Comments on: N.C. Patient Dies While Staff Plays Cards

Video Shows Man Choking On Medication While Nurses Stood Nearby; State Mental Hospital May Lose Federal Funding Over Incident

[ausus-2009]

I note that the contributors to this discussion include those anxious to blame the GOP for this fiasco. In 14 pages of comment, not one person has noted that in North Carolina the Governor and Lieutenant Governor are Democrats, and it is a State institution. I guess that would spoil their argument.

[cbsfan73]

God Bless You, Dr. Kevorkian - Kurt Vonnegut

[barbaram99]

Tucker,
I hope to never see the insides of a nusring home as it is pitiful and really feel for them that are robbed of their mind it is a pity. Ye have every right to never be placed in them. I don''t mean to be cold but it be best if they died rather than sit in a place and say who are ye to a love one. That has to be the most painful watching them robbed of who they are. It be more humaned to put them to sleep as they can''t ''member and end the pain they suffer.

[cbsfan73]

It''s a shame that people cannot be trusted to do the right thing. It''s also a shame that the people hired have no compassion.

They best way is to install high quality audio and video recording equipment throughout the hospital and have an independent team review the media for compliance.

There could also be computerized service reminders that would require biometric acknowledgment from caregivers.

I think a employee would think twice about how they dealt with patients if they knew everything was being recorded.

[cbsfan73]

Hiring someone based on their race is discrimination in the purest form, for it discriminates against education and or experience.

Affirmative action is a negative and diminishes society.

[cbsfan73]

I once knew a guy in the road construction business that won a government contract. The contract specified that he would have to hire one African American based on demographics.

After numerous mistakes, including running over a chainsaw with a dump truck, the guy set the African American in the dump truck and told him that his sole responsibility was to listen to the radio all day long. Nothing else.

America needs to end affirmative action in order to move forward and improve the quality of life for everyone. Diversity is just another word for appeasement.

[cbsfan73]

Remarkor wrote:
"The problem is the usual healthcare problem. They don''''t have enough money to hire quality people, so they get these losers that have no work ethic."

If they are getting federal funding, they have to hire a certain number of minorities based on demographics.

Many employers will hire minorities regardless of whether they are qualified or not because of the following reasons:

1. If they don''t, they could lose funding
2. If they don''t, they could be sued for discrimination

Most employers don''t want to take this chance or waste time in court trying to justify hiring.

Damned if they do, damned if they don''t.

End affirmative action now!

[joe_transit]

The Parkway Nursing Home in Trenton NJ has a worse staff, my mom left in a corner chair slumped over and badly bruised but she did not die, we found her better care, so I guess they don''t get two weeks to clean up their act. Funds still roll in. These places need to be burnt to the ground, the staff should be sitting behind bars.

[cbsfan73]

tuckerndfw wrote:
"I will not allow my family to suffer the torment from taking care of a parent/grandparent with altzheimer''''s."

I have a friend going through it now with his mom. If these greedy s.o.b.s that are supposed to be representing the citizens of this country would spend money on medical research instead of on wars, this disease along with cancer and diabetes could be conquered.

[erb0087]

RE: "I dont see what the big deal is, its just some lesser form of life."
- Posted by gop_forever at 02:30 PM : Aug 19, 2008

That sentiment sounds so much more forceful in the original German of Mein Kampf.

So many famous quotes get watered down in translation.

[raneknight]

The problem goes alot deeper than just the wages, what decent person could stand by and do nothing while another person died? Moral character is a trait that is sadly lacking in today''s society.

[dtla1730]

"Hospital officials have about two weeks to develop an improvement plan and try to persuade federal officials to continue providing funds."

Ooooo...an IMPROVEMENT PLAN! That''ll teach hospital staff not to ignore patients until they''re dead.

*smirk*

[gwtwboofy]

gop-forever, I will not copy and paste your atroicus comment becaue I don''t want to give you any more ''ame'' than you''ve already gotten from the other posters who unknowingly did so. This I will say to you though~in my opinion you are a sad, sick person. To say something so discrimatory and downright cruel shows that you had no proper upbringing and must have suffered God only knows what kind of abuse. Surely only that could have filled you with the hate and inhuman manner that you have. I certainly hope you nor a loved one ever is diagnosed with a mental illness because of the cruelty of your words. Although, anyone who would say something like that, IS the one who is a lesser person and terribly mentally ill.

[midwayusa]

What an atrocity! I am from the central USA, and would comment that these horrible things happen regardless of where one lives. I work as the director of service coordination (case management) and an executive officer of a non-profit agency which provides supports to developmentally disabled children and adults. Many of these people have a duel diagnosis of mental illness.
I am so very fortunate that as a nonprofit, we make the rules and while the pay for direct care professionals is shameful, we fire anyone who is incompetent, uncaring or simply rude...
this is not the rule however, and wages do most certainly play a role. When you pay $7.25 (state wage regulated) per hour to high school graduates to care for our most vulnerable citizens, this is the result time and again. Wake up America! You absolutely get what you pay for!!! If you are so incensed, put your money where your mouth is and demand decent wages for the people on the front lines!

[o2bewealthy]

There was a similar case in NYC just a couple of weeks ago. This has nothing to do with the South, but it says a LOT about the state of mental health care in the USA.

[DawnD13]

This is a prime example of the sorry state of mental health care, among other medical care, in this country. I don''t care what anyone says: those staffers were not only incompetent, but also negligently cruel. Do we have to have the ASPCA take care of us when we are ill? At least there are laws on the books to prosecute animal cruelty. As long as the mentally ill are treated this way, and "dumped" in facilities like this, or worse--jails, the stigma against the mentally ill will go on in perpetuity. There should be NO question that those staffers need to be fired at the very least. What they did is negligent indifference, a criminal act. Shame on them. And shame on the bureaucrats who allow this place to continue to operate this place. What next, back to burning the mentally ill at the stake or drowning them? Those people were paid to do a job--not dance, not play cards, not watch tv. When they don''t do the job they they are paid for, they have "embezzled" their paychecks. I hope the family sues them, wins and is awarded a huge punitive award against these goldbrickers and irresponsible "administrators."

[fsdutch2]

Medicine should be nationalized. It''''s that simple.

Posted by stn_sage
----
What do you mean? This IS nationalized medicine. This was a State Mental Hospital. This is the level of care to expect when the Government provides your care. And wait till it gets to the Federal Level. The morons they hire as caretakers will be union members and protected in their jobs no matter how many patients they kill.

[vnveteran72]

Lawsuits will shut this cess pool of Back Woods Droolers down. Don''t worry though, they''ll be rehired by the next dump down the road where they can continue their excellent medical careers......
Note to self: don''t get sick, and if you do get sick, have handgun ready to exit with dignity intact.

[idlepugilist]

I''''''''m a yankee who''''''''s lived in North carolina for 11 years now and i''''''''ll take southern hospitality over northeast rudeness and ignorance any day of the week.

When was the last time anyone moved north?

****
Let''s see, population continues to increase, especially from southern states and other countries - yes, I''d say moving north is happening far more often than imagined. But don''t go gettin'' the sun outta your eyes just to see the truth, now.

[toolmangler-2009]

I have lived in NC for 63 years and can tteetify that this is an exception and not the rule. I hope that if I become unable to take care of myself and have to go to a hospital that I am cared for in Carolina or Duke Univerity hospitals