According to the News Journal1 , Dean C. Reid has resigned as administrator of the Delaware Veterans Home in Milford.
The Veteran’s Home 2 has been open3 for just a little over 2 years and it has been struggling ever since. I remember that within months of opening, there were troubles about the bed being filled too slowly and about insufficient services for the veterans. The News Journal writes that
“ A year later, more than 20 deficiencies were detected by investigators, who cited the home for failing to report or thoroughly investigate allegations of patient mistreatment and resident abuse.”
Who is to blame for resident abuse? The administration? Insufficient screening and training of those working there? I remember being very excited when the home opened and would love to work there – reading this really makes me sad. The article goes on to state that
“An inspection in December 2008 found, among other deficiencies, maggots inside a pressure wound in the heel of a resident whose dressing had not been changed in days.”
I hope EACH AND EVERY NURSE INVOLVED IN THE CARE OF THAT PATIENT WAS FIRED! Carrying for the elderly and the disabled takes special kind of people – people that care deeply about doing a good job and that take pride in their work. Is the home doing anything to foster that kind of care and pride? Are they screening carefully whom they hire?
“.. no other employees were expected to lose their jobs.”
That is the problem – so we keep the people that aren’t giving the care they need to give but make the administrator leave. It’s not only the “higher ups” that are the problem – though they are a big part of it — it’s each and every person involved in the care for/of the Veteran’s at that home. I have simply NO patience for ignorant and uncaring individuals like that. Just what is a good excuse for not changing someones bandages? If I worked in a place like that and saw mistreatment, I’d rather loose my job by speaking up then allowing this kind of treatment to happen. Why? Because I take pride in calling myself a Human Services Worker – because I am proud to have a Bachelors degree in Behavioral Sciences and do plan on going further with it, and because I have done it before – I have seen individuals not getting the care and respect they need and I stood in the way of it and stood up for my client, and it cost me my job – but to me, it was fully worth it. I feel sad for those individuals that will not get that kind of attention from me now, but I know I did the right thing, and I can live with that. I know that clients that received services from the organization I worked for before I started there, came up to me and told me that I did a lot more then the person before me. That they appreciated the fact that I cared and tried to help as much as I could, and that I didn’t just sit at my desk with my feet up – something I heard the person before me did — a lot. To them it mattered that I made calls and tried to find resources for them even if the chance of finding them was almost zero – I still tried.
Let’s hope that Veteran’s in the State of Delaware will receive better care in the future and that the change on the top will trickle down to necessary changes on the bottom of the food chain as well – until all the staff is dedicated to their jobs and takes pride in what they do. And one day I hope to be able to work there as case worker or such – that would be awesome.
