Visual Argument Essay

Stop the Abuse

Elder Abuse happens across America more than we think.More than 500,000 cases are reported every year (nursinghomeabusesourcecenter.com). Choosing this topic really hits close to home; my Grandmother was admitted to a Nursing Home, her stay wasn’t as pleasant as my family had hope. My essay isn’t about bashing or criticizing Health officials or Nursing facilities, but to let the public know that there are facilities in need of getting some serious help. As the saying goes, “closed mouths don’t get feed”. If we as a community don’t stand up and fight for the protection of the Elderly; then this problem will continue to exists.
In 1987 the Institute of Medicine had done a study on Nursing Homes; the researchers had found that Nursing home residents were being abused and neglected. Congress had passed the Nursing Home Reform Act to protect the rights of the residents. Elder Abuse consists of three categories; Domestic, Institutional and Self Neglect. The acts of Elder abuse include; Emotional, Neglect, Abandonment, Physical and Financial Exploitation (webmd.com pg1). The most common abuse that occurs is Neglect. Neglect is refusing to feed, bathe, clothe and provide shelter to the resident. I don’t understand how someone can avoid giving a cup of H2O to a Geriatric resident. You can just see it in their eyes that the resident depends on the Nurses for everything, really sad.

My proposal is to include two semester of Clinical dedicated to Geriatric Care and Disable residents. Nursing Assistants and CNA’s especially need to be involved in the Clinical Experiences. “Increasing knowledge and awareness of Elder abuse as an issue”(Nursing Older people p.28). This article has the idea that educating future nursing students in Elder abuse will decrease the cases that are reported. I totally agree with this statement, the more knowledge that the Nurses have will lower the counts of Abuse.

My solution will be included into the Prerequisites of the Nursing program.

All Nurses no matter what level they are interested in must complete two semesters on Geriatric care and Disable care. There would be sixty hours in Theory and one hundred hours in Clinical. The students will spend most of their time going over the basic and hands on with the residents. In theory the teacher will go over the reasons why Nursing home abuse occurs. “Inadequate staffing, minimum pay, poorly trained and not enough equipment” (causes of nursing home abuse p.1). The teacher can explain that the more experience that you have, the more you can get paid and care for the resident properly.

I did an interview with my Grandmother on her stay at a Long Term Care facility. She was admitted for a Brain Aneurysm and she needed the proper care. “Don’t get me wrong the Facility was very clean and a nice staff, but the Nurses didn’t inform my daughter on the times I fell and the condition of my heel sores”( Cheryl interview).
This is considered Neglect, not reporting to the family the condition of their family member. The future nursing students must use common sense while working, if you see something wrong please observe, record and report anything to the Charge Nurse. I would think that the Medical Field would probably be against my solution only because; we are in need of Nurses. Nursing school is cutting back on perquisites to get the students into the Nursing Program faster. Nothing is wrong with this; but make sure that the students have the proper training to provide outstanding care.

What can be done to prevent Elder Abuse? There are some many rallies and organizations that are dedicated to the Geriatrics community. “ Life Cycle Bike Tour, Bicycling for 370 miles to spread that word about Elder abuse; Boiler Rooms is an organization partnered with the FBI, US Postal Inspections to investigate Financial Exploitation”(elderabusecenter.org). There are many more groups to help spread the word about Elder Abuse. Plus here are some tips on choosing a Nursing Home. “Visit the facilities at different times of the day, check out the staff ; do they seem in a rush or rude, keep an eye out for cleanliness and the most important food and dining “textbook for nursing assistant). All of these tips are really good to keep in mind. Not all Nursing homes are bad; there are some good Nurse and Facilities.

In the Future, if the Country follows my solutions and tips I see a lot more happy families and elderly residents. Nursing homes will be flourished with Nurses and equipment. Elder Abuse Cases will have a huge decrease. If my proposal and solutions is ignored, their will be more cases reported, malpractice law suits, shortage of Nurses and very unhappy family members. But most of all the Elderly community will not be able to trust Health Officials at all.



Sources Cited

Brayton/Purcell,Lawyers for the People. “Elder Absue Information”.
<>
23 April 2007.

Davis,Cheryl. “Personal Experinces a Long Term Care Facilities”. Interview: 22, March 2007.


National Center on Elder Abuse. “Special Events”. .
23, April 2007.


Simpson,Christine/McGarry,Julie. “ Nursing students and Elder Abuse: developing a Learning resource”. Nursing Older People (2007): vol 19. RCN Publishing Company Limited.

Sorrentino. Shelia. Signs if Elder Abuse: Mosby Text Book for Nursing Assisting. St. Louis MO: Mosby Inc, 2004.


Rosen, Marian. “ Nursing Home Abuse and Neglect Informational Resource.” 23 April 2007. http://www.marianrosenandassociates.com/ .


Web MD. “ Elder Abuse”. 18 April 2007
www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/tc/elderabuse-topic-overview.

Annotated Bibliography

Abuse and Neglect in Health Care Facilities

Elder abuse and neglect in Nursing homes is a very touchy subject. Many geriatrics residents don’t get their 1st Amendment rights. HealthCare Officials just treat them like they are trash and no good. Many of these residents don’t have family; so in turn the Nursing team is their only hope of survival. Lately the HealthCare team has been slacking and degrading the residents. Depriving them of food and social support; the elderly is been taken advantage. In my clinical for the Nursing Assisting, I’ve been exposed to a lot of the mistreatment and neglect of the residents. The Long Term Care Facility that my group takes place at is unorganized, shortage and outdated equipment, not enough staff and abusive towards the residents. In our studies we learned that the resident’s safety is 1st and foremost. Not many employees seem to follow the protocol of being a Nurse. I want to let the Public know that these people are being hurt emotionally and physically and we as a community should stand up and fight for those who can’t. Not all HealthCare Officials are abusive, but those who are should have their licensed revoked and never to work with the public every again.


Armijo,Maria et al. Elder Abuse and Late life Domestic Violence.
Book: Phoenix, 2003.
Summary: The Maricopa Elder Abuse Prevention Alliance has created this book with Health Professionals and Psychiatrists. It provides help lines and websites to those in need of help. They talk about the types of Abuse and Neglect. The book even includes organizations here in Phoenix to protect the Elderly in Nursing homes and every where else.
Evaluation: The audience is Maricopa County; the book is 3 years old but the information is really useful. Of course there are other reference, plenty of Health Officials took there part in this book. The Book is accurate, everything that I have been researching preaches the same thing; STOP ELDER ABUSE. The publisher is this alliance and their board leaders have stated their opinion.
This book can be very beneficial to me. It has descriptive details on Abuse. The Healthcare Officials are really trying to reach the public here in Arizona about this issue.

Burroughs, Amy. “Care of elderly sometimes turns to neglect”. EBSCO host 4 March 2007. EBSCO host. PhoenixPublicLib. 22 March 2007
http://searchebscohost.com/.
Summary: This source goes into detail about the different abuse that elders go through. Like financial; families will steal money from loved ones who aren’t able to protect themselves. Also there is statistics about how many cases are reported each year and the cases that aren’t reported. Amy also states that the community can help out by watching those elders who are around them and report anything suspicious.
Evaluation: The article is geared towards family members in the Nursing home. I will give much credit to this article, since it includes the statistics that I was looking for that is more points for me. This article does contain other references that will link to other websites dealing the numbers of abuse all over the country.
This article is from a newspaper called the “Sun Paducah” in Kentucky. There is some really good points made in this article and the statistics can be very useful to anyone.

Davis,Cheryl. “Personal Experiences on a Long Term Care Facilities”. Interview: 22 March 2007.
Summary: Cheryl Davis is my grandmother; she suffered from a terrible Brain Aneurysm and spent time in a Mesa Nursing home. Our interview was pretty basic. I just ask her… was she treated fairly, has she notice any unusually things going on. The questions were straight forward. My grandma was completely honest and I appreciate that.
Evaluation: My interview was very sentimental. She was very open and honest. I could reference my grandma throughout my paper. The audience that I’m trying to reach out to in this interview was anyone who has a loved in the Nursing Home. I really didn’t have any other sources accept the information my grandma was telling and the paper from the falls that she had encountered. I would think that the information that I was told is pretty accurate, plus I went to visit her a lot so I seen a lot. She is living proof of an angel.


Gibbs, Lisa M. MD. “The Importance of Reporting Mistreatment of the Elderly”.
Editorial. American Family Physician 12 March 2007.
Summary: This editorial contains a lot of statistics on Elder Abuse. The Authors also says that many Physicians don’t ask their patients about abuse at all. Educating the Public and Health Official would be beneficial in getting rid of the abuse. The authors state the consequences of not reporting the Abuse throughout the Healthcare Facilities could result in fines.
Evaluation: This article is current and contains some useful information that would be good for anyone to read. The author herself is a Doctor and she would know more about Physicians meeting and asking their clients questions. The article does relate to my topic and this is a good creditable source. This reference is a pretty good one; there are tons facts and references to other Doctor’s within this editorial.

Hood, Jeff. “Use caution when hiring a caregiver”. The Record. Academic Search
Premier. EBSCO. Phoenix Public Lib. 22 March 2007
http://search.ebscohost.com/.
Summary: The background check on Health Official isn’t as active as it should be. So many Agencies are in need of Nurses that they don’t have to perform a Background check. They can go and just hire anyone. Well this article has uncovered that Nurses are taking care of the Elderly with Felony Charges and so on. The Author also stated that the Agency doesn’t have to check CNA’s because they are caregiver. How stupid is that?
Evaluation: The article is very current and relates to my topic in many ways. The authors do have very creditable sources and I believe that it’s pretty accurate. The audience that authors are trying to shoot at is America and maybe the FBI. There are Health Officials who are doing some illegal work and the authors want to grab the attention from FBI.
This paper I would definitely reference. How crazy can the HealthCare agency be, not performing a background check? This is very shocking; they are putting our loved ones in Danger.

Loucks,Cynthia. But this is my mother: The Plight of our Elders in American Nursing Homes. Acton, MA: Vanderwyk/ Burnham Inc, 2000
Summary: The author of this book takes you through the horrific episodes that her mother endures while staying in an Indiana Nursing Home. She goes into great detail about how the Nurses rush to feed her mom, leaving food on her face so that flies swarm around her. Cynthia really does put her heart on the line with this story. The author was trying to get the attention of Americans who have loved ones in Nursing homes; and let them know the danger that can take place. The tone is this book is angry and disgust she couldn’t believe what was happening to her mom.
Evaluation: This book is about the Personal experiences of the Author and her mom.
Since the author isn’t a Doctor or Nurse she really doesn’t have much creditability in the Health care facility. But she seen what her mom was going through and that gave her the right to publish this book. This book definitely has relevance to my paper; I have proof that a women mother’s was being abused. Even though the book is seven years old the facts are still the same. Accuracy is a Yes, because everything that the Author was accusing the Nurses of doing it’s in the News Paper of today. I could take some quotes from the Book about Abusive Care and how it can affect the resident in the long run.

“New law seeks elder abuse crackdown”. Casperstartribune.net 21 March 2007.
22 March 2007
http://www.casperstartribune.net/articles/2007/03/21/news/wyoming>.
Summary: This Bill in Wyoming is dealing with the hiring of undercover social workers to be on the inside of the Nursing Homes. The Social workers will be train and detect any signs of abusive. The State hopes that this will lower the reports of Geriatrics abuse all over Wyoming. The thesis is cracking down on Elder Abuse and preventing it from happening again.
Evaluation: I’m not sure that this is a good source because there isn’t anyone to give credit too. It really didn’t give me enough information. Well the audience is most likely the state of Wyoming. There wasn’t enough information to determine if the source was accurate or not. The article didn’t contain any references to other sources; but if the information was true then this would be a great investigation.

Simpson, Christine/ McGarry, Julie. “ Nursing Students and Elder Abuse:

developing a Learning resource”. Nursing Older People (2007): Vol 19.

RCN Publishing Company Limited.
Summary: This article is talking about Nursing Students receiving more knowledge on Elder abuse. The learning experience includes exercises, lectures, group work and film.
The point is to get the up and coming Nursing students to think about the signs of Abuse; prevent them from happening and keep in mind the safety of the resident. The source is very reliable it’s a Nursing magazine and the facts are legit. I think this article can help the new group of Nursing students prevent the abuse and neglect in Nursing Care facilities. Just maybe the Old nurses can learn a thing or two.
Evaluation: This article will be helpful in finding a solution to this problem. If more facilities educate their employees, then maybe there would be less incident reports.
The article is geared towards Health care Officials; there is reference to other Nursing magazines. The information is really helpful and many Nurses should take a look at it. The magazine is current and it relates to my topic by finding a solution to the problem. If we start while the nurses are still students then maybe the charges being filed in malpractice wouldn’t be so high.

Sorrentino, Shelia. Signs if Elder Abuse:
Mosby Text Book for Nursing Assisting. St. Louis MO: Mosby Inc, 2004
Summary: The NA Book is an educational source. It explains the procedures and care for the Elderly residents. The book also goes into detail about the forms of Abuse: physically mentally and sexually. It also includes the signs to look for when evaluating a resident. The main point that I wanted to get from this source was the fact that it’s all about Nursing and the information is pretty useful
Evaluation: This book has a very successful Editor who has received her RN, MSN and her PhD. The audience that it is target for is Nursing students; the book is only 3 years old. Since this is an Educational source there are tons of other sources that this book has reference like other nurses, doctors and Health facilities.

Synder, Jodie/ Graham, Chad. “Veterans In Arizona Care Home Neglected”. The Arizona Republic (2007): Section A11. News Bank Inc. Gannet Co. Gateway
Community College Library. 29 March 2007 http://infoweb.newsbnk.com/
Summary: The AZ State Veterans Hospital was fined 10,000 dollars due to the Neglect of their residents. State investigators saw residents with soiled beds and clothes. The Nurses were very slow answering the call lights; residents would have cigarettes burn because no one was supervising the smoke breaks. This article goes on and on about the disgusting care that these residents were put through. The issue with this story is that a popular Veterans Hospital was in the headlines for Abuse/Neglect charges. Lately in the news; the nurses have actually been doing their job and really being attentive to the residents. I was proud to read that there are going to be changes in this hospital it’s about time.
Evaluation: Both Authors have really done their research with this issue. They went undercover, had excellent observations and it really grab the attention of the State. This article has direct quotes from the Residents and very informative. The news article is pretty up to date and the information is accurate. It relates to my topic and there are references to the Hospital itself and the Newspaper. The publisher did choose to add their two cents into the article saying how they were shock to see what was going on and were happy to publish this story.

How is the Research Going ?

Well our 3rd essay is about an Annotated Bibliography. It's really challenging to find 10 sources and then document them. My topic is a pretty tough one because there is always new information that comes up. I tried to find current and accurate information on my subject, but it seem that the school databases was most helpful. This entire process takes time and plenty of reading. I'm not sure what my solution is going to be or how I can change the problem. I will use my imagination to make a solution for my topic. This is a cool assignment.

Citing Sources

Citing Sources


American Kennel Club. The Complete Dog
Book. New York: Ballantine Books, 2006

Budiansky, Stephen. Truth about Dogs. New York: Penguin Group, 2000


Drugmang, Toni. “Our Hero Hurricane”.
Angels on Earth (Sept/Oct 2006): Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. Gateway Community College Lib. 2 March 2007
< http://web.ebscohost.com/ehost>.

Editors from Dog Fancy. “Dog Assisted Therapy”. Training Secrets for
Bully Breeds 2006: Volume 9 pg 120.


Whitaker, Barbara. “ Pit bull Owners Put Laws to the Test”.
The New York Times (9/10/06): Opposing View Points Resource Center.
Galegroup. Gateway Community College Lib. 2 March 2007

<http://opposingviewpoints.com>

Evaluation Argument Essay

To Love or Not to Love the Pit Bull

When I say the word “Pit Bull” what thoughts come to your mind? Hey let me help you out…vicious, aggressive, not trustworthy, not safe around children and a background breed. Does that sum it up in a Nut Shell? I’m pretty sure that you can think of more nonsense thoughts. Most people believe in those stereotypes and I’m here to set them straight.

Let’s begin with the background information on the American Staffordshire terrier (Pit Bull). The breed is originally from England; they were used as Baiting dogs. They received the utmost respect from humans and everyone in England had to have a Staffordshire terrier. The breed came to America in the 1870’s; the name Pit Bull came along when owners would place their dogs in a “pit” and fight each other to death. There are many names that this breed goes by. For instance, Pit dog, Pit Bull terrier and American Bull terrier. The Pit Bull overall is an A+ breed; “they have amazing strength, very alert, perfect balance, strong powerful head, well muscled body and outstanding courage”(Complete Dog book, pg 346). The thing that amazes me about my Mixed Pit Bull, named “Caddi” is that he is very intelligent, trainable and he doesn’t do a lot of barking which is good. American Staffordshire terriers do have an intimidating look, but the dogs are willing to do anything for there owners.

The next issue that I would like to address is the discrimination against the so-called vicious breeds. This category includes the German Sheppard’s, Akita, Dobermans, Pit Bulls and Rottweilers. Many states around the country have enforced the “Legislation Banning Specific Breeds Act”. Bascially this law states that a specific vicious breed is banned or that an owner must have liability insurance worth one-hundred thousand dollars. This law is stupid and unconstitutional; many owners of these breeds agree with me. For example, Barbara Bishop owns a Bull terrier named “Rufus”, he was the winner in the Westminster show (congrats to him). She is very hurt that this law is active in most states; this is what she reported to the New York Times magazine “we want to let people know that every dog has teeth and every dog can bite, whether it’s a Chihuahua or a Bull Mastiff, also every dog will be a product of what it’s bought up to do” (Pit Bull Owners pg 3). I totally agree with Barbara, every dog does have the potential to attack when felt threatened, it’s in their nature.

Which brings me to my next point; dogs only attack when they have been abused and the owners train them to be violent. The case with Pit Bulls is that many “Drug Dealers” will have the dogs for the purpose of protection and to put fear in their customers. “The image problem of the Pit Bull breed are those people who train them to be aggressive” (The NY Times pg 3). Like the saying goes “One bad apple can spoil the entire bunch”; one terrible owner can create a monster and a terrific owner will be seen as a monster. It is really horrible that the entire Pit Bull breed is look upon as being threatening and mean.

Believe it or not, there are some angels within the Bully breed. During Hurricane Katrina there was a Pit Bull named “Hurricane” he was abandoned during this tragedy. He was taken to the shelter and was labeled unadaptable; the Vets were going to euthanized “Hurricane”. Toni Drugmand a professional Dog Trainer in Phoenix wanted to adapt “Hurricane”; he knew that it wasn’t going to be an easy task, because the dog was so traumatized. Toni took on the challenge he was very impressed “I’ve never seen a dog as alert as this one” (Our Hero Hurricane pg 57). Toni was filled with so much exuberance that he kept on training “Hurricane”, “after only ten days he could sit, heel, stay and run to his place, he would be a great addition to any family who adapt him”( Our Hero Hurricane pg 58). As time went by Toni had received a call from Lisa, who is apart of the FEMA search and rescue team. She needed a non aggressive dog, Hurricane was the one. He went through his training and became apart of the team. Toni was so excited that he turned a so- called vicious animal into a “Rescue dog”. Pit Bulls are also used in Therapeutic Therapy; this means patients who suffer from any type of injury or depression use pets to make them cheerful. There are four groups around the country that deal with Bully breeds in therapy; Reading Evaluation Assisting Dogs (READ), Love on a Leash, Delta Society, and Therapy Dogs International (TDI). “All four groups are proud to include “Bully breeds among their canine Therapists” (Bully Breed Magazine pg.120). I think it’s wonderful to include Bully breeds within the therapy; this should open the eyes of those people who think that Bully breeds aren’t safe around children.

I would like to tie up my paper by saying that Pit Bulls aren’t for everyone; if your not patient and don’t have the time to be active with them or even using them in the wrong matter, please don’t get one. But if you are thinking about getting a Bully breed, think about what I wrote within in my paper and see for yourself that I’m right about this breed. My dog “Caddi” is loyal and very sociable around strangers; he is a very good Pit. Of course there are different kinds of Pit Bulls like the Red nose, Blue Pit and the Razor Pit. But my favorite is the American Staffordshire terrier and I hope you learned a little something from my Paper.

Group Discussion on Outlines

In class on Monday, we were split into groups of four to peer review the progress of our papers. I was in a FUN group, everyone topic was Terrific and Creative. Our teacher wanted us to give good criticism, but also try to be honest ( not rude). One of my classmates had a topic on Credit Cards, I'm pretty sure that many people can relate to having one and maybe be in debt because of one. Another topic was Chocolate..mmm.. my classmate had some wonderful information about the benefits of DARK CHOCOLATE. Last but not Least was the topic on Maya Angelo she is an amazing poet, her work is beautiful. My classmate should have Fun researching on Maya. Overall this was a good project it gave us all a chance to see our different styles of writing... :)

Library Day

In class we had a Librarian come in and talk to us about Research Papers. She showed us how to access our school Databases and Research Engines. The School web page is filled with tons information to help out their students. Plus we are able to access the Databases from home how COOL IS THAT!!! The Gateway web page has help me out in doing research on my topic (PIT BULLS). There is so much more on the Library page, there is a link that you can talk to a Librarian 24/7. You can ask them any questions especially when you are doing last minute research. Plus the students are able to orders books and have them sent to any Maricopa College that they choose. I really appreciated the Library Page it is very HELPFUL!!! I hope our school keeps up the GOOD WORK.. :)