The intake process set the tone for a less than positive experience. Several different employees called my sister and each person asked the same set of questions. Every fifteen minute call covered the same material. Only the female chaplain recognized that my sister didn't want to go over the same sorrowful facts again and again. Does Brighton use electronic charting? Could those questions not have been asked one time only? My sister and I felt we couldn't work with the first nurse who was assigned to my elderly father, because she would call my sister and, in a stressed manner, rattle off information about our father's condition. She would speak so rapidly that it was difficult to understand her. Nurses we respected had worked with her before and liked her, so this may have been a one time situation. However, my sister and I found those calls stressful, so we asked for my dad to be assigned a different nurse. This nurse did visit my dad regularly and made good suggestions as to how Dad could be made more comfortable in the nursing home, ordering more services for him such as a daily shower, massage therapy, and music therapy with a harpist, all of which Brighton provided. He also always responded promptly to our requests for consults or information. However, when it was close to the end, my sister and I had to be the ones to suggest that Dad receive morphine. We thought we could rely on his expertise and experience to let us know when this palliative measure was appropriate. As a result, our dad suffered significant discomfort for a couple days in the last week of his life which, in retrospect, seems unnecessary. We thought that one of the main points of hospice was to prevent suffering when possible; we realize it's not always possible, but Dad certainly seemed a lot more peaceful when he did get the morphine. One final concern: the male chaplain promised to follow up with my teenage nephew after my father's death, and never did. To sum up, there were very good things about the services Brighton provided, but there were disappointing things as well. read more