I worked at nursing homes early in my nursing career and I have to agree with you about the conditions.
What has happened around here, IMHO, is that when places want to reduce costs, they cut direct care staff. Its easy, just puts the burden on the remaining caregivers.
Who suffers? The patient and the family.
But thats ok, as long as the $$$$ keeps rolling in.
The daughter of a friend recently got her certification, or whatever you call it, as a LPN, and she worked for a few months at a nursing home after her training . She had to quit because whe couldn't stand to see sick old people treated the way they are in those places.
She said that what goes on at night after there are no relatives or other visitors around was too much for her to take. If it's worse than what I saw during visiting time it must really be awful.