The Cost of Quality Care in one Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey

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independent. Many of the patients themselves are no longer committed to the facility with an indefinite sentence length, instead Nurse Ratched has made them codependent upon her to stay at the facility.

Another key factor in the abuse that Nurse Ratched inflicts in the facility are the types of emotional abuse she inflicts on her patients. An emotional abuser according to the American Humane Association is “commonly defined as a pattern of behavior by parents or caregivers that can seriously interfere with a person’s cognitive, emotional, psychological or social development which can include manipulation, terrorizing, isolating...” (AHA). Nurse Ratched uses a series of these techniques throughout the novel to isolate, manipulate, and terrorize her patients. Such as when Billy Bibbit was found with the prostitute Nurse Ratched uses manipulation to get him to feel ashamed of himself, “What worries me Billy, is how your poor mother is going to take this” (4.4.32). Many other patients in State run Psychiatric Facilities have attendings to nurses that inflict the same type of emotional abuse daily.

Lastly, is the ineptitude of the staff at the Psychiatric Facility in the novel. From what we can infer from what Kesey gives us throughout the novel is that none of the medical staff employed by the facility has any training at all or the capability to deal with mentally ill patients in the ward. Per the Citizens Commissions on Human Rights “There are 450 million mentally ill people in the world (Source: WHO Mental Health Survey, 2010) and barely enough caretakers and institutions” (CCHR). In 2010 we had more information about mental illnesses than ever before however we barely met the needs of the mentally ill. In the 1960’s the level of education and training to be able to adequately meet the needs of patients with mental illnesses was extremely underdeveloped.

In conclusion I believe that I have proven that mentally ill patients such as the ones from One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest are often more abused if they seek care in a state run mental facility opposed to a privately owned facility. Many things can go unnoticed in state run facilities such as improper punishments, ineptitude, and the emotional damage that can be inflicted on a patient.

Work Cited:

"1930-1950: New Treatments." 1930-1950: New Treatments. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.

"CCHR International." CCHR International. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.

"MENTAL HEALTH." CRESON, DAN L. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.

"Emotional Abuse." Emotional Child Abuse – Definitions of Child Neglect and Other Emotionally Abusive Behavior. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.

"The Detrimental Effects of Emotional Abuse." Google Books. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2016.

Kesey, Ken. One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest: A Novel. New York: Viking, 1962. Print.