Important perspectives for the nursing home staff.

Having my mother in a nursing home for seven years and a brother on hyperal feeding and dialysis for eight years gave me an opportunity to gain insight into nursing care from a unique perspective. Those were two people whom I loved dearly.

My mom, Emma, lived to be 971/2 and was alert and fiercely independent to the end, even though there were many times she was weak and very sick.

My brother, Lawrence, had virtually all of his intestines removed because of gangrene. He could gain his proper nutrition only through intravenous hyperal feeding, even though he atelike a starved pet. Complications had affected his kidneys as well. He was forced to have dialysis three times a week for his remaining five-and-one-half years. He died at 72.

The impact on me in sharing the pain, suffering, and frustrations of my loved ones has been pro found. I have a burden to share my insights into the care of the aged and infirm from a perspective that is relatively different from a nursing home employee. I don't claim to know it all, but there should be some beneficial gleanings here for nursing home staff.

At times, I marveled at the skill, patience, and dedication of the nursing home staff and their aides. At other times, I was appalled at the insensitivity, indifference, and -sad to say -incompetence of the staff .

My mother, like most nursing home patients, did not want to leave …