Living in a Nursing Home

While working as a CNA, Certified Nursing Assistant, I made several observations about nursing home life and the elderly. Some observations were heart-warming, where as others were quite heart-wrenching. Here are some of my personal observations and opinions about nursing home life as I encountered it.

Often times, when a person is placed in a nursing home, it is because of declining health and the inability of family members to properly care for their relative. More often than not, people are placed in nursing homes with their best interests in mind. They will have the benefit of round-the-clock care, trained staff, routine, regular medication and meals, and social activities that are easily accessible. Families are able to leave their family member in the nursing home knowing that they will be taken care of. It is a safe environment for the elderly patient to live.

Sadly enough, I have seen many, many cases in which an elderly person in the nursing home does not have visits from their family members for weeks at a time. Sometimes even longer. This causes great depression in the elderly patient. Several of the residents that I helped care for would tell me that they felt alone, like their family no longer cared about them. This really bothers me. They are people too. Just because they are older does not mean that they should feel abandoned. These residents tend to act in two different ways. Either they wither away and become introverted, or not so trusting of the staff. The nurses and aids that care for them on a regular basis are often blamed for the family not visiting, or they begin to look at the staff and other residents as their new family. and become very close to them.

Those that blame the staff are, of course, a bit harder to help. They tend to be combative. They don't know how else to deal with the issue. These people try your patience, but once you gain their trust, they are as nice as a kitten. Those that create a new family tend to be the ones that always want to talk. In the end, if the staff is caring enough, patient enough, and doesn't give up, these elderly patients realize there is nothing to fear.

Through working in a nursing home, I gained a new-found respect for elderly people. I used to think that they were just telling stories that had no meaning. Them I really listened to them. More often than not, they were remembering, or trying to teach a verbal lesson. I made friends with several of my residents, and learned a lot too.

Of course, the hardest part about working in a nursing home is losing a patient. As a CNA, I was taught that I should not "get attached" to any of my residents because they are all in the nursing home essentially to live out their last days. It is my job to give them the best quality of life that I can. I quickly found out that in order to be the best I could be as an aid, I was going to get close to these people. How can I be expected to improve the quality of a persons life without having a heart and caring about them? Not possible from my perspective. With that in mind, losing a patient hurts. The staff at a nursing home does tend to grieve at each and every loss. I have held the hand of a dying patient, and because the family requested it, I told her it was okay to let go. Imagine taking care of someone who is totally unrelated to you on a daily basis, becoming her friend, then telling her it is okay to die. It happens.

I will admit, while working in the nursing home, I also saw that not every person who is an aid has the same kind of heart that I do. I was one who would sit with a patient and feed him or her until he or she was done eating. I wouldn't just attempt a few bites and walk away. Sometimes, the elderly need to be coaxed into eating or drinking, or even bathing for that matter. Someone needs to take the time. I felt it was my job. I went to one residents funeral and because of my patience with the deceased lady, her daughter took flowers from atop of her casket, handed them to me , and introduced me to those who didn't know me as "the woman who kept mom alive for the last month she lived". In fact, I didn't keep her alive, I just did what I felt any decent human being should do. I took care of her to the best of my ability.

Often times, we hear of all the bad things that happen in nursing homes. If something bad happens, it is all over the news, however; if something good happens, it goes unnoticed. I want every one in the world to know that nursing homes are good places for your loved ones, and more often than not, the people taking care of them really do have good hearts. I'm not saying that ALL nursing homes are great, but the majority are . With the combined effort of the staff and the residents family, nursing home life can be a very positive thing.