Saturday 20, 2012
Yesterday I learned how to play dominos with a few residents. I felt like I was playing with children because the residents were arguing with each other about who's turn it is. One resident insisted that he keeps score and he cheated! He wrote down the wrong scores giving himself of course the highest score. It was just surprising how they argued like children and I would be the one trying to make them understand. Mr. Porter, the resident who cheated, would also get very irritated if someone took long in their turn. The nursing home is also a rehab center so many of the residents have gone debilitating conditions and are recovering. Many of the residents are not in the right state of mind, and when they speak to me and ask me questions, I don't understand what they are saying. I just respond by saying "Yeah" or "okay", and they get really upset with me.
I'm not afraid of getting old, but when I'm a senior citizen I'm afraid of becoming mentally ill and becoming physically dependent on others. Since I usually come in after they have lunch, one lady was sitting on the table with an empty plate and she was tapping the plate on the table continuously and when I looked at her few minutes later she was tapping her glass against her plate. Every time I looked over she would be tapping something against the table. Of course I know I won't be able to do everything that I can now, but not being able to eat or use the restroom on my own scares me. The resident who likes to sing along to Elvis Presley, I saw him cleaning up the floor with his hands, I tried helping him by bringing a broom, but he didn't want me to sweep, he wanted the trash in his hands. Another resident who had a stroke is paralyzed from her legs down, and when she was slipping off her wheelchair she yelled for the nurses, she relied on the nurses for everything. The residents who are mentally healthy, just sat in their chairs quietly and not really interacting much.
I am getting permission from the head of the nursing home in order to take pictures of the residents, so I can post them. :)
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Sunday, October 14, 2012
Saturday, October 13, 2012
I really wish I knew how to speak Spanish, because I sat with five residents who only spoke Spanish. I can ask simple questions like "How are you, how many kids do have?" but when they started speaking I couldn't understand and sadly I had to tell them that I didn't speak Spanish. I spent a lot of time yesterday, about three hours since we didn't have seminar. When I came, the residents were eating lunch. So I helped the nurses get the residents cleaned up. After that the activities director suggested that I take some residents outside on the patio, and we listened to music. One resident was so cute, he sang along to all the Elvis Presley songs and danced in his chair.
There is a pecan tree in the patio, so I served them pecans. I noticed many residents had very dry and flaky skin on the arms and legs. The aging skin is loses ability to retain moisture and results in dry thin skin. They also produce less collagen and keratin, which makes the skin easy to tear.
My cousin (the owners of the nursing home) also said are looking into opening an Alzheimer's unit, I'm really looking forward to that because there is so much research being done to study this disorder.
I took a picture of the calendar of events, unfortunately there are no activities planned for the time that I come, but the event coordinator said I can always read or just talk to the resident sort of what I did yesterday.
I really wish I knew how to speak Spanish, because I sat with five residents who only spoke Spanish. I can ask simple questions like "How are you, how many kids do have?" but when they started speaking I couldn't understand and sadly I had to tell them that I didn't speak Spanish. I spent a lot of time yesterday, about three hours since we didn't have seminar. When I came, the residents were eating lunch. So I helped the nurses get the residents cleaned up. After that the activities director suggested that I take some residents outside on the patio, and we listened to music. One resident was so cute, he sang along to all the Elvis Presley songs and danced in his chair.
There is a pecan tree in the patio, so I served them pecans. I noticed many residents had very dry and flaky skin on the arms and legs. The aging skin is loses ability to retain moisture and results in dry thin skin. They also produce less collagen and keratin, which makes the skin easy to tear.
My cousin (the owners of the nursing home) also said are looking into opening an Alzheimer's unit, I'm really looking forward to that because there is so much research being done to study this disorder.
I took a picture of the calendar of events, unfortunately there are no activities planned for the time that I come, but the event coordinator said I can always read or just talk to the resident sort of what I did yesterday.
Saturday, October 6, 2012
October 5, 2012
Yesterday I sat down with the event coordinator and planned out activities for the residents. They usually wake up in the mornings around 7 am. On some mornings some church groups come in to sing or read to the residents. Then they have lunch at 11. This is the time I usually come in on Fridays, but many of them take a nap right after lunch. For the residents who don't nap, we planned to have some small activities like watch a movie, or reading. Every other Friday they will play Bingo with them in which they win prizes. The event coordinator told me I can go shop around for their prizes for things like blankets and for the women small earrings or new nail polish colors. I was thinking about buying some plants to put in front of the nursing home, because there is only grass and no flowers in the front, especially since one resident loves garden, but he doesn't speak any English so it was difficult for me to communicate with him. The nursing home is not in a attractive location, so maybe some garden work will help the place look more homely.
NEW ERA NURSING & REHAB LLC
Yesterday I sat down with the event coordinator and planned out activities for the residents. They usually wake up in the mornings around 7 am. On some mornings some church groups come in to sing or read to the residents. Then they have lunch at 11. This is the time I usually come in on Fridays, but many of them take a nap right after lunch. For the residents who don't nap, we planned to have some small activities like watch a movie, or reading. Every other Friday they will play Bingo with them in which they win prizes. The event coordinator told me I can go shop around for their prizes for things like blankets and for the women small earrings or new nail polish colors. I was thinking about buying some plants to put in front of the nursing home, because there is only grass and no flowers in the front, especially since one resident loves garden, but he doesn't speak any English so it was difficult for me to communicate with him. The nursing home is not in a attractive location, so maybe some garden work will help the place look more homely.
NEW ERA NURSING & REHAB LLC
Saturday, September 29, 2012
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.
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.
Saturday, September 15, 2012
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.
Saturday, September 8, 2012
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.
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.
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