StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

Phenomenon of Nursing Homes in the USA - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The research subject of my essay is a phenomenon of nursing homes in the USA, therefore the issue I want primarily to focus on is their social status, historical origin and current position within our society. Since every notion requires an appropriate definition, I suppose it is rather pertinent to present some interpretations…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER97.5% of users find it useful
Phenomenon of Nursing Homes in the USA
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "Phenomenon of Nursing Homes in the USA"

The research of my essay is a phenomenon of nursing homes in the USA, therefore the issue I want primarily to focus on is their social status, historical origin and current position within our society. Since every notion requires an appropriate definition, I suppose it is rather pertinent to present some interpretations. These are quite similar, however in order to get the fuller appreciation of idea of nursing homes it is better not to narrow down to only one definition. In summary, a nursing home is: - “a convalescent home or private facility for the care of individuals who do not require hospitalization and who cannot be cared for at home” [www.cwru.edu/med/epidbio/mphp439/Dictionary.

htm ] - “a nursing home is an establishment with three or more beds that provides nursing or personal care services to the older population, infirm, or chronically ill ( definition of the National Nursing Home Survey) [www.cwru.edu/med/epidbio/mphp439/Dictionary.htm] - “a residence that provides a variety of services such as a room, meals, recreational activities, assistance with activities of daily living and protection/supervision to residents; some are licensed by the state and are required to follow state and federal regulations.

Some nursing homes specialize in areas such as Alzheimerís disease, pain management, incontinence training and cardiac rehab” [www.mynursinghomes.com/glossary.cfm] - “a place where persons reside who need some level of medical assistance and/or assistance with activities of daily living. A term used to cover a wide range of institutions including Skilled Nursing Facilities, Intermediate Care Facilities, and Custodial Care Facilities.

Not all nursing homes are Medicare approved/certified facilities” [www.in.gov/fssa/community/glossary1.html] The relevance of nursing homes issue is worth mentioning and bringing into discussion, I assume, since alone the fact that “there are about 25,000 nursing homes with about 1.5 million beds” nowadays [Patel, 17], at that approximately 75 percent of them proprietary, 20 percent non-profit, and 5 percent government-operated),serves as an evidence thereof.

Another statistical data claims that presently about 4 out of 100 adults who are 65 years old or older live in nursing homes [Couper, Lapham]. Among the other key terms of the research the following are to be mentioned: ethical status (social image), historical background, regulation, residents, and medical care. Nursing homes are viewed once in a while as disanimating establishments flagging the spirits, as a “final abode”. “They remind us of our own mortality and of the inevitable time when most of us will face the frailty, ailments, and incapacities of old age.

” [Boyle]. However, the fact that nursing homes provide shelter and are actually essential places to which exhausted families turn when they cant manage at home and when adequate community support is unavailable or unavailing, still has its right to exist. For some potential residents, too, moving to a nursing home represents escape from the seclusion, loneliness, and gloomy prospects of a solitary house or apartment. Placement into such establishment implies the return to a “social setting and a community of care and concern” [Dallas, 48].

Except on occasions, I personally tend to think that family rejection of the elderly is merely not the primary pattern in the United States. The ordinary nursing home placement is that case when family members can be utterly seeking for institutional care as a result of own somewhat poor care-giving capacities etc. Cultural image of nursing homes actually “works upon” their ethical status.

To the understandable disappointment of either the researchers in this field or their staffs representatives, the widespread image of nursing homes is often contradicts the major facts about the frail elderly and their care. For the broader cultural aspect, nursing homes still connotate to notions of neglect or leaving behind, still bearing the shadow of their "poorhouse" bygone and the pre-Social Security display of the elderly as an impecunious, dependent and socially stricken group. Some statistic data claims that the annual cost per resident in nursing homes amounts to an average of $28,000 in the north-eastern states to $20,000 in the south.

About 51 percent of these costs are paid straightforwardly by the elderly and their relatives; thereat Medicaid covers about 44 percent, Medicare less than 2 percent, private insurance is about 1 percent, and other government sources provide the rest of sum. Policy makers and regulators should probably establish stable guiding principles for suitable practice, as well as providing motivation for effective and ingenious innovations in individual nursing homes. This means that the local administrators in their turn should be in much closer connexion with regulators so that they can coordinate particular practices that are acceptable within those broader guidelines References Collopy, B.

, Boyle, P., & Jennings, B. (1991). New Directions in Nursing Home Ethics. The Hastings Center Report, 21(2), 1+. Retrieved from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5002166282 Couper, D. P., & Lapham, S. S. (2002). Aging in America. Social Education, 66(5), M16. Retrieved from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=5000830214 High, Dallas. (1988). All in the Family: Extended Autonomy and Exceptions in Surrogate Health Care Decisionmaking.

The Gerontologist 28, supplement: 46-51. Patel, K., & Rushefsky, M. E. (1995). Health Care Politics and Policy in America. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe. Retrieved from Questia database: http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=93933506

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“Phenomenon of Nursing Homes in the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words”, n.d.)
Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/nursing/1535081-phenomenon-of-nursing-homes-in-the-usa
(Phenomenon of Nursing Homes in the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words)
https://studentshare.org/nursing/1535081-phenomenon-of-nursing-homes-in-the-usa.
“Phenomenon of Nursing Homes in the USA Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/nursing/1535081-phenomenon-of-nursing-homes-in-the-usa.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF Phenomenon of Nursing Homes in the USA

Concept Analysis Paper: Pain Management

For individuals with chronic and terminal ailments, living permanently in nursing homes, it has been discovered that professional training in pain coping skills was beneficial in alleviating symptoms and increasing tolerance (Hyer et al, 2009).... Pain management skills are an essential component of good nursing practice, especially for patients with grievous injuries, those in recovery stage after surgery for chronic and neoplastic disorders.... Terminally ill patients with multiple organ failure, cancer and immunodeficiency diseases such as AIDS need special palliative nursing care over a prolonged period, in the clinical setting as well as at home....
3 Pages (750 words) Essay

Watsons Theory of Caring

The Carative Factors According to the work named ‘the theory of human caring: retrospective and prospective' published in Nursing Science Quarterly in the year 1997 by Watson (1997), carative factors should be considered as the guidelines towards the very basis of nursing.... According to the scholar, the traditional medicine considers curative factors as the main function of nursing, and hence, she developed the term ‘carative' factors to point out that the core of nursing is not in cure; but in care....
6 Pages (1500 words) Essay

Graduate Nurse Experience

According to Dussault (2001) in Canada, decline in nursing staff has been observed since the beginning of 1990 (p.... By conducting this research I also attempt to come up with recommendations on how the negative experiences can be mitigated to retain the nursing staff.... By using the perspective of Parse's Human Becoming Theory I hope to be able to make sense of such nursing experiences and hope to apply them in a practical way.... The use of qualitative research is appropriate since it helps in gaining a better understanding of an existing phenomenon....
10 Pages (2500 words) Essay

Indispensable Role of Nurses in Healthcare

The field of nursing deals with the caring of people of all ages, families, groups and communities, sick or well and in all settings.... According to International College of nursing (ICN), nursing also aids in various other aspects of health care setting including promotion of a safe environment, research and development, participation in shaping health policy and in patient and health systems management, and preparation of educational materials.... However, this was followed by dark period of nursing where illiterate and ignorant women were delivering crude and unsatisfactory nursing services to sick and needy people....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Concept analys

A history of nursing ideas.... Encyclopedia of nursing research.... usa: Jones and Bartlett.... usa: University of Alabama.... usa: Springer.... usa: Wolters Kluwer Health.... They produce ideas with connections from thoughts that become Concept Analysis in nursing Practice Concept Analysis in nursing Practice People have been studying to contribute more in the society....
2 Pages (500 words) Assignment

Contribution of Man to Global Climate Change

The burning of fossil fuels is not a natural phenomenon; it is a process As such the human activities on the environment have direct and indirect impact on climate change.... It is a trend that is continuing and can be attributed to human activities.... The global climate change is, therefore, man-made....
5 Pages (1250 words) Research Paper

Incontinence as a Health Issue among the Aging Population

On the other hand, while taking the elderly to resident nursing homes is prevalent in the modern society, it is still important for the family members to visit them regularly since this help to prevent them from falling into depression due to the embarrassment they face as a result of embattling bowel or urine incontinence.... This has helped to avoid a situation where the elderly are taken to retirement homes or hospices....
14 Pages (3500 words) Essay

Combustion, Effects of Enclosure Temperatures on Fire Growth, Fire Development by Flowing through the Openings

"Combustion, Effects of Enclosure Temperatures on Fire Growth, Fire Development by Flowing through the Openings" paper is simplified to a general exposition of the process of combustion, covering a qualitative description of the fire development in an environment and its effects on the enclosure....
10 Pages (2500 words) Coursework
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us