A Day in the Life of an Elder in a Nursing Home
Bailey A Walker
Ivy Tech Community College

Nursing homes and convalescent centers have often received a bad reputation throughout the years. Some of these negative stereotypes were perhaps well earned, even though they unfairly placed this negative light on well managed and caring nursing homes. This certainly is the case for Salem Crossing nursing home where I volunteered. During my time at Salem Crossing I was able to learn the types of people that resided there, the reasons they are there, as well as the daily routine that one goes through while living in a nursing home.
There are many different groups of people who need the assistance of a nursing home. Elders that have to live their life in a nursing home are normally physically and mentally disabled people who need 24-hour care and cannot live on their own. They live in a home with around 100 other residents that have a variety of needs. Typically they eat all of their meals there while also participating in some forms of therapy and rehabilitation. Full time nurses are there to administer their medications daily. Most nursing homes are located in towns that have a hospital nearby in case of an emergency. According to Foundation Aiding the Elderly, “nearly 6 percent of older adults are living in a nursing home,” (History of Nursing Homes). There are different types of rooms and lengths of stays available for a nursing home and your medical needs. For instance, A Place for Mom explains, “People who had undergone surgery and need medical attention until they are recovered could have a short stay at a nursing home and then leave when they are able,” (What are Nursing Homes?). There are many different accommodations for nursing home residents, and all those services usually are a bit different for each resident. As a general rule that explains a nursing home, but under my findings at Salem Crossing nursing home, I came in contact with people who were there for long-term stays with such terminal illnesses as Alzheimer’s or cancer. These were people who are not able to take care of themselves at home, and get around by even a walker. 99 percent of the residents I came in contact with were in wheelchairs, and needed assistance even pushing them. Some of the residents were on complete bed rest, and could not even participate in therapy sessions. Residents need thorough explaining for everything they are required to do during the day, and extra help completing every task. I never came in contact with a short-term stay resident, but I do personally know some that had undergone hip replacements and back surgeries. Every nursing home is different and comes from a different background of residents, but overall the people who live there have the same characteristics, they need assisted living. Salem Crossing is a nursing home that has a general population and contains only elders that have physical and mental disabilities that are unable to take care of themselves on a daily basis.
I volunteered multiple days throughout the week at Salem Crossing Nursing Home. I learned there are different activities for different days of the week, so I got to help participate in a few of those. Every morning I came in, one resident that I become very fond of, taught me how to make coffee. I had the privilege of filling up each person’s coffee as they arrived for morning activities. Every morning at about 9, the residents and employees would circle up and do morning stretching, as they were able to. I led penny cards one day, although the residents had to teach me how to play, and which cards were which! One day we had a spoon performer come in and entertain the residents, and as they watched that I would get them things that they needed and roll their wheelchairs back to their rooms if they wanted to leave. We did baking one day; the residents chose what they wanted to bake, they chose cupcakes, and I had to mix the batter and bake the cupcakes. My main job while I was there was to do whatever the residents wanted. I would play games, chat, and get them things that they needed. I learned during activities we were there purely for the residents benefit so that they may enjoy the experience. I was very impressed with the agency I volunteered for, especially since I entered the situation with somewhat of a negative view. My great-grandmother was a resident at the same nursing home in the early 2000’s, and Salem Crossing was very dirty, smelly, and had awful employees who would not help out with the residents. After gaining new management, I can now see that Salem Crossing has completely changed. It is nothing as it used to be. The employees are extremely caring and energetic towards the residents and that helps out the residents and their outlook on life to be in a nursing home. During my interview that I conducted with resident, Diana Stewart, she explained to me that the employees and facility at Salem Crossing was, “The employees are always courteous and nice to us, and the facility is good.” From my standpoint I couldn’t agree more. Everyone that I had the pleasure to work with was very helpful in helping me obtain what I needed to accomplish for this assignment. They were all interested in what I was doing and loved that I was there to help and interact with the residents. I was impressed by the way the facility was run, and the cleanliness throughout the nursing home. My favorite new accommodation that they have available for the residents is a physical therapy center, which is new in the last couple of years. It has proven to be a very worthwhile benefit to the residents and its use can be attributed to the diligent efforts of the nursing staff making sure everyone arrives and participates in their scheduled therapy session. I was also glad to see when a resident asked someone to talk to them about a problem that they put everything down that they were doing and got the issue straightened out immediately. It was neat to see a human service professional sit down with a resident be able to assure them that the issue was going to be resolved. The issue was a personal family problem; communication abuse from one of the resident’s sons, and it was going to be fixed right away. Salem Crossing was nothing short of impressive. I learned a lot about human services as I volunteered at Salem Crossing. I saw first hand counseling and what it is like to take care of an issue with someone in a nursing home who is unable to care for him or herself. In a nursing home, there are certain human service professionals that are assigned to a specific amount of residents. The human service professionals are normally higher up employees, for example, activities directors and the managers. The residents are informed that if anything is going on or they need assistance in any way, that their supervisor will take care of their needs. They handle everything from personal issues to doctor appointments. When personal issues appear, these are the people that will sit down and counsel with the residents. I also learned that in a nursing home the human service professionals are there for the residents benefit only. Everything that they do during their normal shifts is to be for the residents, and Robin Hodson, the activities director explained that to me when she said, “It is all about them, and what interests them,” when explaining how they determine what activities and events go on in the nursing home. Elders that are physically and mentally disabled are an extremely fragile population, especially ones that are need of a nursing home. Many people would make elders in nursing homes out to be just people who can’t do anything themselves, or people who just need tons of medical care and can’t do anything else. In reality, they are a little bit of that, but they still can do things other elders that don’t have the physical and mental disabilities can do. They wake up in the morning and have a cup of coffee, read the newspaper, watch some news, and do whatever they want throughout the day. Although, they have the nurses to take care of them, and have therapy daily, they have a pretty average life. It is kind of like living in a dorm at college, where you and all of your friends live. eat, and participate in daily activities together. Elders that live in nursing homes just want to feel normal and avoid the stigma of being a burden to their family members at home. They feel sometimes excluded from society because they are physically not able to live independently. Of course I was not able to learn everything about every resident I came in contact with, I was able to learn a little from some that they are still able to function and have fun. They rely on the employees in the nursing home for many of their daily needs, but the residents bond over anything. This bonding occurs from things such as reading the arrests in the newspaper to reminiscing on the time that they were in school. I even heard residents mentioning when they were being activists to increase the legal drinking age. These are normal people with the same interests as any other elder person, they just happen to be more disabled and live in a home with a lot of older people. Robin Hodson told me in our interview that she loved working in a nursing home because she said, “I love being around the elderly because it is a satisfying feeling to make them happy and smile.” My experience with this nursing home has done that as well. When I would walk in to volunteer all of the residents would greet me with a smile and a hello, and as I would leave they were just as excited knowing I would come back again. It was an amazing feeling knowing that your help was greatly appreciated at all times, even if you were just wheeling them back to their room or refilling their coffee cup. My research findings had made it seem like they were just elderly people who couldn’t take care of themselves, and yes, in some ways that it correct. Research also does not further explain that elderly people are some of the most appreciative people for your help, unlike other aged people. By the time they are needed to be placed in a nursing home they have already come to a conclusion that there are not many things that they can do on their own, and when someone helps them do something that they truly need done, they are greatly appreciative of those providing the assistance. There is no greater satisfaction than knowing you are helping someone who sincerely needs and values your help. I think that my community in a small town gives all that it can to this area. We may not have every resource within a ten-minute radius, but since we are in a decent location near a larger city that gives us great access to many resources. The current services that we hold available to the residents of this nursing home are sufficient enough to accomplish the job. If necessary measures need to be taken for the assistance of residents, our community will do whatever it takes to make sure that the job gets done. We have every service available within a reasonable time, and whatever service they need they will get it at the moment that they ask. This town not only has great services provided to elders in nursing homes, but we also have a handful of homes to choose from in the city limits alone. There are also multiple homes in neighboring towns if a resident would rather do that, to be closer to family, for cheaper prices, etc. My southern Indiana home could not be a more supportive and loving town, not only to elders, but to any age. Whatever resources anyone needs I feel our human resource professionals will do whatever it takes. It is truly difficult being a member of this population. When you are not capable of taking care of your own life by yourself, and needing 24-hour care, it becomes extremely difficult to find people that will not put you as a burden in their life. Finding a nursing home that is caring and considerate to their residents is sadly, sometimes a difficult task, but residents of Salem Crossing have come across a good one. Residents at Salem Crossing have possibly a better life compared to most residents in a nursing home. They are cared for on a 24/7 basis, and whatever they desire Salem Crossing tries to make happen for them. It is a difficult life being extremely ill and disabled, but the residents that I came in contact with really try to make the best of it and lead the most normal life that they can. Diana Stewart explained, “They are just really good to us. I love living here,” in the interview with her. Although, they are sick, mentally ill, physically disabled, they try to have fun living and get their health back to the best that they can. It is a tough and painful time in life, but with the help of their friends, family, and nurses they are happy elderly people. This population will always be in need for human service workers. They are unable physically and mentally to fight for what they need, and have the resources to find those things. There are countless necessities that residents in nursing homes cannot provide for themselves. There will always be that need for someone to help them take care of healthcare, clothing needs, possible will and funeral arrangements, personal issues, and physical issues. Human service professionals are there for these elders to help their lives be a little easier to handle, because extra stress on someone with severe mental and physical disorders is something that is not needed. According to Social Work Policy Institute, “Human service professionals in nursing homes can help and identify when mental health problems are occurring or getting worse, and they are there for the needs of the resident to decrease the symptoms. With mental health problems becoming a greater risk when people get older, it is proven that 98 percent of facilities have met the federal staffing requirement for health service professional to help psychosocial problems,” (Social Work in Nursing Homes). Not only in mental health, but physical health human service professionals are needed and utilized. This population is definitely a population that could not do without an educated and trained human service professional. Most nursing homes have a human service professional at their reach. “It is required by law if a nursing home has more than 120 beds that there be a full time human service professional, if there are under 120 beds then they only need one part time,” (Social Work in Nursing Homes). There are many services available for counseling the residents with mental disabilities or with personal issues of family members or other residents. Any need that the residents have the human service professional is going to do everything in their power to make sure that these needs are taken care of and fixed. According to Nursing Jobs in Nursing homes, it explains that another resource that human service professionals take care of is when, “The resident is losing weight, the dietician, nurse, and family figure out a new diet plan or way of eating for the resident to keep a healthy weight (30).” Diet planning is just another life necessity that the human service professional can take care of and help the residents in a nursing home. They are there for every aspect in life for the resident to help them stay healthier and live a more pleasant life. In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed volunteering at Salem Crossing. Being able to learn who lives in a nursing home, the problems and ailments that the residents have, and the interactions through activities I had with them made it a worthwhile experience.

References
Social Work Policy Institute. (2010, May 18). Social Work Services in Nursing Homes: Towards Quality Psychosocial Care. Retrieved from http://www.socialworkpolicy.org/research/social-work-services-in-nursing-homes-toward-quality-psychosocial-care.html

Foundation Aiding the Elderly. (2013). The History of Nursing Homes. Retrieved from http://www.4fate.org/history.html

Occupational Outlook Handbook. (Spring 2011). Nursing Jobs in Nursing Homes. Retrieved from http://www.bls.gov/ooq/2011/spring/art03.pdf A Place for Mom. (2014). What are Nursing Homes? Retrieved from http://www.aplaceformom.com/nursing-homes