Without A Doubt I Knew I Wanted To Observe Interaction

I was taking a client for a walk around the grounds. My client is elderly and suffers from dementia.

Growing up in southern California, there were frequently situations where there was interaction with transients or the homeless. One such occurrence has always remained etched in my memory. While heading to lunch with a group of friends we walked past a man who

The Emergency Department (ED) nurse is completing the admission assessment. Nancy is alert but struggles to answer questions. When she attempts to talk, she slurs her speech and appears very frightened.

Mrs. Newman arrives at the outpatient surgical department at 6:30 am and is escorted to her room. The admitting nurse begins her assessment;

Tina's mother informed the operations nurse that once Tina had been taken to the operating room, she would go run an errand involving Tina's older sibling and that she would be back to pick Tina after recovering from the surgery. Tina's mother then issued the pre operation nurse with her cell phone number instructing her to call her as soon as Tina was discharged from the hospital.

As Chay got near the front doors of the hospital he jumped off his bike, ran through the doors, down the hallway to the glass windows where he had last seen his mother. Chay looked through the glass window, but he couldn’t see her, so he ran to the door and tried to open it, but it was locked from the

There were small sheets of paper in each resident’s room, saying what their favourite things are, what they used to do, about their family and life, which was very touching for me to see the preservation of dignity throughout the facility. Although these write-ups were in everyone’s room it was as if there was not a human laying in that bed. It was like they were all mannequins and there was an indiscernible race, the focus was shifted from the individual to the completion of task at hand. Many care aides would have conversations about their weekend, or talk about the resident right in front of them. Some residents could hear and some could not, never the less,

Sandra McManamon described her mother as “spunky” and said “she was a busy bee” before she had multiple strokes leaving her immobile and eventually dementia set in resulting in having to reside in a nursing home. When McManamon was describing what she witnessed at the living center to the interviewer, she said, “The urine and bowel movement odor was a lot of times horrendous…” and that “…ants were eating the feces, the breathing equipment they brought in for my mom was caked with black dirt…at one point, it took me seven days to have someone come in and unclog the commode.” McManamon hated leaving her mother there and she knew that if she didn’t personally change her every night before she left, that her mother would sleep in her own feces.

Both of the gentlemen stated they had been in other homes and that this was the nicest home they had been in. Kenneth complained of his first home ¡°smelling more like a zoo than a nursing home.¡± John told me that his last home was on the South Side and that the neighborhood was filled with gang bangers and hoodlums. When his family visits here though, they wheel him through the Lincoln Park neighborhoods and it¡¯s nice. For all of the questions that I asked these two men, they had just as many questions for me. Heading in to this assignment, I hadn¡¯t really considered that someone would be asking ME questions. In the midst of all that happens in nursing homes, it¡¯s important to remember that these residents aren¡¯t just dependent, older people, but that they are still people just like you and I.

On Christmas Eve in 2010, my grandmother received a gift from a hospice nurse who was assisting with my grandfather’s deteriorating health. Initially both surprised and embarrassed by the gesture, her emotions quickly changed once she removed the wrapping. A single package of Ramen Noodles was revealed. Embarrassment changed to confusion as she attempted to wrap her mind around what she had received. The hospice worker drove a 1997 Plymouth Voyager that she regularly complained about not being able to run properly for more than a week. She wore old worn out clothing and my grandmother claims she had never seen the woman wear jewelry before. It was evident that she was not wealthy. Although she could not afford a gift, the nurse in her

Sue spends the greatest amount of time with the nurse and discussing her diabetes and acknowledges that the nurse is the face of the MDT. She has always seen the same nurse so it is easy for her to discuss her diabetes with him and for that reason the nurse and she have a good rapport.

The lack of attention to the aesthetics of the facility not only created a depressive feel, but also created sanitation issues. Caroline described the staff often placing soiled linens and used bed pans out in the hall for hours without being attended to. For Caroline, this exacerbated the painfulness of this already emotional transition for her when she first arrived. And even though Caroline’s room was cleaned by the staff prior to moving in, it still presented as dirty and with a foul order. The food at the nursing home was unappealing and often leads to the decrease in appetite of most of the residents. In addition, the fact that Caroline was the only female client posed a threat to her development of a support system and created an uncomfortable environment.

I ambitiously decided that I would brighten the lives of the elderly by volunteering at a rest home, but discovered that the elderly were being neglected, shoved aside and forgotten. As I stepped into the home a pungent odor penetrated my nostrils, causing an instantaneous gagging reflex. The place was abounded with neglected and subdued inhabitants, yearning for attention. Anybody that passed them caused a sudden outburst of ranting. The negligence and disregard the home displayed appalled me, but helped me to realize that I wanted to make a difference and change the condition people live in.

After a while, Mama came in. She smiled at me and said, “Good morning,” before she bent over Sarah’s crib.

Like a perfect automaton, the nurse proceeds to measure vital signs and note her findings with as little human interaction with you as is possible. After the nurse has completed her tasks, you must wait until the doctor pops his head in, nurse's records in hand. The doctor then proceeds to ask you some variation of the stock doctor question: "What seems to be the problem today?"