POETRY | AGED CARE
Palliation
The cradle of neglect
Hope springs finitely, Father Time knows no eternity So this vessel is prepped for its passage unto unknown Unspoken, unkindled, underworlds of worldly Age-old questions facing old-aged bastions of infirmity His breathing is hoarse, coarse, torse, forced and futile Dementia envenomed his mind, but the body knows It. Always. Knows.
Knowing no next of kin he withered and wasted under Watchful(not) eyes of couldn’t care less confluences Could they have been any more neglectful? Negligent? CRACK warned whiplash whipcord on hardwood floor For four hours he screamed yet dead men have no voice Inhumane inhuman, a redolent number, revenue rush Refractory factory farm.
Resident was found on the floor at 00:45 hours, he was holding his right hip. Care staff attended to him until a Registered Nurse arrived to assess for broken bones. Resident was screaming. Assessment completed, nil fracture suspected, resident was assisted back into bed and given two paracetamol. Will contact GP next week, urgent care not required. Signed — The Status Quo
Food and water, for the body and the blood, renounced Last Rites sans bread and wine expedited as an exodus Sounding out cruel consonances, wards of a sick state Of “quality standards” equating to nothing more than Less is less, subtractions of sense and cents, suffering He’s stiff and motionless, staring at the deafening ceiling Wide-eyed puppet.
Pulled perniciously by a static sector stymied in perdition Praying for the end, though drivers of the dead, morph Morphine is one chaliced choice made by bright minds Obscured empathy, emphatic fanaticism, febrile future Of slow-motion sadness enveloped in soiled continence Quilting on scolded skin, mouth sores ablaze, merciless Take the pitiless pain away.
© Edward Swafford 2024
I’m a nurse in the private aged care sector with over ten years of experience under my belt; I’ve seen it all. Neglect, abuse, outdated care plans, and malpractice all play their part in the system. I’m not holding back my strong emotions with this poem.
The Aged Care Quality Standards framework introduced by our former government has done nothing to improve the quality of care for vulnerable residents. Nursing homes in Australia remain grossly understaffed, facility management boards continue to tighten their fiscal belts, and our elders suffer needlessly.
My poem is dedicated to residents enduring end-of-life care with no family by their bedside, and nobody to legally speak up on their behalf.
Thank you for reading/listening. My deepest gratitude to Dr Mehmet and Aiden for welcoming me into Illumination-Curated giving voice to authentic writers on Medium.com.
