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Making the decision to put ourselves or a loved one into a nursing home is one of the hardest we face. Placing somebody in one of these facilities is rarely the ideal situation and can be emotionally draining. It is important to us that we take care of our families as they have taken care of us, and negative media coverage, as well as social stigma regarding nursing homes make facing this dilemma even more troublesome.

In addition to considering all of the negative news coverage, one must also take into account several other factors, such as nursing home staff, quality, environment, and life. There are so many options from which to choose that, at first, making an informed decision may seem impossible. Just knowing whether to choose a nonprofit nursing home, private nursing homes or a chain can be a daunting task. Fortunately, there are tools available to us that can help us ensure that we are making the best choice.

When beginning your search you should also consider and special needs you or your loved one may have and find the facilities that are best equipped to handle those needs. Does your loved one need skilled care which allows them access to Medicaid which is accepted by most nursing home chains? Or would you prefer a private-pay or nonprofit facility? Figuring out the answer to this question can help you narrow the field of possibilities.

Once you’ve figured out which type of facility you prefer you can begin contacting these types of nursing homes near you. Before scheduling visits, you should narrow your search even further by conducting phone interviews. When calling get the answers to important questions like: “What’s your staff turnover rate?”, “Do you offer skilled care?”, “How much can I expect to spend with your facility?” Asking these questions will help you to figure out which facilities you would like to tour.

While touring a facility it is important to remember that cleanliness is more important than newness. Although a nursing home may be brand new or may have recently been renovated, the cost the entity has incurred is normally passed on to you. A long standing facility that is clean is more likely the best choice.

Long standing homes are also more likely to have staff that have been with the facility for many years. A nursing care home with staff members that have worked there for a long time points to job satisfaction; satisfied employees usually enjoy working with the residents and are likely to administer higher quality care. Perhaps the most important thing to us when we look into an assisted living facility is making sure that our loved one is well taken care of.

You can ensure that your loved one is getting the fairest treatment by becoming familiar with the rights of residents. Nursing homes across the United States must honor the Resident’s Bill of Right according to federal law. This bill includes but is not limited to the right to: information about one’s medical condition, choose one’s own physician, manage one’s own personal finances, privacy, dignity and respect, be free from abuse and unnecessary restraint, voice grievance without retaliation, no unfounded discharge or transfer, be allowed visitors and to control visits, and legal counsel. All nursing homes in the United States are required to make the Resident’s Bill of Right available at all times to residents and their families. For a complete list of these rights you should be sure to ask for a copy at any of the nursing care homes you visit.

Making the decision to place yourself or a loved on into a nursing home does not have to be a bad experience. There are many options available and with a little bit of research it is easy to become educated enough to make the best choice possible. Nursing home life can be fulfilling, so long as we or our loved ones are properly cared for. Be sure to check into your options thoroughly, doing this will to ensure that you have chosen a clean facility with a low staff turnover rate; a facility that regularly schedules activities for the residents outside of the campus, and which adheres to the Resident’s Bill of Rights, easy.

With the news today coming out that the most recent Gallup poll stunningly uncovered the fact that Americans want the best health care but don’t want to pay for it, came shock and disbelief albeit only from people that were stranded on a desert.

“The poll of 3,026 adults, surveyed Friday through Sunday, has a margin of error of +/-2 percentage points. Some questions, asked of half the sample, have an error margin of +/-3 points. By 56%-33%, those surveyed endorse the idea of enacting major health care changes this year. Just one in four say it’s not important to them. When it comes to financing the costs, six of 10 favor the idea of requiring employers to provide health insurance for their workers or pay a fee instead.” from the USA Today Gallup poll.

The fact that this survey was actually paid for by a public company was more shocking to me,” said Captain Obvious of I knew it, Florida. Perhaps the greatest idea came from the Gallup poll writers themselves when they decided to go home for the day and stop asking silly questions.

While considering my abnormal viewpoints with a colleague recently, I was reminded of a terrific book I read called the “Shock Doctrine” by Naomi Klein, a truly thought provoking book, quite the opposite of a Gallup poll. Her book is based on historical facts and statistics that were used by the Chicago School of Economics to shock nations into globalization. This allowed US companies to go into these poor, often battered companies and buy everything from the workers to their public utilities. The reason why many of these countries were so poor was because they were often “spoiled” by social programs they couldn’t afford. The IMF and the large corporations would then only loan money to remake the countries if the politicians would agree to open up global trade (which allowed the international companies to go in and buy everything that was attached) and repeal any and all social programs. Largely, these countries of course suffered immensely worse then before the International Monetary Fund (IMF) had gone into the countries and after 5-10 years the local currency etc. would start to gain traction and the economy were modernized into a model of capitalism.

The parallel between these countries (mostly Latin American and Middle Eastern) and our country today is that we are on the precipice of a truly awful economic decline and polls like the one by Gallup confirm that we as Americans want everything but won’t sacrifice anything to get it. Of course the politicians will still promise and deliver these programs to us without regard to cost or anything else as long as they are elected time and again. And the ugly truth of the book (which is pointedly liberal) is that we going to need to be shocked out of these habits in order to “reset” the economy. All social programs and anything else that causes deficits and debt will have to be abandoned and then started all over again.

As the most productive nation on earth, this future can certainly be avoided by making good decisions like Universal Health Care but cuts will have to be made elsewhere! But just like after all the recessions that Greenspan avoided by messing with the interest rates (which is causing a larger, more impending crash which will combine all the past recessions as bills from these prior mistakes have never been absorbed, just deferred) and like we are doing again, now by avoiding the current recession and spending money that just doesn’t even exist, this final bill is going to come due. And it is coming due. And when other countries wake up and stop financing our debts, as they wake up to the notion that is impossible for us to pay them back. When? I have no idea. But the first part of it is happening already as the dollar continues to decline and China is slowing its ridiculous purchase of our treasuries. I am willing to give up my cushy health insurance brokerage for the good of this country and if we all do something painful it can help defray some of the pain that is coming, what are you willing to do?

National Nurses Day on May 6 in the USA is a wonderful opportunity to honor Nurses throughout the profession. This is a profession that proliferates our lives from birth to death and with bittersweet emotions. Hospital Nurses work long arduous hours to cure the ill without the honor and benefits of many other occupations. They are often silent in their endeavors; yet, they are there when your Doctor is not!

We are all dependent on Nurses in many areas of our lives; school nurses help us, occupational nurses are there for our immediate injuries, emergency room nurses offer stat care to reverse many dangerous traumatic situations for us and our relatives and relieve our worries, home care nurses offer the opportunity to remain in our environment during illness, amusement park nurses provide first aid services, case managers are to act as our advocates with insurance companies, legal nurses can offer opinions on care or after care and even on lawsuits for poor care.

Some Nurses are visible in health newspaper columns such as some that I have written for newspapers and even on television as producers and hosts to inform the public. Some nurses are authors such as on the book” Nurses On Our Own” IUniverse publishers offering a unique perspective into the mystical land of the psychiatric unit, movie sets and home care visits as well as professional relationships with Doctors and the Police.

Where would we be without Nurses from the moment we are born to the moment we pass on , they hold a special place in the hearts of soldiers, children and the senior communities. We could remember them with awards such as Nurse of the Year Contests at AmericaNurse.com (not AmericanNurse) or by recognizing them on Calendars, sending flowers, sending special Nurses Day Cards and Thanking them for their dedication and sacrifice with their knowledge and emotions which enrich all of our lives. You may nominate a special Nurse at asktvnurse@yahoo.com who may be chosen for a TV appearance with Karon Gibson, R.N. on Outspoken with Karon TV Show in Chicago and California. Phone is 815 773 4497. Karon is a speaker on this issue and others. Info at AmericanTVProductions.com

Elderly home care is and will continue to be much more cost effective now and in the future. When considering the cost of elder home care versus assisted living costs, there are many factors to take into consideration. One consideration is to understand the trends of the health care industry, so that you can financially plan for your future. Many believe that Medicare will cover everything they need as they age. Although many realize that they need to financially prepare for the future, most do not investigate the cost and options of future care needs. Many do not feel that they can afford to invest in long term care insurance.

In 2008, Prudential Insurance did a study on long term care. The results, which will be followed up every year, had some alarming information regarding the costs that will pay for care and services as we age. The information from this and other studies is important to assure successful planning for our future care needs.

It was noted that elderly assisted living homes have seen the largest increase in costs over a 2 year period. The average daily cost of living in an elderly assisted living facility increased to almost $39,000 per year. This is an average rate of just over $100 per day.

There was an astonishing average increase of a 15% in rates for the elderly assisted living facilities that provide care for dementia and Alzheimer’s patients.

Elderly home health care has had the smallest rate increase of all the providers. The rate of elderly home health care has had a 5% increase over the past two years and a 17% increase over the last 7 years.

The costs to have a certified nursing assistant provide elder home care averages $21 per hour. A certified nursing assistant provides services such as: bathing and dressing. The services of elder home care are ordered by a physician and usually paid for by insurance. These services provided by elderly home health care are intermittent and are offered for a short period of time.

Another study, also done in 2008 was preformed by the Genworth Financial Group. This study explored the cost of care that covers the non skilled side of elder home care. This is the largest growing portion of the elder home health care services. This growth, is due in part to many aging seniors desire to remain in their homes as long as possible.

The average cost for homemaker services in the elder home care sector is $18 an hour. There has been a rate increase of 4% over the past year. A homemaker provides some housekeeping duties, companionship, and assistance with cooking, if needed. They may also run short errands when required.

Elderly home care also provides home health aides. They provide basic assistance with bathing and dressing. A home health aide averages a rate $19 an hour. This shows an increase of 3% in just one year.

Met Life Market surveyed adult day services in 2008. The results from this survey show the average daily cost for adult day care services is $64. This shows an increase of 5% in the past year.

Adult day care services are a growing trend in the aging health care market. Adult day care is a cost effective way keep an aging senior at home

For caregivers, utilizing adult day care services permits them to continue to work. Many caregivers take time to do things to they need to take care of and get a break from their care giving duties.

The costs of elder home care services will continue to rise. Surveys show that the trends will continue. The largest increases will be in the assisted living and nursing home areas of elderly home health care services.

The past five years has seen an increase in elderly assisted living rates jump by 41%. Over the past five years, there has been an increase in nursing homes rates of over 30%. Over half the surveyed facilities expect to increase their rates, again, over the next year. The good news is that one in four elder home care providers plan to increase their rates in the next year.

Being aware of the cost of elderly home care and elderly assisted living can assist you in planning for your future needs. Educate yourself on the various options available and how you can utilize those services for future needs. It is important to be proactive and investigate avenues to pay for your future health care needs.

Becoming constipated is a rather common condition in the world and is nothing to be embarrassed about. Everyone at some point in their life will experience constipation whether it’s just a mild case or more severe. The good news is, there are many very effective methods on curing constipation that you can perform right at home. I will cover these in the article below so that you can be well on your way to feeling good again.

The first step to curing constipation is to try and determine what is causing it. Do you have a poor diet? Are you not drinking enough water? Are you not relieving yourself when your body tells you it needs to go? How about getting enough exercise? If you’re guilty of any of those things, my guess is that’s what is causing you to become backed up.

I will first cover your diet and water consumption. What you eat and drink plays a significant role in becoming constipated and also curing it. Your diet should be rich in fiber and you need to be drinking at the very least, 64 oz of water daily. Fiber helps keep your digestive system running smoothly and the water keeps your body hydrated which will soften the waste so it doesn’t become hard and get stuck. You should also avoid fried foods and other foods high in fat.

Good sources of fiber are green leafy vegetables, fruits, oats, raw nuts, and whole grains. Start incorporating these into your diet every day and you should see some improvements and be on your way to curing constipation.

Another reason people become constipated is by ignoring what their body is telling them. If you constantly hold it in when you need to go to the bathroom, the waste will start to decay in your intestines, become hard, and then get stuck. This method on curing constipation is very simple; When your body is telling you it needs to go, listen to it.

The final thing you need to do to start curing constipation is to exercise more and be active. By working out, it helps to keep your digestive system working more efficiently and as you know, this is responsible for getting rid of waste.

Try to get to the gym at least 3 times per week and do intense workouts for about an hour each time. If you can’t make it to the gym, there are plenty of exercises you can do at home too. Even while you’re not working out, always take the more active approach to your daily activities. This means take the stairs, walk to places that are within walking distance, and don’t wait around to find the best parking spot at the store.

Once you start to add those simple habits into your daily routine, you will be well on your way to curing constipation.

Baby boomers are quickly approaching retirement age, and as they do, there are a number of concerns that need to be addressed, particularly in the area of healthcare. Unfortunately, there appears to be no easy answers to the healthcare problems that baby boomers, and the population in general, will face in the very near future.

Baby Boomers are people who were born between 1946 and 1964. During this period of time the United States of America saw an explosion in birthrates that had never been seen before and nothing like it has been seen since. Today, baby boomers make up approximately 28% of the total United States of America population.

With this group of people occupying such a large segment of the population, it is predicted that there will be a major financial strain on the healthcare industry as a whole, as baby boomers reach retirement age. There are many reasons why the healthcare industry will face problems as baby boomers begin to retire and begin to need long-term care services.

Baby Boomers Are The Nurses

Go to any healthcare facility today and look around at the nurses who are working there. One thing will become abundantly clear to you; the vast majority of nurses working in healthcare are in fact baby boomers themselves. We have heard for the past few years about nursing shortages and predictions that these nursing shortages will only get worse.

There are many reasons why the United States of America currently faces nursing shortages. Traditionally, nursing has been a career dominated by women. Women have made great strides in efforts to gain equality over the past few decades; much of this progress is attributed to women who are from the baby boomer generation. With these strides in equality, women have realized that they have many more career choices other than being a nurse, a schoolteacher, or a homemaker. Today women are running the largest corporations in America, making great salaries, and receiving high levels of prestige.

A Two-Fold Problem

As baby boomers retire a two-fold problem is created. First, there will be even fewer nurses, because baby boomers make up such a large part of the current nursing workforce. The second part of the problem is that as baby boomers, 28% of our population, retire they will require more healthcare as a part of the aging process.

As you can see, there are some serious healthcare problems that need to be addressed. Leaders in the healthcare industry have been working extremely hard in trying to find a solution. Sadly their efforts are only making minimal impacts in increasing the nursing workforce.

Healthcare companies have tried everything from raising salaries to offering outrageous sign on bonuses. Money does not seem to be the key to get people interested in nursing. Survey a group of nurses and most will not complain about their salary. What they will complain about is the day-to-day workloads that they face. Nurses are overworked and carry larger and larger patient loads as a result of shortages.

Combine this with the fact that nurses, who typically get into healthcare to provide direct patient care, are being forced to do more administrative type tasks. Some of these tasks include excessive charting to meet requirements set forth by Medicare and insurance companies, and trying to get patients care certified, or paid for, by insurance companies. Most nurses did not become nurses to sit behind a computer and to talk on the phone for hours.

How This Will Affect Baby Boomers?

Advancements in medical technology and science means that people are living longer. This does not always mean that there is a high quality of life for those that are living longer though. Many of these people who would have died from a medical condition two decades ago can now live for a long time to come. These people often require a great deal of long-term care, whether it is at home or in a long-term care facility.

Those receiving long-term care at home require nurses to help them with their day-to-day tasks. The following is a quote taken directly from the Medicare website (http://www.medicare.gov/LongTermCare/Static/Home.asp)

“Generally, Medicare doesn’t pay for long-term care. Medicare pays only for medically necessary skilled nursing facility or home health care. However, you must meet certain conditions for Medicare to pay for these types of care. Most long-term care is to assist people with support services such as activities of daily living like dressing, bathing, and using the bathroom. Medicare doesn’t pay for this type of care called “custodial care”. Custodial care (non-skilled care) is care that helps you with activities of daily living. It may also include care that most people do for themselves, for example, diabetes monitoring.”

There is also a great deal of talk about whether or not Medicare will even be around in the coming decades. Consider the fact that 28% of the population will no longer be contributing to Medicare via taxes, while at the same time that 28% will be using more of the resources.

Is It All Really That Bleak?

Yes and no. It is true that there are no easy solutions in the foreseeable future to help deal with the nursing shortage, while the need for nurses will increase dramatically. It is also true that the economics of supply and demand will create a situation where healthcare will become even more expensive, while healthcare providers continue to raise salaries in hopes of attracting nurses.

So where is the good news you ask? The good news is that nurse recruitments are showing “some” success. Young people are showing a renewed interest in nursing, due in large part to huge marketing campaigns put out by nursing schools and healthcare organizations. The flip side of this is that these young people are going for the high level nursing degrees such as Registered Nurse (R.N.) and Nurse Practitioners (N.P.), but the lower level (lower paying) jobs such as Certified Nursing Assistants (C.N.A.’s) and Certified Medical Assistants (C.M.A.’s) remain understaffed. These are the ones usually providing direct care while the RN’s and Licensed Practical Nurses (L.P.N.’s) are meeting accreditation requirements by doing all of the charting and talking to insurance companies.

The other good news is that insurance companies are planning ahead and offering long-term care insurance plans that will allow you or your loved ones the ability to be able to pay nurses for long-term care services. Many baby boomers are taking their future into their own hands by taking out these long-term care insurance policies.

Finally, leaders in government and the healthcare industry are working diligently to address what is a predictable issue. Since these are predictable events, they can be planned for as much as possible.