Nobody's Home: Candid Reflections of a Nursing Home Aide
	Author: Thomas Edward Gass Published: 2005-07-28
	List price: $15.95 Our price: $13.45	Usually ships in 24 hours As of: January 06th, 2009 12:58:59 AM
Customer comments on this selection. It helped me learn to take care of a loved one at home I read this book at the point where we moved my mother-in-law from assisted living and into our home under hospice care. I then became her full time at-home CNA. I always appreciated the CNA's who are the first line care givers. I appreciated them even more after reading Nobody's Home, and especially when I had to perform their role at home. I shared the book with several aides who also seemed to enjoy it and confirmed that it captured and represented their work and experiences. Most importantly, this book gave me the knowledge and courage to perform the mundane caring that my mother-in-law required. I was horrified at the prospect of having to wipe her after going to the toilet. Gass's accounts of his own experiences helped me get passed this, and provide the care my mother-in-law needed and deserved. Nobody's Home served as an operating manual for me as I learned how to be an aide. It helped me get through an extra-ordinarily difficult time. If you have a loved one in assisted living, a nursing home, in home care, or on hospice, consider reading this book. A bit long winded The idea of this book is a good one--but it lost momentum toward the middle of the book. I have worked in long-term care in the past and more recently in a hospice facility..I knew in my mind what the author was saying was true--but it didn't change any of the feelings I carry in my heart. I was disappointed in this book. A rating of 2 seemed to harsh and a rating of a 2 1/2 seems about right--but you can't rate a 1/2 star so I will give this book a 3. Wonderful insight into the 'real' world of nursing homes My mother went into a nursing home a little over a year ago. It is a 'good' nursing home, yet even so I have been distributed by several things related to her care (or lack thereof). The author gave a realistic picture of daily life in a nursing home from the perspective of someone who works there. I found his book to be very helpful in clarifying my own thinking about the nursing home. I recommend this to anyone who has a loved one in, or about to go into, a nursing home. Nobody's Home: Candid Reflections of a Nursing Home Aide Having spent 3 weeks time in a nursing home last year, I found the book to be well written. It was very candid, almost too much so sometime. The time I spent reading this book reminded me of many patients and circumstances that I remember so vividly that were written about. The caring of the author showed all through every chapter. This is a book that needed to be written. Thank you Thomas for your abilities. Real life stories, spot-on analysis, and gorgeous writing. A+ I added this book to my library while preparing a "reading list" of sorts for my entry into the world of managing assisted living. Although Mr. Gass' residents are skilled nursing folks, there is strong overlap if you're dealing with a high care needs population and the caregivers who work with them. For my situation - turning around a badly run facility and getting perspective on the CNA's position, it's ideal. Tom Gass is clearly an "in the trenches" story teller - but do NOT be put off by that and assume he's naive or unanalytical. Sure, the book is full of stories of coping with incontinence (aka the "poop factor"), but he has outstanding perspective on the health care and labor practices that lie behind the "incontinent war zone" he's writing about. If I have any criticism at all it's that the author could have written a bit more on the "big picture" while discussing the minute. He clearly has the mind and writing talent to tackle it. Buy this book for anyone who is underpaying a caregiver for an elder. Buy this for yourself if you are working with elders in residential care. And let's hope Mr. Gass writes some more. Honestly, there are so many learned writers out there who write badly! It's a pleasure just to read his prose. I put the book down feeling touched, energized, politicized, and in love with Tom Gass' writing style. Come on, buddy - time to write another! He belongs on the same shelf with Anne Lamott probably - although book sellers would never do that. Wry, irreverant, but ultimately in love with his subject - old people. I'm not sure what the book is doing relegated to the arcane category of "culture and politics of healthcare work." It should be sold with books on aging for non-professional readers, healthcare practice etc.. Those readers need to hear these stories - and will be grateful for the introduction. This is not a wonk's book.
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