Writing into the Day: Alzheimer's Patients

In the book "Nickel and Dimed", Ehrenreich raises the issue regarding the treatment of patients in nursing homes. While working at a nursing home, Ehrenreich serves patients with Alzheimer's disease, and notices that there could be several flaws in her occupation. Ehrenreich realizes that it would not be difficult for a nurse to make a life-threatening mistake that would harm patients with Alzheimer's disease. Ehrenreich even provides information that supports her point of view in the text: "A report issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services in July 2000 found most nursing homes dangerously understaffed, especially profit-making nursing homes, such as the one where I worked. Among the consequences of understaffing, according to the report, are increases in preventable problems like severe bedsores, malnutrition, dehydration, congestive heart failure, and infections" (40). Ehrenreich ultimately suggests that there are great risks involved in treating patients at nursing homes. She even suggests that her patients may not have been treated properly by other nurses, because they nurses are typically more concerned about getting paid than the condition of the home/patients.  There are also several reports from other sources  that claim that many other nursing homes do not care for their patients properly either. For instance, there have been some cases in which patients with Alzheimer's Disease have been provided with too much medication. It seems that nurses treat their patients'  outbursts by providing them with more medication, rather than attending to patients' specific needs. In one case, the DeLeon family in California became disturbed when they learned that their relative with Alzheimer's disease was provided with too much medication. This victim's relatives noticed that she was exhibiting odd behavior, even for a patient with Alzheimer's disease. According to her son-in-law, "But they [nurses] just kept giving her more and more...and I noticed when I used to go see her, she'd just kind of mumble, like she was lost" ("Old And Overmedicated: The Real Drug Problem In Nursing Homes"). It personally disturbs me that nurses have been reduced to providing their patients with medication, in order to solve "discomfort". I do not believe that this is a natural process, and firmly believe that nurses should be attending to their patients' needs themselves. People with Alzheimer's Disease may experience mental deterioration, however they are still human beings who deserve respect. Perhaps if the nurses did not rely so much on medication, we would actually be closer to finding a cure to Alzheimer's Disease. However it seems like we are nowhere close to finding a cure, and patients are constantly drugged by nurses, right in front of our eyes.