I'm sure most nursing homes are fine, but it's the bad ones that stick in your mind. I've had a few when it's impossible to get any sense out of the nursing staff, they think "conscious" means the same as "unconscious", they don't know their address, they don't know what constitutes a heart complaint, etc etc. It's fair enough for members of the public to be in a flap but surely these nurses have to call ambulances all the time? The worst case I found was when the home rang up with a patient who was "having difficulty breathing". During the call the patient stopped breathing. I asked if she wanted to do CPR, she said yes, I said that I'd need to stay on the line while she was doing it and that she was to tell me if there was any change (standard protocol for not-breathing patients). She hung up, so I rang back the home and got through to reception. I said to the receptionist "I was just speaking to one of your nurses and..." The receptionist cut in at this point, saying "hold on", even though I hadn't told her why I was ringing back. Two minutes later, the nurse came on the line. Yes, she'd stopped resuscitating the patient to come to reception and answer the phone. I despair.