I wanted to make extra money and I’ve only ever been a housewife.
I took a job at a retirement home and was so excited, I like old folk and cleaning is my thang.
I made it one day. It was disgustingly evil in my thinking.
The girl[s] ‘training’ me were terrible cold and lacking heart as I see/saw it.
There was a lady who screamed and hollered, and legally we couldn’t touch them. It broke my heart.
She wanted to eat and I could not feed her, we had to get a CNA to do this and they weren’t too enthusiastic.
It seemed my trying to get attention for her was an issue. I treat my whining pups better than these seniors were treated.
Another lady was parked in front of the dining room, just left there—hunched WAY over— supposedly because after lunch there was BINGO and she LOVED BINGO. I was chided for wishing to help.
I can’t imagine that was good for her spine. I’m just regular people but that didn’t seem healthy, to me, and I couldn’t touch/help her. Drove me out of my skin.
My breaking point was when a fella passed away. The girls took turns going into the room and coming out laughing, then asked and condemned me when I would wouldn’t go in for a giggle.
They didn’t seem to understand my opinion that he deserved respect, even if he “isn’t there” as they told me. They told me I was scared. I wasn’t, their game was just sick and twisted.
At lunch the girls played a peacock calling on their cell-phone and told me that was the lady screaming for lunch.
I admit, it did sound like her—help, me...help.
I don’t know...I just know with every fiber of my being that my mother and Aunt will NEVER land in one of those places!
Add to that they loved Spanish and when I said I didn’t speak it, they told me I would and I would understand it if I wanted anything done from laundry.
Terrible, terrible ...
If you have a family member in a retirement home—pay CLOSE attention because some of these folks really have no heart.
Very sad story. I pray to God I never have to be put into such a place.
My mother used to always tell her kids that she would come back to haunt us if we ever put her in a home. We had to put her in a rehab center after she broke her hip. They were all elderly there, and it just killed us even though she was there for only about a month. We arranged our schedules so that one of us was with her almost all of the time from 8 am to 8 pm.
Most of the help there was not at all impressive. Plus they had male nurses taking care of the elderly women, and we girls did not like that at all.
After she got out, we sisters took turns going to her house to care for her for about 10 months until she passed away.