Sunrise Senior Living review: Terrible Service 22

Sunrise Senior Living is the worst care facility you could put a loved one into. I was on a plane with some of the big wigs of Sunrise. They demanded great service and to be treated like priority one.

After talking to them for the trip, I learneed that none of them cared about any of the residnets at Sunrise, especially as long as they were treated like royalty.

I got up, went to the bathroom in the rear of the plane, and handed the CEO a bag of my crap.

Why?

Cause thats what Sunirse Executives are full of

SUNRISE AT HOME SENIOR LIVING SUCKS! | Sunrise Senior Living Retaliates Against Clients That Complain

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I know of an executive director in Northern California who didn't even graduate high school! She's a psychopath who lies about her education and she's worked for them for over a year now! They don't even bother to check education of those in charge of their poor elderly clients. Shame on them. No wonder their reputation is poor. I feel so bad for the elderly in their care!

reminiscence neighbor hood residents are neglected, the entire neighborhood smells of urine, the furniture is old and dilapidated, and urine soaked
the walls are scuffed, and residents regularly relive themselves in areas other than their toilets

I agree the management staff only care about their bonuses and commissions. This happened at a Sunrise in Massachusetts. An Executive Director whom I personally know avoided an upset resident by climbing out of his office window and leaving the property. I am sure this residents son would be irate to learn that his $4000/plus monthly fees are going to her good care.

The management is aweful at sunrise. I agree with the previuos write about the education of the executive directors, you do not need any kind of degree to run one of their communities. Upper management only wants the move in rate up. All of their communities are under, so they will say anything to get our loved ones in. They have had to back even basic cuts, they say that the cook from scratch which is not true a care giver told me even the pies are frozen from sysco. I was served a bowl of what was suppose to be fresh fruit, it was fruit cocktail out of a can and had fur on it. If that is how much they care about their food how we except them to care for our loved ones.

I truly hope this is the exception and not the rule, but I have no experience whatsoever to state an opinion either way. I googled Sunrise as I am considering a position there. Totally off the path of my professional resume but am looking for something that provides me flexibility of shifts.

I am a mother, and have parents that are older. My reason for my interest is because I know I do care, I feel I have more tolerance to indifference and compassion that most. I have an interview next week and will go so far to ask about such complaints and what their procedures are for training and/or reporting when things may not be as they should. Maybe they should be the next company to go on Undercover Boss. I want to believe whole heartedly that for as many bad seeds that can fester in large companies, that for the individuals who would be willing to do this form of work have better morals to do so.

I know this gives you nothing, but for whatever reason someone makes a desicion to make such a move, part of the reason is knowing it's a lot to cope with mixed with your daily lives. That anyone that takes this one will have challenges, as it's part of human nature. Are some better suited that others (on the front line), of course, but I would guess it's what steps there take there after that make the difference. Greed of corporate level folks runs rampted in every industry, though this is an industry that sells human compassion, it doesn't make it nonexistent. I think no matter what the final choice is, as individuals we need to know we still need to have a 'hands-on' involvement when caring for our elders. Another expection is how some drop them off, to never have any involvement ever again, to me that is just as upsetting.

I absolutely agree with everyone here, Brighton Gardens in Tampa, FL really sucks! The care that the residents receive is no good. Our residents are always complaining about different caregivers on how they are treated. The residents has no freedom of choice, they are told what to do instead of giving them time to decide for themselves. Residents are always complaining about the way the building is built, the bathroom doors interfers with the front door. The staff who passes meds, are not trained the right way, they are in such a big hurry to get the meds out that they do not double check their meds before giving, they are not accurate with the MORS, residents are not given enough time to actually have a nice evening meal, staff is so worried about getting their own food before it runs out. The staff shows alot of concerns with residents when all the big shots are around but in the evening and night shift, they just do the less possible work that has to be done and there is no caring for our residents. They are so worried about getting everybody to bed so the staff can sit down the last 2 hours and do as little as possible. I would say this is very poor service. I would not anybody I know live here.

AGREE totally. Parents just in Sunrise by Belmont, CA last few months and unless you can get around on a wheelchair or a walker, they ignore you, forget your med, and treat you like nothing. The windows do not even open without total force from a maintenance person. The rugs are sprayed with Oust, never cleaned, and we had to clean his bathroom and windows before move in. They should not be in business. The Nor. Cal executive directors as ones said above must go.

I worked at a Sunrise in Ohio for 2 years and I was surprised by the lack of care that was involved with their so called "Care Managers". These people aren't even required to be STNA's hell they don't even have to be CNA's. These facilities are a shame and to put it bluntly they need to be shut down as soon as possible!.

I worked for the sunrise in Oklahoma, and i have to say it is a hard job for a cna/cma they pay you 9.00 a hour to care for residents, which are nursing home residents and need way more care than what a assisted living is capable of, dining room service, housekeeping, activities, and etc... the caremanagers, are understaffed because sunrise does not pay enough for all those things, so the ones they have are overworked, and tired, and do the best they can, care wise, the management is never there they are always out, they do not support their staff, its a lot of discrimination, and i could go on, the bottom line is those residents pay alot of money and deserve better, and when you appreciate your staff, they will go over and beyond to do their job!

I agree with what all of these people have to say. Sunrise workers do not have any education nor work experience that would allow anyone to ever go into the caregiving profession. The Management is unsavory and I cant say much else for the buildings that these individuals pay literally thousands of dollars to stay. No one deserves to be treated with such a lack of respect nor the threat of being physically/mentally/verbally abused. Who knows what else these people who take care of the baby boomers have done to them...God only knows. The baby boomers are dying left and right due to the neglect that the workers show them. Most of the workers at sunrise are mexican, there are rare occasions where there is someone of other ethnicity and they are regularly written up for bogus claims.

I can't speak to any of your experiences but I can say that mine is different. And let me qualify by saying that each community is different. I can only speak from my own personal experience. I am an executive director at a Sunrise community. I have been with Sunrise for for 4 years. I have a bachelor's degree and I have over 25 years experience in senior housing, ranging from a CCRC, to Independent Living, to Assisted Living with Alzheimer's Care. My coordinator team has largely worked their way up from starting as care managers to leads/supervisors, to now coordinators/managers over the course of years. None of these jobs in our communities are easy and if you think people chose this work because they're slackers and they can get away with doing as little work as possible, you're wrong. My days are often 10-12 hours per day with holidays and weekends included. My day doesn't end at a certain time, it ends when my work is done and the community is quiet and the residents are all taken care of. If something comes up, as it often does, right as I'm ready to leave for the day, then my day is a little longer until the issue is resolved. If a family member has an issue after I have gone home for the day or on my day off, then I call them from home so they do not have to wait til I return to work. Our business is a service and that takes place 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, no matter what. I speak not only for myself, by for my coordinator team and the team of care managers, housekeepers, cooks, etc. that work with us -- we're there because we believe in making a difference and providing for a higher quality of life than what our residents would have if they were to go to a nursing home. Our care managers have a higher than average retention rate both in our company as well as against an industry standard. They may not all be highly educated, but they have a sincere care and concern for our residents. Let me give you a few examples: I know of a care manager that regularly spends her own money to buy supplies for some of our residents (shampoo, toiletries, etc.) because the resident needs them and the family (even after several notifications) still had not provided them. As executive director, I approached this care manager and tried to reimburse her for these supplies and she refused to take any reimbursement saying she does it because it's her way of showing her love to her residents. I know of another care manager who was concerned about a resident that was having health issues and suffering from depression. She knew this lady was born and grew up in another country and in her old age, missed some of the comforts of her homeland, in particular, her favorite dish. This care manager researched recipes for this particular dish, made it, and brought it in for this resident and they shared the meal together. On another occasion, we had a new resident that moved in just a few days before Christmas. He had moved from another state, his wife was divorcing him, and the family was in conflict. The resident was doing his best to adjust to such an abrupt change in his life. One of our care managers recognized this and in a gesture of great kindness, went out and bought him a small decorated Christmas tree for his room to help him feel at home. I've known many of our team members to go visit residents in the hospitals, rehab centers, and nursing homes because they genuinely care about them and think of them like a family member. When the families go home, we're there with your loved ones, calming and reassuring them when they're having a bad night, and doing our best to provide not just for your loved one's physical needs, but also their emotional needs. That's not always easy. I personally sat with a resident for two hours one night (at the end of my scheduled work day) because he needed someone to talk to. Our activities coordinator arranged for one of our residents with oxygen to go to a trip to the horse track. He loved going to the track and she even arranged for his brother to meet him there as a special surprise. This man was so thrilled saying he never thought he would be able to go to the track again, but thanks to the staff who took on the responsibility of assisting him with his wheelchair and oxygen tanks, they made it work for him and made it a special day. This gentleman was on hospice and died 3 days later, but his family was thrilled he had that one last chance to do something he loved and saw his brother again as well. You can't pay people to care. Our care managers and our team get to know our residents and are people of kindness, compassion and caring - it's who they are and they do this work not just for a pay check, but because they know they've contributed to someone's quality of life each and every day they go to work. As far as the education of our care managers - we provide approximately 30 hours of training during the first 30 days of employment, plus shadowing and job skills assessments. The work our care managers perform is largely assistance with activities of daily living (grooming, dressing, bathing, etc.) and is non-medical so we do not require medical training. The Sunrise philosophy is all about giving residents choices - what time do you want to get up in the morning, what time of day would you like to take your shower, etc. verses nursing homes which schedule such tasks based upon what's most efficient for the employees. My grandmother was in a nursing home for a number of years. The aids were rotated every other week so just as she got to know them, they were rotated again. She had to get up at 5:30 every morning in order to go to breakfast at 7:00 because the aides had to get so many other residents up, dressed, and ready for breakfast by that time. She also was readied for bed around 7 p.m. so the aides could get everyone ready for bed by 9:00. There was no choice for her. That was the schedule. That is the way it works in nursing homes. Sunrise strives to provide an alternative with choices and a higher quality of life for our residents. I'm sorry for those that have had bad experiences with Sunrise. For my part, I try every day to do my job to the best of my ability and make my Sunrise community a place of warmth, kindness, and compassion where our residents are well care for, content and have the highest quality of life possible for their circumstances. For those of you that have loved ones in a Sunrise or any other home for that matter, your thanks and appreciation go a long way with the staff in the communities. A sincere thank you from a family member totally makes our day and knowing we had a positive impact on our residents' lives is our second paycheck.

Sorry to disagree, but my parents were in Sunrise of Belmont and the Exec, Director was cold and horrible to their complaints. The night staff dropped my parent onto the floor and tried to cover it up. The wound they said came from home and not the facility. I complained to State Licensing who cited them for not giving the heart medicine they should have given. I agree with all the negative complaints above. This facility is only okay if you have a parent who needs an apartment, can get around pretty well, shower and walk or use a walker. If he/she needs assistance, stay away from this place.

I couldn't agree more with the complaints above. I worked- for a very short time- as a Wellness Nurse in one of the Sunrise AL facilities. First of all they boast having nursing staff there to be able to tend to the needs of the residents if any should arise. That would be well and good except I was instructed to do pretty much NOTHING except call 911 if anything happened. Seriously they didn't even want me to administer CPR if need be. I told them that I couldn't- and most certainly wouldn't- agree to that. I felt right away that the same bait-and-switch campaign that they have going to get residents in the door they also use on potential employees. I can tell you that all of those little perks that people see in the tours are things that are never used. I never saw anybody using the cool whirlpool bath tubs or any of the lounging areas. CMS stated that those things were "too much trouble".

Though it seemed like it was going to be a wonderful position at 1st things quickly changed once orientation was over. Management doesn't want the employees to do ANYTHING that they consider "above and beyond"- even if it's not really so! Ex: We had an actively dieing res and I called her hospice nurse because she really needed to be seen and needed her meds for comfort. The hospice nurse was held up and couldn't get right over, but asked me to go ahead and give the meds. I am licensed and trained to do so and it is within my scope. Still I ck with my super and she tells me that, while I CAN, I shouldn't because then the hospice nurses will always expect that sort of thing. What sort of thing? That another nurse would gladly assist a dieing patient to be more comfortable in her last hours- understanding that also in doing to so it would relieve some anxiety from her family sitting bedside? I had the means to help this lady and her family and I gladly did so. I didn't care if those hospice nurses called me 100 times on my shifts to assist with similar cases for crying out loud!

I came home in tears after my shift nearly every time I went to work. Too many times the level of care that the resident was going to need pre-move in was greatly under reported- even though they do have an exam prior to moving in. Only after they were in and the deal was sealed did the real level of care come out- much to the family's dismay as all these new things added to the bottom line of payment each month. If the family didn't pay for the extra care then the facility claimed it wasn't up to them to see that it got done. A couple of the the new admits were actually in need of the locked alzheimer's wing but since it was full they said we just needed to watch them and "make do" til there was an opening on the locked side. Yet non of their Alzheimer type behaviors showed up on admit papers. How is any of that fair or safe for Grandma? It's NOT. But the bottom line is that they top dollar is all that this company cares about.

The final straw for me was when the woman in charge of filling the apartments boasted and bragged that she went to visit an ailing resident in the hospital and "knew just by looking at him that he was going to die"- so she called a family she had just given a tour to and told them the apt they were interested in was open. She was all jazzed to start the paperwork and get these new people in the door when the poor old guy at the hospital hadn't even died yet! For what they pay at that place the very least the management could do- and I do mean very least- is not sell their home out from under them before they are gone!

I agree and disagree with some of your comments. I have worked for the company for 3 years and although it is not great ( I have yet to see one that is perfect) it is not as horrible as people make it sounds. When you are putting your loved ones in a facility aren't you shopping around? Or are you just "sticking" them in the most convenient place. You should be looking at more then one company, and when you find one that you like you should most definitely look at more then one building. At sunrise I feel like I get asked a billion questions by potential residents, and I try to answer them as fairly as possible whether it helps me or not. I think a lot of these "problems" being addressed here are by people who do not research a facility. Are you asking questions of staff, are you interviewing residents? Sunrise always has model rooms, but no place is perfect. You should be checking the quality of the furniture, if the carpets are cleaned and if the person touring you is saying hello to residents. When you move in the building doesn't magically become outdated or old, it has already been that way, you just weren't paying attention.

Sunrise hires people who are unfit for caremanaging, yet wrongfully fire the ones with heart. The sunrise that I worked at fired 3 people who sued and won $. They hide their mistkes too. One family was being charged after their moms death.. and another family was overcharged on assistance. I worked in the med department and it was scary to see how unprofessional the nurse was. She would throw away meds that I would find in the dementia/alzheimer's unit. I was amazed how she could do that and act like it was nothing! what if another resident had gone in there and taken those pills! the staff is ill trained and the management sucks [censor]! I would nvr refer someone there unless I wanted them to die soon

I response to "I care for seniors" I worked at sunrise here in PETALUMA, CA for about a year and a half. HORRIBLE place to work. Yes...the Sunrise philosophy is about giving the seniors choices, but they do not back that up. I was one of two employees who had to care for approximately 5-10 seniors in a two hour period in the morning. Getting each of them up out of bed, to the toilet, into the shower, bathe them, diaper them, dress them, then take downstairs to sit in dining room and wait until we were done getting the others ready to eat. Now mind you, my shift started at 10pm and ended at 6am. Sunrise works you to the bone and I even got in trouble from my boss for hanging out with one of the residents, whom I adored, for too long visiting with her. Working there was a nightmare, I never want to get old, I have not one nice thing to say about management AT PETALUMA SUNRISE ASSISTED LIVING. Abuse I witnessed first hand...this place is just horrible!

i disagree. i work at a sunrise now and it takes alot to take care of other people. i have very close bonds with the residents and know them better than their own families know them now. many family members come in and complain about ### things... but as a care giver i know they are only doing it because they feel guilty they put them in a home instead of taking care of them themselves. so if u are unhappy with the care take them home and care for them yourself.

if your that unhappy with the care take them home and care for them yourself.. instead of complaining

Sunrise is terrible. I worked in one in Massachusetts for over a year, . The staff is abusive, and blame you for their mistakes. Also don't give you raises or reviews for you hard work.
They only care about money. I loved my residents and the families so much. I just couldn't;t handle the abuse that I encountered. I remember working hard and never being appreciated. I would not recommend sunrise to anyone. Not even my worst enemy., They should visit them more often and close them down one by one.

Sunrise of Baton Rouge had uncertified, unlicensed pesticide applicators, ( confirmed) by the state of Louisiana. My husband, (38yrs old) at the time suffered and still suffers from seizures, rashes, oozing sores, the list goes on and on. We filed a suit hoping they would finally have to admit what poisons they used. We have yet to this day get an msds. Medical records went missing and while our attorney was a new extravagant office, he withdrew making the courts believe we fired him. Looking back at it today they didn't want the news to get out that the pesticides ( looked like it had snowed was said in testimony) were never cleaned up and was tracked in and out that facility. The investigation from what I believe is to be true, had two different reports.