lady friends from dad's old office used to come by and see her, but you could tell she was miserable there. I still remember that as my dad was about to leave, she held his hand tightly and said "I want to die." She died the next year and there were maybe two, three people tops at her funeral according to dad. It's something that haunts me whenever I even contemplate spending my life alone or not having kids. In Indian culture it's something of a moral obligation that sons should look after their parents when they become old, but it's anything but pleasant to watch the people who were superheroes to you slowly become physically unable to live up to that mental image you have of them. I am struggling with it myself. It is a soul crushing experience.

[QUOTE=Tmaxx;46548969]it's a pretty well known fact that for whatever reason, nurses at nursing homes hate their jobs. we can cut down on this if people fucking took care of their grandparents/parents by not shoving it off on someone else.[/QUOTE] Because it's an incredibly demanding, stressful, and depressing job. You're surrounded by people who forget who they are and who can't even shit by themselves all day. You get to watch them all slowly deteriorate and die. Sometimes they even ask you to kill them. Are you really dense enough to not understand why people wouldn't like that job? I get the feeling you have zero first hand experience with people who are at the end of their life like this and how huge of a job and burden it can be. You'll learn some day.

holy shit what a depressing thread,

it was only for three days but still fucking amazing and wonderful human beings

We actually learned this is my health psych class, nurses can't form any close relationships with their patients since they are going to eventually die. If a nurse kept attaching her(him)self to patients only to have them keep dying on her, she'd get super depressed. That's why nurses always look like assholes to their patients at these homes, it's not because they don't care, it's because they can't mentally afford to care.

[QUOTE=urbanmonkey;46550472]We actually learned this is my health psych class, nurses can't form any close relationships with their patients since they are going to eventually die. If a nurse kept attaching her(him)self to patients only to have them keep dying on her, she'd get super depressed. That's why nurses always look like assholes to their patients at these homes, it's not because they don't care, it's because they can't mentally afford to care.[/QUOTE] this also goes for Generals during War.

[QUOTE=Flameon;46550438]it was only for three days but still fucking amazing and wonderful human beings[/QUOTE] Those three days were significantly longer than work days, though. They dedicated a lot of time.

[QUOTE=Tmaxx;46548969]we can cut down on this if people fucking took care of their grandparents/parents by not shoving it off on someone else.[/QUOTE] I'm pretty sure you have absolutely zero concept of how hard it is to take care of elderly people. Not everyone can drop their life to do so. Home healthcare alleviates it, but is expensive and does not replace the fact.

Good on 'em. I have a feeling quite a few nursing licenses are on the line because of this. Hate it or not, it's your job, you're entrusted to care for these people. Leaving them to starve like that is just wrong. Negligent Homicide would have been fitting had there been nobody willing to step up and do what needed done, I think. Happily two people were. [QUOTE=Fourm Shark;46550275]I really don't want to survive to be too old to do anything on my own, it sounds like complete hell.[/QUOTE] Indeed. The day I'm too old to drive a stickshift car is the day I start planning my own funeral. I would rather go out with a bang than wither and rot away in an old folk's home.

[QUOTE=NightmareX91;46550485]Those three days were significantly longer than work days, though. They dedicated a lot of time.[/QUOTE] If what the one guy said is true, 1 hour of his own time then a 24-hour "shift", and they did it for the days, that's like 69 hours which is around 8 and a half "work" days.

In the same way that criminals get punished for their deeds, there should be a system where good Samaritans get rewarded instead.

[QUOTE=NoobieWafer223;46549430]These 2 men are.. Absolutely incredible. I'm so glad to finally see something wonderful in the news for once. A damn shame on those who abandoned those elderly. Makes me SICK thinking people would do something like that. Yeah, sure, the elderly can be somewhat "burdening" but its almost like taking care of a child. Just one that you can, hopefully, have a decent conversation with and learn a lot from. Last time I went to an old folk's home, there was this old War Vet who was in a wheelchair, all alone. I started talking to him when I came around him and thanked him for his service. I wasn't planning on staying any longer with him, but he started going on about the war and I sat there and listened. And what I heard was astonishing. The guy flew the bomber planes over Germany and bombed like at least 3 or 4 cities, he said. Then after that, he became a math teacher, retired, and landed there in the home. The best part about him; he had tattoos EVERYWHERE and actually told me that he hasn't had a conversation like that in months and that I made his day... Which in turn, made mine.[/QUOTE] That reminds me of the time that years ago our school toke us up to the local nursing home to do volunteer work and stuff, I don't remember much except talking to a veteran, who happened to be one of the very few remaining WWI vet's at that time (There are no more living veterans now). He didn't see combat, but he had a few stories to tell, and I remember he was always sad. What I didn't realize is that he was one of the few vets still living, it must of been crushing to know that you were once one of millions but now you are nearly the last. I didn't think about it much since then (Mostly because I was ignorant of WWI and its time frame in general) until I saw his obituary in the paper, I had no idea that he was one of the last. Here is a [URL="http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2007-12-21-wwi-veteran-dies_N.htm"]news article[/URL] on him I found it surprising that one of the last WWI veterans lived in my small town in Ohio, wish I had talked to him more.

My grandmother works in a nursing home actually (she's not that old, in her 60s which is not bad for a grandmother), she's mentioned quite a few stories of people with dementia and the like, but she said that any friends you made of the residents, because of their state, could die at any moment, and its moments like that which really hit her.