Sample Nursing Home Employee Letter to Editor
Dear Editor:
America’s long-term care system is facing a crisis. I have worked for years in a long-term care facility, and each day I find that maintaining the high level of quality care and guaranteeing a decent quality of life for residents gets tougher and tougher.
Nursing homes especially are being asked to do more with less. State reimbursements are down even as needs are increasing and residents are sicker than ever before.
The residents in my facility are among the oldest, frailest and most disabled individuals in the county. But they also are among our most important community assets. They are the men and women who fought in our wars, worked in our steel mills, built our communities. They are parents, grandparents, great-grandparents.
Our residents are family to us, and I believe they would say we are family to them.
Having a familiar face is essential for elderly residents who rely on help for their daily living needs, whether at home or in a facility. Caretakers who stay on the job longer get to know their patients and, more importantly, their specific health-care needs. That guarantees they get high-quality care.
Long-term care employees work physically and emotionally challenging jobs. We do it because it’s more than a job; it’s a calling. We believe we have a responsibility to ensure those who gave us so much get to age with dignity and respect.
All we ask now is that the state fulfills its responsibility and ensures nursing homes receive adequate funding to provide quality care to those who need it most.
SINCERELY,