My husband and I have gone through various experiences
of aged care here in Melbourne through our elderly
parents.

I've been reading about several class actions that are
being taken against some aged care providers. And the
treatment of the elderly in some of these places appears
to be horrific to say the least. Luckily we haven't
experienced that. However, I think it would be interesting
to hear from the problems that others may have encountered
as a warning to the rest of us, especially what to watch
out for when choosing an aged care facility. Inevitably
we'll all be old one day and this could be useful. Also
what laws should governments put in place to protect
the elderly from "for profit" (instead of care centered)
organisations.

Please share with us your thoughts on this issue.

Thank You.

A long time ago I worked in the kitchen of a nursing home. And though there were some there that showed that they cared for the people they looked after, there was also the element of being understaffed. So my advise when looking at home facilities is to keep an eye on hall lights above doors (if they use that system). If there are several hall lights up at the same time with no one noticing or attending the need in the room, then be cautious of letting your parents reside there.

The only other thing to watch out for that I know of is repetitive blood tests with no further treatment. A seperate physician called out a nurse that was in charge of my grandma's care because the nurse kept still caking my grandma for a blood test (posibly because insurance pays for that and she's the one being payed), but then having no other treatment or further explaination for the tests.

Good luck and hope you find some good places.

...sorry for the typo.... The nurse kept needle sticking my grandma for blood tests.

Most of the problem belongs to the family of residents in nursing homes.

If family visit regularly, they will see any poor or mistreatment that is going on. The management & staff can not get away with out doing things properly, if people regularly visit the patients.

There are a dozen giveaways that will tell visitors if the staff are doing their job properly. Of course if relatives can't be bothered visiting patients, the nursing home knows it can get away with very cut corners.

My mother had to spend her last few months in an excellent community nursing home. I was very pleasantly surprised when on a couple of visits I found staff sitting down in her room having a chat. I had not expected they would have the time. It was an example of the things that put my mind at rest regarding her treatment. The nursing home care was much better than the hospital treatment, that was much more expensive.

Dear NNS,

Thank You for your advice. And I agree that there are
signs that family members need to look out for. My mother
did not have any major problems in her nursing home but
there was one occasion that made me concerned. She had
deep bruising on one of her arms and I asked the staff
what had happened. Apparently mum had been punched by a
very aggressive resident. They could not give me the name
or tell me who it was, however I spoke to the charge nurse
and it never happened again. I found out later that someone
had been moved to another part of the building - so I don't
know if it was the person who was causing problems or not.
But I did keep a very watchful eye on mum.

Dear Hassie,

I totally agree with you that regular visits from family
members makes a big difference. However, I know of certain
facilities where family members do visit regularly, and have
complained about staff shortages and long toilet waits for
their family members. They've even written both to the
Facility managers and even to their MPs in protest about the
staff shortage. In many cases nothing much changed. I found
it helped to make friends with other family member of residents
and we then keep an eye out for each other - and report anything
bad that's happening to each other. Also getting the staff on
your side as friends also helps. Plus being involved in activities
and functions is also a good idea. I ended up volunteering in
my mum's home, and even though she's now passed - I still do it
part-time.

Hi there FOXY...

Personally we've not gone through any 'aged care' issues within our own family. However professionally, we received a call from a male complainant at leading western suburbs hospital. Apparently they were concerned that an elderly lady who they suspected had been denied treatment or worse, mistreated in a very nasty fashion, at her Nursing Home, thus her admission to hospital. All because her pension cheque had not turned up twice in a row, therefore they took it out on the Lady herself instead of the Nursing Home Administrators making inquiries with her Pension's Provider! The foolish people.

Technically it wasn't a job for us anyway. Rather the Nursing Home Administrator's in the first instance, and if that failed, the Department of Aged Care themselves. It was just, the complainant was in company with another visitor, and he was appalled at how this lady was treated, with a complete absence of reasonable care. So being quite incensed, he presented himself to us, and I copped the job!

Brief inquiries did reveal, this ladies treatment was considered normal practice, which shocked me, and obviously shocked the complainant as well, seemingly nobody else so it would seem. Being dumped in the nursing home, and virtually discarded there by her uncaring, and distant NOK, they had little or no time for her at all? Her entire pension was gobbled up for her basic care and that was that? A case of in the front door, and out the back, zipped up in a black plastic body bag, on a Gurney! Let me tell you, there's very little dignity when you die alone Foxy?