As someone who has worked in assisted living for four years I would like to comment on the articile in the paper today. First, at the unlicensed home in Petersville it said that there are four or five nurses staffing the place. I would like to know if they are actually licensed nurses or are they just care givers. Knowing the price of a LPN or RN I would guess that they are just caregivers and would like to know if there is an actual nurse on the payroll. Does a knowledgable person give the medicines and assess the residents or is it just a caregiver? An RN is required by the state to be on staff and available 24 hours a day. No resident that can not recognize his/her medicines or their names on their medicines are suppose to have medicines administered by a LPN or RN. Is this happening in unlicensed facilities? I could go on for days, but what I'd really like to know is if these people doing all the lobbying have ever read the Rules and Regulations for assisted living. If they have read them do they understand the importance of them. I simply don't believe they do. I personally would rather place a parent or grandparent in a place that is regulated by the state. I know that things happen in state regulated facilities that shouldn't sometimes, but at least it will be investigated and corrected. Who would investigate and correct in an unlicensed facility?
Original Post