Crystal

Ours was not a private nursing home. It was a corporation.
Most of the population we had was older psych. They called it geri-psych but the ages ranged from about 50s to 80s. We had a lot of alcohol dementia, along with your every day psych diagnosis. Our building was in the heart of the city so we also got some street people once they left the hospital. I don't like working with the plain old elderly. They're boring. Our new building has much less psych, but it does have some. Psych requires special behavior training and one-on-one's so they spend a lot more money on them than on the elderly. I think that's why our new building isn't taking too many psych, but we do have some.

I agree that the resident's loved having the kids around. We had one elderly man who was a grumpy, mean old thing, but he loved the kids and was always sweet around them. He gave my kids candy and radios. They felt really bad when he died. But, they knew he suffered and that it was for the best, though. My son took art lessons from one resident until the resident told me I shouldn't take Sean there for a while because he thinks the German's know he's there. I agreed with him not to bring my son anymore--lol.

Crystal


Sounds like a wonderful place for working families, but also a wonderful
place for the elderly to live, not cut off from families and children. Most
Adult Family Homes in Washington State are run by singles or couples, but
the one my mother was in was run by a single parent with two teenaged boys
and a two year old grandchild who also spent time there. I thought it was a
much nicer place because of it.
Tia
leschke@...

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In a message dated 9/20/03 3:43:22 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
crystal.pina@... writes:

> I don't like working with the plain old elderly. They're boring.

Dang, some of the most interesting, vibrant folks I've known have been "plain
old elderly" Personally, I think is much more unfortunate when they have
lost thier minds. I miss my Grandpa who died in February at 92. The one word I
would never use to describe him was boring. Maybe all of the boring old
folks are in nursing homes. Maybe they are boring BECAUSE they are in nursing
homes.

Teresa


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crystal.pina

-=Dang, some of the most interesting, vibrant folks I've known have been "plain old elderly" I miss my Grandpa who died in February at 92. The one word I would never use to describe him was boring.=-

I understand, Theresa. My grandfather was my favorite person in the whole wide world. The reason I said boring was from a working point of view. With the psych residents it's a constant vigil on what may set them off. Is there too much stimulation in one area? Is there someone in someone else's personal space? Imagine a hula-hoop around each person. That is their personal space. You have to know which residents to orient to reality and which ones you can't. It is so stimulating to my mind whereas the regular elderly is too much routine for me. I've had residents who wouldn't wash because the water burned them--common for psych people. Sometimes they think the food is poison so they have to open everything themself. Some hoard items. It's never the same twice. I had one resident last week cry and tell me she wanted to kill herself. Normally this would be reportable, but I knew her well enough that I knew she didn't really want to die. She only wanted to live better. She came from my old building. I've known her 8 years. We talked for a while. We talked about our kids. Her kids never visit her. That is common with psych residents, too. Their illness alienated their families long before they get to us, so they rarely have visitors. That's another reason they love having kids around

-=Maybe all of the boring old folks are in nursing homes. Maybe they are boring BECAUSE they are in nursing homes.=-

This is it, exactly! Being in a nursing home makes a person boring. It's just get up, wash, dress, eat, use the bathroom, repeat. They don't like to participate in activities other than Bingo. That does contribute to making a person boring. We do have a lousy activity dept in this building, too. I've been trying to get into it, but there haven't been any openings. I would love to be activity director of this building. I would change so much to make it more fun for the elderly.

-=Personally, I think is much more unfortunate when they have lost thier minds.=-

God, Theresa, Alzheimer's is the worst. It takes a special person to work with someone who has this disease. It breaks my heart because there are times when the person comes back into our reality and they know what is happening to them. Then they become frightened. It is so sad for the families dealing with it, too.

Crystal

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I was thinking about the "boring old folks/nursing home" thing after I posted
my reply.. And how I have been so fortunate to have never had a relative to
live in a nursing home. I have visited nursing homes, and yeah, I guess you
are right, it's a pretty monotonous living. I think what is the worst situation
is that stage when folks get too old ( feeble, disabled, senile, whatever) to
get out and do much, or to enjoy any kind of activities..but they are not so
sick and bedridden that they are just out of it and do not care. They just
live in those tiny rooms and pass away the hours til they either die or become
too sick to get out of bed. I'm sure that some folks age the same way at
home and never go to a nursing home.

It does take a special person to work in a nursing home. It would break my
heart. Kudos to you for doing a job like that.

Teresa


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