September 30, 2012

I really do not want to get into the personal lives of any resident, but today one lady she would always talk about her sons. Later I found out from one of the nurses that her sons don't live in Houston, so they rarely come and visit. I was really upset at her sons, I could not even imagine not seeing my parents for years.

I noticed that the nursing home does not have many activities for the resident other than BINGO, so some residents just roam around having conversations with nurses or watch TV. I'm going to ask the even coordinator to plan more activities for them. I remember when I was in high school over summer breaks, when I used to get very bored staying home all day, I can only imagine what the residents do inside the nursing home, when they don't even get to go outside without a nurse. My schedule is so busy throughout the week mainly with school and work, but these residents don't have anything to do. One lady, Ms. Rachel asked what I did last weekend, and I hadn't realized that I did not volunteer last week. When she asked me, I noticed that she really looks forward to when I come and visit, not only me but also a church group that visits on Wednesdays.

This nursing home is on the verge of shutting down, because they did keep up with some requirements and a lot of legal issues, but I really hope, all the residents find a better nursing home where there are more people visiting and more activities planned. 

New Era Nursing Home

The nursing home that I volunteer is undergoing an audit, so I mainly helped the nurses and managers with filing paperwork. It is also undergoing some construction to make more rooms for more residents so currently there are only about 30 residents. Whenever I volunteer I make sure to visit one resident who is the sweetest lady, I have been telling her about my classes since I was a freshman when Dr. Simmons had us do a service learning project in Gen Bio II. This lady had stroke nine years ago and is paralyzed from the waist down and left half of her body, but she does not let that stop her from venturing out of the nursing home. When I went in yesterday she wanted to go eat snow cones from an ice cream truck, but since it was raining we could not take her electric wheelchair outside. Until the audit, I think I will be busy with organizing the files of the nursing home, but I'd much rather spend time with the residents.

Orientation

September 8, 2012

This week I went to orientation at the Healthcare for the Homeless. The coordinator was very welcoming and gave us a tour of the building which consisted of a medical and dental clinic. They shared the building with another organization called SEARCH which provides single-night shelter and food for the homeless. She also gave a brief overview of what types of tasks we will perform while we volunteer, which were mainly helping patients at the front desk filling out their paperwork because many patients are diagnosed with mental illnesses or do not know how to read or write. Sometimes we may also be able to shadow the doctor, which what I'm looking forward to most. After learning the important information about the clinic, I was hoping to start volunteering fairly soon, but the coordinator notified that they have no available slots currently. She did say to keep checking my email in case anything opens up. Due to the unavailability at Healthcare for Homeless, I may continue to volunteer at an under served nursing home which I've been volunteering for the past three years. New Era Nursing Home houses patients that are covered by Medicaid.