Why are people in care homes constantly treated like this?

[Mooooooooooooo]

If i were to whistleblow, I'd be doing it for every single care home.
Residents are constantly referred to as 'cute'. Why? They wouldn't be referred to in that way if they weren't elderly I bet.
Having their heads patted by carers.
Talk of 'favourites'.
We do have some absolutely lovely, endearing and sweet residents but still, they don't deserve to be patronised.
Talking about them in front of them thinking because they have dementia, they won't understand.
A nurse told me that a lady with dementia needs a wash because she 'stinks' even though she was right in front of me.
I know we have some residents who are very hard of hearing so you do have to shout, but sometimes there's a very bossy/rude tone from carers.
It's the case in many homes I've seen

My grandma used to talk about my grandpa right in front of him claiming "He's hard of hearing anyway" 😄It used to make us laugh. She adored him

I think it's a combination:

Low Pay and very low valued work.
Low staffing and poor supervision and training.
Complex high needs of service users, with no increase in staffing to account for this.
Compassion Fatigue, to a degree.

Thats not to say that all care homes or carers are awful, of course not.

The 15 hour shifts which are the norm in some homes are an absolute killer. 7am - 10pm. Emotionally draining work AND physically hard work.

15 hours and sometimes you’re so busy you work through your break.

Now I class myself as a kind and patient person but who…. who on this earth can provide a good standard of care when you’re in your 14th hour and you’re on your third consecutive 15 hour shift?

I mean maybe mother Theresa could manage it but the average person? Not a bloody chance. Modern day slave labour. I went in on a 22 hour contract but was begged to do overtime and nothing is ever enough.

Also, people just don’t want to do the job. It can be unpleasant dealing with a LOT of urine and feaces day in day out (and multiple times a day). Coupled with feeding and most people just want out, it’s incredibly strenuous on the back too.

I see camera's as a positive thing to be honest, they've backed me up on more than one occasion where something has happened and the automatic response has been that the carers did something wrong - and there's actual evidence that they didn't, that the event happened because of the symptoms of a person's illness, not because the staff can't be arsed, because of another residents behaviour that have needs above the resources provided, because of the fact that the members of staff on duty were all busy with other residents and so no, room 5 wasn't left for hours asking for the toilet, there weren't enough people to take them when they asked and they unfortunately, needed to wait, and unfortunately, carers cannot defy the laws of physics and be in two places at once. Or they were offered food, different choices, encouraged, assisted and they still chose not to eat because they didn't want to. That a carer sat with someone for 30 minutes trying to persuade them to take their medication and had it swiped out of their hands or thrown at them - and this was reported and recorded on multiple occasions, so it isn't a case of people left in pain because it's easier for the staff - while everyone else's medication is then delayed by that half an hour.

Let's face it, the phrase 'easier for the staff' is used very often, but if you really think about it it's more about what's realistically achievable with the resources present, and is actually 'it's cheaper for the provider'.
The standards can be the highest ever thought of, but they are absolutely meaningless if there's no investment in meeting them, without the resources they're not going to be met. And shouting at the carers isn't going to change that, it's been going on for decades and things are getting worse instead of better.
Of course there are good homes and good carers, as well as bad, but the bar is set by those at the top, not those at the bottom, if the bar is set at maximising profit then that's what will happen, despite the best efforts of the best carers in the world.

@Maverickess

Totally agree with everything you’ve just said.

You have a moral duty to those people to whistleblow each and every time you see something that's wrong. If you're seeing mistreatment and not reporting it then you're just as bad.

@Everydayisabadhairday

That is why people who feel that “moral duty” simply cannot work in care and have to leave the sector. OP sounds like one of these people, hence I would be suprised if she continues to work in the sector.

You would be whistle blowing on most homes.

Then that's what should be done.

And that leads right back to the problem imo, that caring for elderly, disabled and vulnerable people is not valued.
Because when you whistleblow as a carer you are ignored because you are unskilled, uneducated and can't do any better.
I know, I've done it 3 times - the differences that it achieved? I chose to get out.

@Everydayisabadhairday

Agreed. People whistle blow all the time, it’s very common place.

Problem is the likelihood of anything actually being done is incredibly slim.

Well this is a great motivator having come off a very tiring nightshift, my third in a row.

As with all jobs, you get some good and some not so good carers, but to tar everyone with the same brush is unfair.

Those of you who have a problem with terms of endearment, I wonder how you would balance it? You are asking people to be caring and to care for people as they would thier own family members (which is the no1 thing people say when looking around our home), but not too much in case its patronising. In the area I work in, its commonplace to call people 'duck', everyone says it. Our residents, the staff to each other etc. If thi is the worst thing that happens I cant get worked up over it.

As someone said upthread, no-one ever talks about carers unless its to bash us, yet they wouldnt do the job themselves.