---
title: "10 Nursing home Quotes By Atul Gawande"
description: "10 Nursing home quotes by Atul Gawande. Plus more from Atul Gawande and more Nursing home sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb4/atul-gawande-1871_life_three-plagues-of-nursing-home-existence_746743.png"
---

> [“Three Plagues of nursing home existence: boredom, loneliness, and helplessness.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/three-plagues-of-nursing-home-existence-boredom-loneliness-and/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/eb4/atul-gawande-1871_life_three-plagues-of-nursing-home-existence_746743.png)

> [These are folks that keep people out of hospitals, out of emergency rooms, out of nursing homes. And not only that, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/these-are-folks-that-keep-people-out-of-hospitals-out-of-emergency/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b24/atul-gawande-1871_achieve_these-are-folks-that-keep-people-out-of_493265.png)

> [“Hospice deploys nurses, doctors, chaplains, and social workers to help people with a fatal illness have the fullest possible lives right now—much…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/hospice-deploys-nurses-doctors-chaplains-and-social-workers-to-help/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f1a/atul-gawande-1871_freedom-from-pain_hospice-deploys-nurses-doctors-chaplains_1327802.jpg)

> [I talked to over two hundred patients and family members about their experiences with aging, serious illnesses, and the big unfixables. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/i-talked-to-over-two-hundred-patients-and-family-members-about-their/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a64/atul-gawande-1871_aging_i-talked-to-over-two-hundred-patients-an_1162914.jpg)

> [“I pressed her. Why? He had adjusted to where he was. He’d reassembled the pieces of a life—a friend, a routine, some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/i-pressed-her-why-he-had-adjusted-to-where-he-was-he-d-reassembled/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/aa8/atul-gawande-1871_differently_i-pressed-her-why-he-had-adjusted-to-whe_327783.png)

> [“10. What realities are captured in the story of Lou Sanders and his daughter, Shelley, regarding home care for an aging and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/10-what-realities-are-captured-in-the-story-of-lou-sanders-and-his/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/7a5/atul-gawande-1871_children_10-what-realities-are-captured-in-the-st_3151609.png)

> [“how she’d ended up in Sanborn Place. That was when she told me about her son Wayne. Wayne was a twin born…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/how-she-d-ended-up-in-sanborn-place-that-was-when-she-told-me-about/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c8c/atul-gawande-1871_cerebral-palsy_how-she-d-ended-up-in-sanborn-place-that_2173792.jpg)

> [“This time, she came back to Longwood House in a wheelchair and needed help with virtually all of her everyday activities—using the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/this-time-she-came-back-to-longwood-house-in-a-wheelchair-and-needed/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5cf/atul-gawande-1871_home-life_this-time-she-came-back-to-longwood-hous_2511640.png)

> [“expanded to a second location in Portland—this one had 142 units and capacity for impoverished elderly people on government support—the state required…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/expanded-to-a-second-location-in-portland-this-one-had-142-units-and/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/635/atul-gawande-1871_health_expanded-to-a-second-location-in-portlan_1694641.jpg)

> [“One day, however, they had an experience that revealed just how fragile their life had become. Bella developed a cold, causing fluid…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/one-day-however-they-had-an-experience-that-revealed-just-how-fragile/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a26/atul-gawande-1871_lack-of-sleep_one-day-however-they-had-an-experience-t_2108411.png)

## Other authors on Nursing home

## More by Atul Gawande

> [Don’t let yourself be. Find something new to try, something to change. Count how often it succeeds and how often it doesn’t. Write about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/don-t-let-yourself-be-find-something-new-to-try-something-to-change/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

> [“Wilson spent several days camped out in one government office after another until she had secured an exemption. Unbelievably, she and her husband cleared…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/wilson-spent-several-days-camped-out-in-one-government-office-after/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

> [What is needed, however, isn't just that people working together be nice to each other. It is discipline. Discipline is hard--harder than trustworthiness and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/what-is-needed-however-isn-t-just-that-people-working-together-be/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

> [“8. Chapter 4 describes the birth of the assisted-living facility concept (Park Place), designed by Keren Wilson to provide her disabled mother, Jessie, with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/8-chapter-4-describes-the-birth-of-the-assisted-living-facility/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

> [When we lived in a society where we had large families that lived together, especially in agricultural societies like my grandfather and father grew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/when-we-lived-in-a-society-where-we-had-large-families-that-lived/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

> [My biggest fear, that 27 percent of Americans under 65 have an existing health condition that, without the protections of the Affordable Care Act,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/my-biggest-fear-that-27-percent-of-americans-under-65-have-an/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

> [“..how we seek to spend our time may depend on how much time we perceive ourselves to have. When you are young and healthy,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/how-we-seek-to-spend-our-time-may-depend-on-how-much-time-we-perceive/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

> [“I cannot pretend he escaped unscathed. The extended period of low blood pressure damaged an optic nerve and left him essentially blind in one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/i-cannot-pretend-he-escaped-unscathed-the-extended-period-of-low/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

> [The battle of being mortal is the battle to maintain the integrity of one’s life,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/the-battle-of-being-mortal-is-the-battle-to-maintain-the-integrity-of/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

> [“an average of $94,000 during the last year of life with a metastatic breast cancer. Our medical system is excellent at trying to stave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/an-average-of-94-000-during-the-last-year-of-life-with-a-metastatic/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

> [“we need practice to get good at what we do. There is one difference in medicine, though: it is people we practice upon.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/we-need-practice-to-get-good-at-what-we-do-there-is-one-difference-in/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

> [People underestimate the importance of dilligence as a virtue. No doubt it has something to do with how supremely mundane it seems. It is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/people-underestimate-the-importance-of-dilligence-as-a-virtue-no/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

> [Developing a skill is painful, though. It is difficult. And that's part of the satisfaction. You will only find meaning in what you struggle…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/developing-a-skill-is-painful-though-it-is-difficult-and-that-s-part/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

> [Just look at the list of who the lowest-paid people are. Pediatricians are at the bottom. You would also look at internists. You would…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/just-look-at-the-list-of-who-the-lowest-paid-people-are-pediatricians/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

> [“When Felix came to this crossroads, the orthopedic shoe to drop wasn’t his. It was Bella’s. Year by year, I witnessed the progression in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/atul-gawande/when-felix-came-to-this-crossroads-the-orthopedic-shoe-to-drop-wasn-t/)

[Atul Gawande](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/atul-gawande/)

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                        "text": "“Hospice deploys nurses, doctors, chaplains, and social workers to help people with a fatal illness have the fullest possible lives right now—much as nursing home reformers deploy staff to help people with severe disabilities. In terminal illness that means focusing on objectives like freedom from pain and discomfort, or maintaining mental awareness for as long as feasible, or getting out with family once in a while—”",
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                        "text": "I talked to over two hundred patients and family members about their experiences with aging, serious illnesses, and the big unfixables. But I also spoke with scores of physicians, and especially geriatricians, palliative care doctors, hospice nurses, and nursing home workers. The biggest thing I found was that when these clinicians were at their best, they were recognizing that people had priorities besides merely living longer. The most important and reliable way that we can understand what people's priorities are, besides just living longer, is to simply ask. And we don't ask.",
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                        "text": "“I pressed her. Why? He had adjusted to where he was. He’d reassembled the pieces of a life—a friend, a routine, some things he still liked to do. It was true that he wasn’t as safe as he would be in a nursing home. He still feared having that big fall and no one finding him before it was too late. But he was happier. And given his druthers, he’d choose the happier place. So why choose differently? She didn’t know how to answer. She found it hard to fathom any other way. He needed someone to look after him. He wasn’t safe. Was she really supposed to just leave him there?”",
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                        "text": "“how she’d ended up in Sanborn Place. That was when she told me about her son Wayne. Wayne was a twin born without enough oxygen. He developed cerebral palsy—he had trouble with spasticity when he walked—and was mentally delayed, as well. In adulthood, he could handle basic aspects of his life, but he needed some degree of structure and supervision. When he was in his thirties, Sanborn Place opened as a place offering just that and he was its first resident. Over the three decades since, she visited him almost every day for most of the day. But when her fall put her in a nursing home, she was no longer permitted to visit him, and he wasn’t cognitively developed enough to seek to visit her. They were all but completely separated. There seemed no way around the situation. Despairing, she thought their time together was over. Carson, however, had a flash of brilliance and worked out how to take them both in. They now had apartments almost next to each other.”",
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                        "text": "“This time, she came back to Longwood House in a wheelchair and needed help with virtually all of her everyday activities—using the toilet, bathing, dressing. Alice was left with no choice but to move into the skilled nursing unit. The hope, they told her, was that, with physical therapy, she’d learn to walk again and return to her apartment. But she never did. From then on, she was confined to a wheelchair and the rigidity of nursing home life. All privacy and control were gone. She was put in hospital clothes most of the time. She woke when they told her, bathed and dressed when they told her, ate when they told her. She lived with whomever they said she had to. There was a succession of roommates, never chosen with her input and all with cognitive impairments. Some were quiet. One kept her up at night. She felt incarcerated, like she was in prison for being old.”",
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                        "text": "“One day, however, they had an experience that revealed just how fragile their life had become. Bella developed a cold, causing fluid to accumulate in her ears. An eardrum ruptured. And with that she became totally deaf. That was all it took to sever the thread between them. With her blindness and memory problems, the hearing loss made it impossible for Felix to achieve any kind of communication with her. He tried drawing out letters on the palm of her hand but she couldn’t make them out. Even the simplest matters—getting her dressed, for instance—became a nightmare of confusion for her. Without sensory grounding, she lost track of time of day. She grew severely confused, at times delusional and agitated. He couldn’t take care of her. He became exhausted from stress and lack of sleep. He didn’t know what to do, but there was a system for such situations. The people at the residence proposed transferring her to a skilled nursing unit—a nursing home floor. He couldn’t bear the thought of it. No, he said. She needed to stay at home with him. Before the issue was forced, they got a reprieve. Two and a half weeks into the ordeal, Bella’s right eardrum mended and, although the hearing in her left ear was lost permanently, the hearing in her right ear came back. “Our communication is more difficult,” Felix said. “But at least it is possible.”",
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