More quotes.
"In long-term care, love matters. And the heart of the problem is institutions can't love." --Dr. Bill Thomas, nursing home reformer credited with inventing the Eden Alternative in long-term care. He said this while being interviewed on PBS's Newshour with Jim Lehrer about a new proposal called the Green House initiative that I mentioned in a previous post.
"We have a problem in politics in the United States -- we tend to talk with people who already agree with us." --Kathleen Hall Jamieson, of the Annenberg School of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, talking with Bill Moyers on the Bill Moyers Journal. I hope that after the horse race that is Election 2008 is over that whoever becomes the next president of the United States makes some serious effort - however Sisyphean - to reach out to those with radically different personal and political philosophies. This era of hyper-partisanship has gone on way too goddamned long, and it is time for a new era of bipartisanship that lasts 40 years (like the last one) or longer.
Oh yeah, and dada rules! Seriously, if you've never heard any of their songs, you have no idea what you're missing. Take a gander at their website, and have a listen to some of their tracks while you're there. You won't regret it.
Showing posts with label nursing home reform. Show all posts
Showing posts with label nursing home reform. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 6, 2008
Sunday, February 3, 2008
Facebook Migration
I am now in the process of closing my Facebook account, and will be posting links to the stories I had posted there to this blog. Not that I have an audience anyway, but hopefully, someday I shall.
For those of you who will be part of my future audience, I am doing this so that you all know what I really think about things, and to get people to finally respond to me. There is nothing worse than working for hours on something that nobody gives a shit enough about to actually provide feedback. So please, if you are reading any of this, post some goddamned comments, will ya?
The plan here is to post at least one link to a serious story and one not so serious link each blogpost until I run out of things to migrate over.
First, a little something from posted on Alternet , originally posted on In These Times. This one is makes the case that many nursing homes are privatizing in order to avoid regulatory oversight and avoid litigation, and the private owners cut operating costs by cutting staff, which in turn dangerously undermines care and safety of residents. It's well worth a read, especially if you have family members in a long-term care facility of some sort.
Next, on a similar note, a Newshour With Jim Lehrer report on the Green House project. Let's all work together to promote more personalized care for people, and prevent the warehousing of people in poorly run, poorly staffed, poorly maintained facilities which exist primarily to put millions of dollars of profit in the pockets of a few, already rich, businessmen.
Next, on a lighter note, I am posting this Youtube video of Hayley Westenra performing her song "Prayer". No, this does not mean I believe in God or prayer, just that I like the song. Enjoy!
Finally, something completely out of left field. [WARNING: Not safe for work!] I also encourage you to check out the transcript for the rest of Bill Maher's show here; I might not agree with everything he says, but I certainly respect the fact that he is very intelligent, always makes logical (if occasionally flawed) arguments, and is very, very funny. If you are wondering who Trace Adkins is, look no further. (He's also on the Celebrity Apprentice, go figure.)
That's it from me. Feel free to comment on any one of these items; honestly, what's the use of having friends if they won't talk with you?
For those of you who will be part of my future audience, I am doing this so that you all know what I really think about things, and to get people to finally respond to me. There is nothing worse than working for hours on something that nobody gives a shit enough about to actually provide feedback. So please, if you are reading any of this, post some goddamned comments, will ya?
The plan here is to post at least one link to a serious story and one not so serious link each blogpost until I run out of things to migrate over.
First, a little something from posted on Alternet , originally posted on In These Times. This one is makes the case that many nursing homes are privatizing in order to avoid regulatory oversight and avoid litigation, and the private owners cut operating costs by cutting staff, which in turn dangerously undermines care and safety of residents. It's well worth a read, especially if you have family members in a long-term care facility of some sort.
Next, on a similar note, a Newshour With Jim Lehrer report on the Green House project. Let's all work together to promote more personalized care for people, and prevent the warehousing of people in poorly run, poorly staffed, poorly maintained facilities which exist primarily to put millions of dollars of profit in the pockets of a few, already rich, businessmen.
Next, on a lighter note, I am posting this Youtube video of Hayley Westenra performing her song "Prayer". No, this does not mean I believe in God or prayer, just that I like the song. Enjoy!
Finally, something completely out of left field. [WARNING: Not safe for work!] I also encourage you to check out the transcript for the rest of Bill Maher's show here; I might not agree with everything he says, but I certainly respect the fact that he is very intelligent, always makes logical (if occasionally flawed) arguments, and is very, very funny. If you are wondering who Trace Adkins is, look no further. (He's also on the Celebrity Apprentice, go figure.)
That's it from me. Feel free to comment on any one of these items; honestly, what's the use of having friends if they won't talk with you?
Friday, October 26, 2007
School and advocacy
Today, I'm happy because I feel like I've actually accomplished something today. At least, I broke away from the depression enough to actually go outside. Of course, I also had class (Advanced Illness, Death, and Dying) in the evening too. It was a good class, too. It was all about cultural considerations, decision making process, and the nature of pediatric care in hospice and palliative care. There was a pretty good discussion going on too, as there usually is. Maybe I'll go for that palliative care minor after all.
God knows I really miss that aspect of nursing. I love speaking with patients and just listening to them. Sometimes, I'd get thanked just for being there and listening, which always touched me; just doing what comes naturally to me can actually make a person feel better, and even help with recovery! One time, I sat with a lady for about 20 minutes - this was at night, when I actually had more time - explaining what hospice care and palliative care entailed, and answering her questions about it. It was easier, since her husband had passed away under hospice care, so she was ready to talk about the possibility of trying it herself. She had inoperable, rapidly metastasizing cancer at that point, and was having a fair amount of pain from it; she knew she was dying and was more worried about being a burden on her family at that point. It was a good conversation, and afterwards I felt really good about accomplishing something that really helped someone out on a deeper level. That high lasted the rest of the shift, too.
On a different note, still no luck with finding that part-time nursing job yet, but I'm in no rush. Soon, I'm going to be immersed in doing research both for the paper due next Thursday and for the question and answer session Governor Rendell will be holding after his speech on health care reform tomorrow evening. I will, of course, bring up my pet cause. Hopefully, Governor Rendell provides good answers, and maybe we can start the ball rolling on nursing home reform (fingers crossed). With any luck, I'll be too busy to be depressed.
God knows I really miss that aspect of nursing. I love speaking with patients and just listening to them. Sometimes, I'd get thanked just for being there and listening, which always touched me; just doing what comes naturally to me can actually make a person feel better, and even help with recovery! One time, I sat with a lady for about 20 minutes - this was at night, when I actually had more time - explaining what hospice care and palliative care entailed, and answering her questions about it. It was easier, since her husband had passed away under hospice care, so she was ready to talk about the possibility of trying it herself. She had inoperable, rapidly metastasizing cancer at that point, and was having a fair amount of pain from it; she knew she was dying and was more worried about being a burden on her family at that point. It was a good conversation, and afterwards I felt really good about accomplishing something that really helped someone out on a deeper level. That high lasted the rest of the shift, too.
On a different note, still no luck with finding that part-time nursing job yet, but I'm in no rush. Soon, I'm going to be immersed in doing research both for the paper due next Thursday and for the question and answer session Governor Rendell will be holding after his speech on health care reform tomorrow evening. I will, of course, bring up my pet cause. Hopefully, Governor Rendell provides good answers, and maybe we can start the ball rolling on nursing home reform (fingers crossed). With any luck, I'll be too busy to be depressed.
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