Dear Editor:

Just recently there was an article in the local paper that gave a report of the "Hotel Star" rating system for nursing homes. Now I know you want to be sure the resort or the restaurant you are visiting has a 5-star rating, but may I enlighten those of you who have no experience with nursing homes.

This report was put out by people who are not employees of a nursing home. They are policy writers and/or grant writers who make everything appear good on paper or bad in our case.

These same people should be invited to work a shift with our staff. I feel that their statistics would look so much better the next rating.

Most of us health care workers are working under policies/procedures/guidelines that have been set by people who have never walked a mile in our shoes. These guideline writers have never spent a night comforting a 90-year-old who wants her mama, whose children are gone but no one will be coming to check on them. Never.

I recently read an article in a religious publication that condemned families that would take their loved ones to a nursing home rather than care for them in their home. I just rightly guessed that this individual has not checked on our present state of economy. Everybody in the family needs a job, including the kids with the pets doing their part too. Being a health care worker did not mean that I had the strength or wisdom it takes to maintain a geriatric patient 24/7. You surely cannot leave an individual at home hoping he will be safe until you return.

One recent newspaper article graphically described an elderly person who was left in a state that was unimaginable even to us that see vulnerable adults who can no longer meet their needs each day. The condition described something most people will never have to face. We pray not.

Now let me tell you a little how it is at our "Self Rate Establishment." We have caring employees who take care of your Aunt Carrie and Uncle Tom.

Yes, we provide that little lady who was once a pillar of the community a birthday cake because she has no one who will remember her on her special day. Contrary to unpopular beliefs, birthdays, anniversaries or birthdays of their children who no longer care still cross their minds. They still want someone to touch them, hug them or just care.

So next time you hear someone wanting to sling mud at a local nursing home, you be the first to say, "the last time I visited there I found it to be a 10."

Thank you Cherokee County for going the extra mile to provide not only a safe haven for my loved one but a great place to work. Betty Lou Painter, RN Peachtree Centre Gaffney, S.C.