Unfortunately I work in an Extendicare facility but not in this state. What appals me is diabetic patients who ‘are not’ put on a diabetic diet!! Pancakes served with maple syrup and not sugar free? Lord, no wonder they are sick!! And yes, I stay because I care about the residents, the company on the other hand is another matter!!

This is all about greed ! If you dont like the way your parent ,child, husband is being cared for thene take theme out or home research things before you commit . I have always noticed the people who complain the most are the ones that do not visit much or feel guilty. Like I said take theme home or soumwhere else . It just boils down to the fact u feeel guilty or your greeedy

I also am an Extendicare employee so I have first hand knowledge of things. Unfortunately, big companies do worry more about their profit than their employees. The CNAs are not paid properly for the amount of physical labor that is expected of them. I’m sure it frustrates them into doing things the wrong way. Maybe if everyone quit bad mouthing the care and start standing up for the people who are the backbones (literally) of these facilities then something good can occur. It takes a special kind of person to care enough about their fellow human beings to put up with bad human behaviour and cleaning their excrement all of the time. Yes, they are understaffed but that is everywhere in every type of facility. What do lawsuits gain? The person suing gets richer, the residents loose what some believe to be their happy homes, and people lose their jobs. Instead of healthcare reform we should be fighting for healthcare changes to improve an already burdened profession. Try sympathizing with the workers and not scrutinize them so much.

I ‘m angry today and have been most days and I tell you why. I come from old school nursing that you are your pt advocate. But it is not true when you work at an extendicare facility or many others. I consider myself a well trained LPN but what good is training if you don’t have the time to utilize it. Extendicare admit residents all kinds without the properly trained staff and /or sufficient staff to care for them .Nurses and aides are constantly overwhelmed by the demands residents need.Most needs go undone which for me was unethical,immoral and un acceptable. The company is putting profits above human lives,compassion and empathy. Every thing I stand for and many nurses stand for. I want to do something about it but don’t know where to start. To get back to patient care above profits.

This company should have their license pulled. They almost killed my father. I used to be a nurse, much like one of the writers above, I believe in old style nursing – you are there to CARE for your patient. Some of them are confused, some aggressive, some forgetful, and some all three. Regardless, they are at the most frail time of their lives. They are in a home because they are unable to care for themselves and their family members are unable to as well. Yes they are treated with a serious lack of consideration and sadly from what I have seen at my father’s facility there’s some serious negligence occurring.
Contrary to what someone wrote above. My step mother and I visit him DAILY. We do our best to feed him and give him fluids and visit with him – I do dinner, she does lunch and regardless in 6 weeks my dad who was underweight to begin with lost 23lbs, fell out of bed, was found locked into his wheel chair (his bad hand UNDER THE SEATBELT and his other hand – he good one was looped through the mesh of his hoyer lift netting) with his lunch sitting 2 feet away on his bad side. All while in their care. Patients are left to call for help repeatedly for hours (I hear them! and go to investigate as I can’t in good conscience sit there and not) There is no communication amongst the staff, so if you give one a message it may be heard at that point but it never goes beyond that staff member. They are rough with the patients, do not document their care as they should (my dad is in a chronic care facility)
I had called several times this past week as I was concerned about my father. He was sleepy all the time and wasn’t eating. My step mother was out of town so I made a point of telling them if they were having trouble getting him to eat, that they should at least see that he gets his ensure frequently. I was assured that this was being done, and he was tired when I arrived because of a new medication he was on and it was being given before I arrived.They were supposed to change that to before bedtime. Two days ago I arrived to find him in bed and sleeping, I waited a bit (I thought he was snoring) then went to rouse him. He was unrousable, cold and clammy, and what I thought was snoring was actually him struggling to breath, his pulse was almost non existant, and thank god I hadn’t done what I had considered doing which was go home and then tell the nurse to give him his ensure, as I am certain he would be dead. He was in a diabetic coma, suffering from severe malnourishment, and dehydration, and now has pneumonia. Their beds are circa 1960. and their staff, for the most part useless. When asked the nurse couldn`t tell me what had gone on during the day that day. If anyone had seen him, fed him, given him a drink or his medication. There were no notes and no one had signed off on his meds. I wouldn`t trust them to take care of a corpse.