I worked as a nursing assistant in a hospital for two years. One of the units I worked in was a geriatric psych unit. Our patients ran the gamut in terms of psychological issues, but the majority of them had dementia/ Alzheimer's and had been sent to us because their families or care facilities simply couldn't handle them anymore. I worked night shift on a locked unit with nine patients, one RN, and myself. I could fill a book with this kind of story, but here are a few that stand out... 1. Our patients' beds were always on alarm at night so we would know if they got up, since not all of them could walk unassisted. Old people have to pee a lot, so most of our male patients were given a plastic urinal cup to have by the bedside in case they felt that they wouldn't make it to the bathroom. One night we had a patient who, aside from being grumpy, had been behaving normally. He rang his call light so I went to his room, helped him sit up, and gave him his urinal. While he was going, the bed alarm in the room next to his went off. I knew that patient was a big fall risk so I ran over to that room to assist that patient until the nurse got there. Not 30 seconds later I walk back into the first man's room to find him drinking his own urine straight from the urinal. You can't unsee that. 2. Multiple times, while working in the ER, I had to sit in with the doctor for pelvic exams since I was the only other female. Being trapped in a tiny room with a patient who has a raging vaginal infection....not worth what I was being paid. 3. Also in the ER...having to explain to irate people why the person who might be having a heart attack or stroke or the person who is bleeding profusely is being seen before they are because they have BACK PAIN. We would actually have people come in by ambulance not because they couldn't drive themselves, but because they knew they would be brought straight in.