My memories of a nurse which constituted Elder Abuse.

Before I write another word, let me very clear I'm not out to hang any nursing home or institution .I just intend to bring out into the public domain practices in Care of the Elderly Nursing Homes that I've worked in since 2006 that I found to be abusive and demeaning to the elderly . Let me now state that I have no finiantial reasons for doing this, put simply, my only desire is that the elderly people in our society be treated with the respect they so deserve.I have almost 26 years nursing experience behind me,16 in paediatrics, the rest in care of the elderly. The experience I've gained is both through agency nursing and as an Assistant Director of Nursing. The most concerning issue I have is that the HSE inspectors passed all of these homes on each inspection as 'generally compliant' and deserving of continued practice.

In one particular Southside private Nursing Home the HSE inspectors walked past seven elderly people tied to their armchairs by broken belts and failed to notice this horrific abuse.


Home 'A': approx 8 residents in their eighties and nineties being gotten out of their beds before 6am to feed them porraige., this was to ensure they were fed before the day staff came on. 28 residents being cared for at night in a three story building by 1 nurse and 1 care attendant. In one horrific case I came on duty to be told one of the ladies had died earlier that day, at approx 18:00 hrs. When I went to check on her body which had been left in the 7 bedded room behind closed curtains, I found her still sitting up in bed, propped up by pillows, and rigor mortis had set in. The day nurse hadn't had a chance to lie her down or straighten up her hands and feet, or close her eyes. I won't go into the detail of the difficulties the undertakers had in getting her into the coffin.

Home 'B', a nurse and an attendant to look after 32 residents, 5 very confused, 18 needing intensive care, and and the rest left to fend for themselves because the nurse was stuck with the heavy dependency residents. When I complained and stated this was complicit with elder abuse, I was told by my nursing agency to shut up if I wanted to keep getting work. A very frail 90 year old man fell and broke his leg because there weren't enough staff to watch him as well as the other 31. He normally lived with his family, and they cared for him very well. He was taken into the unit to give them a break. A broken leg at this age can cause serious problems due to surgery,immobility and loss of autonomy.

Home 'C': Eight residents tied to chairs by thin belts. The armchairs had the belts looped through the arms of the chairs, and then knotted around the waist of each resident. I managed to stop this practice by threatening to inform the HSE social workers. Already there have been deaths from this form of restraint, but chest and underarm injuries are most common injuries sustained. But besides the injuries - what about dignity?. Would you like your mother or father tied up?.

Home 'D': Residents put back to bed at 13:30hrs after only being gotten up at 10am. This means out of 24 hours, the resident spent 20.5 lying in bed. No social contact, no stimulation, no meaningful existance. If the families called they were told the resident was 'tired' or 'doesn't feel well'. The reason for putting them back to bed was because there were less staff on duty in the evenings, cost cutting of course. In this particular home there were usually 7 staff to look after 40 residents in the morning. From 2pm onwards, there were 4. One also had to do the laundry from 12midday to six pm. To put this in perspective - the HSE institution I work in has 6 staff to 25 people - and on the wards with these ratios, it's considered very busy.

Home ' E'; A seventy year old lady with advanced alzymers in need one member of staff to stay with her constantly because she was extreamly confused and disorientated, being new to the unit. The Manager assured her very relieved family that she would be well taken care of.The woman was then put in the care of very stressed out nurses who couldn't cope with her needs and certainly couldn't stay with her - three members of staff looking after twenty eight residents made one to one care impossible. The result?, a woman with dementia who cried loudly all day and night. The other residents were totally freaked out.

There are many other examples which I will add to here when I get the time, and also with this forum being made available to the public, I'll add their stories also.

For years I couldn't say anything if I wanted to keep working. As an agency nurse I had to keep my mouth shut even when I saw situations that were degrading and abusive.

The only reason I can now speak out is because I've been employed by the HSE, and my job is secure.Otherwise I'd have to be like other nurses, I'd have to 'tow the line' and hope I could make a difference in some way, or put up with the abuse.

How many nurses like me are complicit with elder abuse because they've no other choice, speak out and get no more work - or continue working and hope in some way to make a difference?.