"This Is My Life Now" -- An Interview with a Nursing Home Resident

[left-of-center2012]

I walked into the cheerful, rather narrow halls of the care center. It didn’t smell of feces and urine like many I had been in. Up the hall from where I walked in, was a small dining room. Some of the residents were sitting there. I found out later that they were waiting for dinner. It was two in the afternoon. They don’t eat until five thirty. “I’ll just wait”, said one resident who sat in a wheel chair, watching people walking by. She called all the nurses by name. She had been here a while, I imagine.

I traveled down the hall to the room of my friend. She was lying in bed, reading a book. The room is small, two beds, two dressers and two nightstands in this room are a tight squeeze. My friend has many pictures of loved ones on the wall. “I can’t remember who they all are, so my daughter pasted those little name tags under each of the pictures.” She explains. Her roommate is not so lucky. No pictures of loved ones adorn her walls. She has very few living relatives and none close.

I sit down to talk with my friend. “How are you doing?” ...
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I'm unsure how much of the article I can post here,
so you may continue at this link: https://caregiver.com/articles/nursing_home_interview/

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. This is a sad story. "This is my life now."

The helplessness, the boredom, the worries.

How do you fix these problems?

[Frustratedlady]

2. My sil was getting home care for a horrible price and she finally moved to an assisted living unit.

What a difference. She has her own little apartment with nursing care, great food and an active activities director. They keep them busy all day and into the evening after dinner is finished. She loves it. although a lot of the women rarely talk. She has great nurses and aides who answer her request for help right away. People can come and eat with her in a separate dining room for $5/meal. We had Thanksgiving dinner with her and it was a loaded plate with turkey and all the trimmings, plus pumpkin pie for dessert. The only thing I saw that I didn't care for was their soup. It is more broth than veggies.

She is able to have her own furniture and pictures on the wall...plants and knick knacks. The staff was very friendly AND it is $2K cheaper that the home care and she had to feed/house the aide on top of it. They barely cleaned the place, rarely knew how to cook so they lived on TV dinners and coffee cake. Bad situation all around.