Victimization of the Elderly

Working your whole life, supporting your family, getting the children through school and college, walking your daughter down the aisle, entering retirement, and having saved enough money to travel the world and enjoy new experiences are the goals many of the elderly have dreamt of much of their lives. Instead of living their dreams, the elderly – those 65 and older – have become a target of crime. The United States Department of Justice reports that “persons 65 or older experienced about 2.1 million criminal victimizations.” Most of these crimes were committed as robberies and thefts so the perpetrator could get money. During these crimes, 33% of the elderly victims were injured with 9% of the injuries being serious, 19% received medical care and 14% needed hospital care. Most of the assault crimes against the elderly were done by strangers, 52%, but surprisingly acquaintances committed 36% (US Department of Justice, 1994). These victimizations occur across many cultural and gender lines. For example, elderly men are victims more so than elderly women, Blacks are more likely to be victims than whites, elderly persons who are separated or divorced are victimized more than any other marital status, and elderly city residents are more likely to be victims than those who live in rural areas (US Department of Justice, 1994). Older adults who had experienced a violent crime were more likely than those with physical and cognitive impairments to enter a nursing home” (Beck, 2010) in order to reduce fear. Crime is just one way that the elderly are victimized. When an elderly person is mistreated or neglected by either a caregiver, relative or friend they are also a victim. This mistreatment can include being abused, whether it is in the threats or actual physical violence, dealing with verbal abuse, having their finances exploited, or violating their individual rights. The people who treat elders like this are abusers, and may be the person responsible for their daily care. The elderly may be hit, left alone for long periods of time with no one to talk to or share time with, or they may be neglected to the point where food is withheld from them, they do not receive their medication in a timely fashion or they are not helped (if necessary) with bathing and personal hygiene (Crime Victim Services, 2011). In a national representative study conducted of 5,777 elderly people, 11% of the elders reported that they had been the victim of some form of abuse within the last year (Acierno, Hernandez-Tejada, Muzzy, & Steve, 2009): that is 635 people over the age of 65 that were willing to report some sort of abuse. It is believed that figures often underestimate the actual violence against our elders “because most abusive acts take place in private, and victims are often unable or unwilling to complain” (Berk, 2010). Another form of the elderly being victimized is that of “granny dumping” (Berk, 2010). This happens when caretakers take elders who may be suffering from dementia or other severe illnesses or disabilities to emergencies rooms and leave them – either in the waiting room or in the examination room (Berk, 2010). “According to one U.S. hospital survey, between 100,000 and 200,000 older adults…are left in hospital waiting rooms each year” (Berk, 2010). A nurse would not be someone who would be thought of as being someone who would neglect or withhold care from an elderly person purposefully. But earlier this year, 87 year-old Lorraine Bayless died as a result of CPR being withheld from her by a licensed nurse at the elder care facility where she lived. A nurse at the Glenwood Gardens senior living facility in Bakersfield California not only refused to initiate CPR herself, but she also refused the plea from the 911 dispatcher to hand the phone to anyone who was in the area or passerby so the dispatcher could instruct them to start CPR until the emergency crews could arrive. The reason the nurse did nothing except call 911 to help save Mrs. Bayless was that she was because company policy did not allow her to. The “policy” says that a nurse in an independent seniors private residents is not to be given hands-on nursing care because they are not in a skilled nursing facility. Nonetheless, a nurse is trained to handle emergencies like this, and it is hard to imagine that a compassionate nurse working in this type of environment, or any other environment for that matter, would refuse to initiate CPR. The mental image of a nurse standing over a woman who had just started struggling to breathe and refusing to help is neglect and abuse. Why was the nurse in her residence in the first place? (It should be noted that Mrs. Bayless did not have a Do Not Resuscitate order.) Why would Paramedics have to be called to a facility before life-saving measures could start when there were nurses who had been trained in emergency care were already present? Jeffrey Toomer, executive director of Glenwood Gardens, restates their policy: “In the event of a health emergency at this independent living community, or practice is to immediately call emergency personnel for assistance and to wait with the individual needing attention until such personnel arrives” (Branson-Potts, 2013). In listening to the 911 call, it is clear that the 911 operator did everything she could to get the nurse to start CPR, or to have a passerby start CPR. The 911 operator asked the nurse if she was just going to stand there and let the woman die in front of her. The nurse’s reply, “That’s why we’re calling 911” (Branson-Potts, 2013). A spokesperson, in attempt to clarify the situation, said that the nurse was not acting as a nurse at the time of the incident, she was “serving in the capacity of a resident services director” (Branson-Potts, 2013). Isn’t she still a nurse? Our elderly can become victimized by almost anyone: criminals, family members, acquaintances, caregivers, and even nurses. Our elders are having their security compromised and they are choosing to live in care facilities instead of in their homes for protection. Society and agencies who help the aging should work toward making the senior years of life, especially those 65 years of age and older, safer and better cared for.