Despite the abuse scandals, the vast majority of nursing home residents are given excellent care, writes TADHG DALY
PRESIDENT MARY McAleese spoke to residents, staff and nursing home owners at the inaugural Nursing Homes Ireland (NHI) Care Awards in 2010 and referred to the “heart-breaking” neglect and abuse scandals of recent years.
“For those who take the vocation as seriously as you do, there must have been days when morale was dented,” the President told her audience. “But you are the people who set the standards that do not falter, who deliver the first-class care we would all want for ourselves if we were the service users.”
Her words apply to the vast majority of people working within nursing home settings delivering first-class care on a daily basis. The audience had gathered to celebrate the NHI Care Awards and those whose special vocation is the care of 20,000 older people living in NHI-member nursing homes.
“They and their families rely on people like our nominees to create a ‘home from home’, a place where they are nurtured, safe, contented, respected, treated with dignity, where they can socialise, make friends, learn new skills, practise old talents and live life to the fullest possible in a trusted place among trusted people,” President McAleese said.
That “home from home” is being provided to 27,000 of our most vulnerable citizens in nearly 600 nursing homes (public, private and voluntary) by more than 30,000 caring, committed and professional staff.
Care goes beyond professional duties. Nursing home staff are friends and confidants – they laugh with residents, provide comfort, share stories, listen, form friendships, engage in activities and teach new skills. These people don’t make the headlines.
Choosing to move to a nursing home is a positive choice. It opens a new lease of life to people in need of continuous care and support. It provides comfort and reassurance to relatives and friends who are no longer in a position to provide the 24-hour specialist care nursing homes provide.
Homes are hubs of activity and allow residents live independently, pursue their favourite pastimes, learn new skills, and accommodate family and friends. They are happy, homely and community environments. Schedules of activities provide mental and physical stimulation, while ensuring residents interact and have fun.
In Irish life and communities, nursing homes play crucial roles. A nursing home is often right at the heart of the community. Part of the crucial role it plays is the employment and contribution it makes to the local economy.
But mainly its importance is to the residents who live there and to the community who know the staff and the nursing home. They know that it really is a home and they are the building blocks of vibrant, active engaging communities.
Nursing homes and nursing home staff are an integral part of the Irish healthcare sector. They provide some of our most vulnerable residents with continuous support and care to allow them live a happy and fulfilling life.
Nursing homes play a critical role in meeting our population’s healthcare needs. Along with services such as those provided in home care, our sector plays a lead role in meeting the demands and needs of an increasing ageing population and some of society’s most vulnerable citizens. It is the central component in the delivery of a wide range of care services that are required to meet the residents’ needs.
It complements and facilitates the services provided by professionals such as GPs, occupational therapists, dietitians, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, and other medical and care professionals. All are accommodated in a homely, dedicated, caring and specialised environment.
The complex medical and continuing care needs of nursing home residents are delivered by qualified medical, nursing, care and other specialist staff in a home-from-home environment that fosters a great sense of community.
The nursing home sector is now, arguably, the most highly regulated healthcare provider, as it should be. Stringent regulation is something Nursing Homes Ireland has worked towards and welcomed. Such measures bring greater reassurance to residents and relatives, but the unacceptable stories that have emerged from a very small minority of homes have caused anxiety and concern.
This November, Nursing Homes Ireland will once again go beyond the headlines and acknowledge the very positive practices in our member nursing homes around the State. The NHI Care Awards 2011 has seen almost 200 people nominated in honour of the professional and dedicated care that is being delivered and in recognition of the role of the nursing home in the community.
The spotlight will fall on those creating the home from home; those who are opening up a new lease of life to people in our society who deserve the continuing care and attention nursing homes across the State provide.
NHI and our members are inspired and committed to make a difference to the lives of nursing home residents. The valuable, essential care they provide is of critical importance to a society that is increasing in population and age. It goes beyond the headlines and is a reality in hundreds of Irish communities.
Tadhg Daly is chief executive of Nursing Homes Ireland, nhi.ie
