About Nursing Home Diaries

This is a new website to help people in nursing homes.  I have recently gone thru a long and difficult struggle with my Mother that is currently in a nursing home.  I have seen changes made by people exchanging information and offering support to one another via the internet.  That is the purpose of this website.  It is new, but I hope it will become a very useful website to many people.

My Mother is eighty five years old and currently in a nursing home.  Living in a nursing home would never have been my Mother's choice, but she fell in February of 2006 and after days on a ventilator, required the nursing skill and care at a nursing home. I will tell her story and keep it updated on this website. However, I know that there are thousands of people in nursing homes that would like to tell their story either by themselves or thru their families.

The Internet Is A Powerful Tool

Thanks to the internet, networking and exchanging information has become a powerful and useful tool in our world.  Sharing information can help other people improve their lives and help them solve problems.

I am proof that the internet can change your life. I required hip replacement surgery and turned to an internet discussion group to learn about hip resurfacing. Hip resurfacing was just approved in the United States in May 2006 and most U.S. doctors did not support or know about the procedure. Thanks to the 6000+ members of the Yahoo Surface Hippy Discussion Group, I was able to learn about this new hip procedure and device. I had no health insurance and went to Belgium to have my hip resurfaced by one of the world's greatest surgeons. I now have a modern BHR (Birmingham Hip Resurfacing) that the rest of the world has used for over nine years and am doing great. No pain, no restrictions on my activities and no possibility for dislocation. I started a Patient to Patient Guide to Hip Resurfacing and know that sharing information has helped hundreds of people that visit my wesbite.

Sharing Information Can Help To Change Lives

I know sharing  information and exchanging ideas can help people change their lives.  That is the purpose of the Nursing Home Diaries. A website for families or residents of nursing homes to share their stories. A place to talk with others via discussion groups about what is good and what is bad at your nursing home or your loved one's nursing home.  A place to exchange ideas of how to improve care at nursing homes.

Nursing Homes

Nursing homes seem to be filled with:

• both good and bad aides

• caring and not caring nurses

• helpful and uninterested therapists

• responsive and non-responsive management

What Can Be Done To Improve Life At A Nursing Home?

What can be done to help improve life at a nursing home? I don't know the complete answer, but I know it takes effort and cooperation of many people. It is an uphill battle since most nursing homes are private businesses, but their business is the care of our loved ones and it is often a life or death business. Let's see if we can all help support each other and make changes to improve life at nursing homes.

Patricia Walter
Webmaster/Owner Nursing Home Diaries