A tolerable death National data shows that about one in four people in nursing homes who have daily pain do not receive even simple medicines like aspirin. Family members should expect that pain can be controlled. M.D. A tolerable death.
Some people hope and pray for it.
But when asked, families who stood by the nursing home beds of their loved ones said that those final days never approached what they thought of as tolerable. Instead, their loved ones' last days were filled with pain, unanticipated treatment decisions, a lack of communication between physicians and nursing homes, and an absence of spiritual support. These bad experiences, identified in a survey of 204 Rhode Island bereaved family members, will only expand across the country. Within 20 years, the elderly population is expected to increase substantially in all states. Dying in a nursing home can be made tolerable.