TREATED
DYING PERSON with RESPECT
"As long as
somebody was there with [my father], it was fine. And the minute
we left, then he was about totally ignored. I went [out] for
lunch one day…and came back and they had him in the hall,
strapped in a chair, completely slumped over. And, evidently,
he had, he had tried to get out of bed or something and they
didn't, they were busy and they didn't feel like they had time
to watch him. But he was not properly clothed, and my opinion
was at that point they saw him as nothing but an old man. And
we had that same experience in the emergency room. And, which
was, you know, that was kind of upsetting to see… When
the people from the home were there, from the assisted living
care facility, when they were there, everything was fine. But
the minute somebody was not there in the room with him, then
the care very definitely was less acceptable."
-daughter
of a man in his 80s with cancer
"I felt like they cared for her like she was just a thing.
…Like two of [the nursing assistants] would come in, and
they would talk to themselves. I mean they were talking about
their day and not talking to her. And she wasn't real responsive,
but she'd talk to me all the time and she'd talk to my sister
all the time. And she would talk if she was talked to in a,
you know, in a caring way. But it was like they would talk about
their dates or their families or- like she was a non-entity.
I mean it was frustrating."
-niece
of a woman in her 80s with heart disease
