December 9, 2012
Yesterday there was a Christmas dinner for the residents and employees. A few residents were wearing Christmas sweaters (even though it was really hot outside) and wearing Santa hats and reindeer ears. I came in with my family and we met with the residents for a while before we ate dinner. One of the residents sat with us and he wanted to eat along with us, but his condition does not allow him to eat solid food. The nurses puree the food for him. After the dinner, gifts were handed out to the residents that nurses and other employees bought for them on behalf of the nursing home. In the end they had music playing and everyone was having a good time.
Around 7 pm, the night shift nurses started coming in and the residents had to get ready to go into their rooms.
Even though I've been volunteering here for a few years, I never volunteered during Christmas time. The nurses and the residents are like a family. One of the nurses brought her kids for the dinner and the kids were talking to the residents (I thought the kids were grandkids of one of the residents, but they aren't).
On a sad note, the nursing home is going through many legal issues, so I'm not sure if there are going to be other buyers or if it's going to be shutdown and the residents will be sent to other homes. Whoever will the new buyers I hope they are able to fix up the nursing home, because half of it is under construction, recruit more hospitals to send their patients here, and also have enough money to plan more activities for the residents.
Sunday, December 9, 2012
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Christmas Decorations
December 5, 2012
When I walked into the nursing home today, the nurses were really enthusiastic on seeing me, because they were putting up Christmas decorations. The nurses had already decorated some hallways, and I began by helping them decorate the dining hall. I brought the small Christmas tree and ornaments from their storage room and began decorating. The volunteer coordinator asked all the residents that were in the room to help me decorate the tree, but only a two residents helped. Then I helped put some lights up around the room. Two other volunteers were also setting up lights outside the nursing home.
It was kind of sad to see that the residents were not in a festive mood, while we were decorating but I could understand why. Most residents are leaving the week of Christmas for a few days to be with their families.
Since we gave our dementia presentation yesterday, I was looking out for symptoms. If a resident ignored me, I don't know if it was because they're just cranky or are they comprehending what I'm saying. One resident always introduces herself with her really long name every time I say hi to her. (I played dominoes with her previously, she was a little slow but was able to play fine.) Some residents I could tell obviously had dementia or a related disease, because when I asked questions like where they are from, they would say they don't remember. I'm not sure if confabulations are symptoms of dementia, but some residents made up really random stories. For example, one resident said her husband is waiting outside for her, and she wanted me to take her outside. When I couldn't open the door (since there was a code) she got really upset and just stood near the door. Another resident would speak, but she did not make any sense.
Anyway, I hope that every resident gets to go home for the holidays.
When I walked into the nursing home today, the nurses were really enthusiastic on seeing me, because they were putting up Christmas decorations. The nurses had already decorated some hallways, and I began by helping them decorate the dining hall. I brought the small Christmas tree and ornaments from their storage room and began decorating. The volunteer coordinator asked all the residents that were in the room to help me decorate the tree, but only a two residents helped. Then I helped put some lights up around the room. Two other volunteers were also setting up lights outside the nursing home.
It was kind of sad to see that the residents were not in a festive mood, while we were decorating but I could understand why. Most residents are leaving the week of Christmas for a few days to be with their families.
Since we gave our dementia presentation yesterday, I was looking out for symptoms. If a resident ignored me, I don't know if it was because they're just cranky or are they comprehending what I'm saying. One resident always introduces herself with her really long name every time I say hi to her. (I played dominoes with her previously, she was a little slow but was able to play fine.) Some residents I could tell obviously had dementia or a related disease, because when I asked questions like where they are from, they would say they don't remember. I'm not sure if confabulations are symptoms of dementia, but some residents made up really random stories. For example, one resident said her husband is waiting outside for her, and she wanted me to take her outside. When I couldn't open the door (since there was a code) she got really upset and just stood near the door. Another resident would speak, but she did not make any sense.
Anyway, I hope that every resident gets to go home for the holidays.
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