Nursing home patients benefit from volunteers who act as advocates for them when they do not have the ability to voice their own needs. These volunteers are ombudsmen. They can check the patients and their care to verify they are receiving quality care per healthcare standards. Nursing homes are in need of these types of advocates for better patient care.
One ombudsman said this, “I know how important it is to find people who care and give good quality care,” said one ombudsman, who was an advocate for her parents when they became ill. Her mother was in and out of the hospital and a nursing home during her last years of life. So when she received a letter about the need for volunteer ombudsmen, the appeal hit home. “This was an opportunity to give back to the community and feel as if I was making a difference by representing people who didn't have a voice.” For more, read the story.
