nursing homes are not nut houses

this could very likely be the title of my next book! why is it that the general population believes that nursing homes are old people's prisons or nut houses? i am being serious...would someone please help me! now i realize that if you do not work in a certain environment then you are unfamiliar with the inner workings of that environment...what brings this topic up is that i have been wearing an additional hat this week - that would be admissions director...this means that i get to look at all referrals and filter through them - now there is nothing really different about this because all referrals have to come through me first anyway...but oh my goodness - i have never in my life seen so many crazy insane referrals...i received 10 referrals between monday and wednesday...here is the mix i got...homeless man found unconsious in an alley, a man three months out of federal prison, man who tested positive for cocaine and barbituates, man who is actively suicidal, man who has escaped the hospital 5 times in one stay, man who is wanting to kill his wife....need i go on...this is proof that strange things happen when the moon is full!

now i would like to enlighten others about "nursing homes"...i cannot speak for all nursing homes, but i can speak of the "living center" that i work for now...our home does not smell, we have two weenie dogs, bubba joe and sissy lynn that live there, we go out to eat, we have lots of activites that are not coloring books, we have birds that live there, our residents do community service projects, and much more...

yes we have residents who are very sick and we have some that are mentally ill but it is not a prison or a nut house...i would encourage everyone to visit a nursing home, skilled nursing facility, living center or whatever you call it and see how different it is now than the picture you might have in your mind....