Usually,whenever medical emergencies arise, we do not have the time nor the skills to provide twenty-four hour care for our family members. Forty years ago, if a parent, sibling or friend was stricken by a sudden illness, the entire community to come together in a effort to lend a helping hand with meals and bathing. However, today, with our busy corporate lifestyles, many parents are left to either care for themselves or shuffled off to live out the rest of their days in assisted living facilities and nursing homes. Hospitals, hospice, nursing homes and group homes, have become our first source for help whenever a loved one becomes terminally ill, incapacitated, or born disabled.

It is estimated that roughly 49% of Americans do not have any form of medical insurance. This means, they will spend countless hours having to fill out forms, in an effort to get help from charitable organizations, and the medical community; only to be turned down. The most common reasons will be limited services, long waiting lists, lack of funding, a decrease in public donations,and tighter regulations from insurance companies including, Medicaid, Medicare.This alone makes it almost impossible for anyone to get good ,quality, twenty-four hour care when they need it! If allowed to continue, this all to real, scenario will cause us to make costly mistakes. Tired and strained from worry, we will most likely jump at the first chance to place our family member into any group home, nursing home and institution, should a bed be made available. What is even more disconcerting, is that the clean corporate Einsteins' running these healthcare facilities want us to believe that we have to accept this limited way of doing business, along with the poor quality of care they offer.

Regardless of the reasons, placing a loved one into a medical facility is painful and many times it will be the only option. It's a decision that should be made after careful planning, not because we feel pressured by well meaning friends or the medical community. Doctors, nurses and hospice will often be the first to suggest the idea of long-term care and then tell us afterwards to go easy on ourselves if we start to feel guilty because many other people have had to do the same thing. Consequentially, by listening to their advice and trusting them with our family members, we can convince ourselves that we have entered into a win-win situation. After all, they are being looked after, we sleep at night knowing they are in capable hands, and we get to protect our source of income by working. However if we take the time to examine what is being offered as today's normal standard of care, we would begin to understand the dangers linked with trusting strangers to care for family members. Assuming they are safe can be misleading. Many times, it is the exact opposite since nursing home, group homes and institutions struggle with hiring qualified people. Many of the workers hired today have a criminal past filled with misdemeanors, and violent felonies. According to an article released in a Colorado newspaper in 2004, prisons and probation offices have made verbal and written agreements to hire their parolees'. Each employee is worth incentives up to $2,400 and a new insurance policy, just to hire them, and they are flooding healthcare gates. By ignoring their past criminal histories, health care facilities are enabling newly released prolees' access to all kinds of things like patient medication,personal items of value and victims. Almost daily, somewhere across the nation, there are stories in both regional and national newspapers pointing the finger and citing the most recent arrests for rape, assault, theft, molestation, physical abuse and murder.

Since when has this topic become such a problem? Has it always existed or are we just now paying attention because media and patient advocates have finally decided "enough is enough." Thanks to television shows like 20/20, 60 minutes, and America's Most wanted child abuse issues have been brought to the forefront.Yet, no one has taken the time to investigate the neglected patients in our nursing homes. Because of the relentless efforts of victims families, recent legislation has demanded that fingerprinting be made mandatory in childcare facilities and nursing homes are slowly catching on by insisting on background checks as well.Their efforts make it look that they are at least trying to care for their patients. But if anyone turned on the light of truth in any of these somber organizations, the administrators would be forced to scatter like cockroaches.

Sociologists agree that crime increases whenever there is a lack of education, social structure, drug abuse and alcohol abuse. That in turns results in violence, lack of empathy and crime. If we believe that this statement hold any element of truth than why are we employing people that have already demonstrated their inability to grasp the damaging effects their actions have on society? And, most importantly,why do we trust them to care for the most precious members of our family while paying them a wage?

Whenever I look back over Michael's life, I can see that my experience was no different than anyone else. I reached out believing that our healthcare system was safe,efficient, and reliable, along with the people in it. Later, after Michael was laid to rest, I had plenty of time to reflect about what really happened, the reasons why he died, and how the people in our healthcare system failed him. Michael's book "Living In A Place Called Beautiful; Abuse and Death In Healthcare by Brooke Jennings is available in audio book, paperback and e-book thru http://www.authorsden.com/jenn1 Proceeds help support the Faith Foundation, who's mission is public awareness and education regarding caregiver abuse.

Brooke Jennings is a woman who is passionate about educating the public regarding nursing home abuse/negligence. Since the death of her son, Michael, she has been active in rallying supporters for The Faith Foundation (fighting abuse in today’s healthcare), and helping to change healthcare regulations regarding the housing and hiring of ex-felons, sex abusers and rapists in our medical facilities. Currently, she resides in Nevada with her husband and three cats.

Article Source: EzineArticles.com