Hello everyone.

I have been in the USA for the last four years, I have been a nurse for eighteen years, fourteen of those was in Puerto Rico.

Its been a huge shock for me the difference of family care, closeness and love from most of the north american patients/family members vs other cultures.

For example, a lot of elderly people are mostly alone and end up in SNf, ALF and nursing homes due to family members being far away and "not able" to take care of them.

How is this possible? How can someone be that selfish?

And yes, I understand there can be situations and history in that particular case. But I see it every week, with a lot of different patients. Not everyone could have been that bad in life and deserve such coldness and abandonment fron their family.

I have heard every excuse, but I compare the situations to others I have seen, for example, in my home country, and family members eother fly in or take the patient to their state home to take care of them.

It breaks my heart seeing how lonely and sad this elderly patients are.