Delores was no nurse or nurse's aid and with Vera's condition, Vera should have been in a nursing home because she was mainly bedridden and needed constant care.
shareGo ahead. You tell Vera that. I'll just go wait over here in the corner while she reams you out a new a$$hole.
I want the doctor to take your picture so I can look at you from inside as well.
Why put her in a nursing home? She had her own home. If she wished to be there in her remaining days she had every right to do so.
Dolores had worked for this woman for years and she understood her. They both had shared secrets in their pasts.
As for Dolores not being a nurse, I believe she was far better than some nurse or aid in some old folk's home.
I'd much rather live out my last days in my own home surrounded by my favorite possessions with a loyal friend to care for me than in some nursing home with strangers who will hopefully care for me.
"Fasten your seatbelts. It's going to be a bumpy night"
I've worked around enough nursing home aids to know training has nothing to do with one's ability to care for the elderly. Sometimes all it takes is someone who cares for another human being. A heart for others. It's been my experience that some "professionals" could care less. Sometimes it's all about the paycheck. Vera was fortunate to have Delores care for her. All they had was each other.
shareAs a person who works in a nursing home, I would not put my worst enemy in one. I have seen far too many aids and caregivers who are just there for a paycheck. There are many good aids who take care of those in nursing homes. But there are also the bad ones and not to mention how understaffed most nursing homes are. No guarantee going to a nursing home would be better than staying at home and having a trusted care giver.
shareI know the book is the book but I'll say something about how it was in the book, without any spoilers.
By way of bullet points:
* Vera was never one to heed medical advice
* Vera had never been declared mentally incompetent, so she was very much in control of where she lived
* Vera had additional part-time staff so it can be reasoned that she'd pay for the island doctor to visit her on a regular basis
* Dolores had proven herself to be very competent, by way of scarcely falling foul of Vera's nutty, dictatorial and highly specific rules
* Vera had grown to love Dolores as her dearest friend and only Dolores comforted her during Vera's night terrors
* The story takes place on Little Tall, an island that in Stephen King's universe has a strong islanders' code of staying on the island. Vera has always loved Little Tall so she chose to move there permanently before she fell ill. There's no way she would leave
So all in all, Dolores was probably the best placed person to care for Vera.