Nursing Homes: Inside Information
There are many nursing homes located throughout the United States. These nursing homes range in many different sizes from small to big, from luxurious to simple. The design of the nursing home depends on when they were built, who built them, and where they were built. I’ve worked at quite a few nursing homes so far, since my job as a certified nursing assistant has allowed me to. In the following paragraphs, I will discuss a nursing home I’ve worked at, its environment, the residents, reasons why I loved working at the nursing home and reasons why the elderly should stay at one.
Nevertheless, Apostolic Christian Skylines nursing home was built in the 1900s. This nursing home has around 57 rooms and has around 55 residents living there. When compared to other nursing homes, this nursing home is relatively smaller than the average. The nursing home provides services to those with Medicare and Medicaid, which is health insurance provided by the government. Also, this nursing home provides services to those who are either independent or assisted living.
Likewise, I began working at Apostolic Christian Skylines nursing home on September 15, 2010. My first day consisted of helping residents out of bed, taking them to the bathroom, taking them to dinner, and helping them back into bed. My day was long and hard because I kept making mistakes and putting the wrong residents at the wrong table, or taking residents to another resident’s room. The Certified Nursing Assistants or nurses’ aides weren’t pleased with me and said,” If I didn’t do a better job, I would no longer be working there.” I was taken aback by what they had to say but I didn’t let that affect my decision to continue working there. The smiles on the residents’ faces and the fact that I was trying my hardest helped me to realize that I should continue to strive to be the best nurses’ assistant that I can be.
Moreover, I realized that I loved my job and its’ environment, after a few months of working at this nursing home. The nursing home was well-built, organized, and well furnished. The rooms were nicely sized and smelled of fresh flowers. There were paintings on the wall and decorations on the table. The ceilings were high with bright lights hanging from them; right above where church takes place on Sundays. The food choices changed daily and met the needs of the residents. There were wheelchairs, walkers, and machines such as a hoyer or sabina located in the home to help residents to stand up or lifted them to sit comfortably into their wheelchairs. The staff became more generous and was always considering the thoughts and decisions of the residents.
Furthermore, the residents at this nursing home varied greatly from one another. They varied by ethnicity, age, size, mental and physical disabilities. When I worked at the nursing home, I worked with residents that had Alzheimer’s and dementia, which caused these residents to become more violent towards me. These residents weren’t trying to hurt me purposely but couldn’t help themselves due to the disease causing them to have a loss of brain function. Also, I worked with residents that were confused and angry thinking that they didn’t know where they were and that they no longer wanted to stay at the nursing home. When situations like this occured, I remained patient, understanding, and thoughtful of the needs of the elderly.
Similarly, there a few reasons why I love working at this nursing home. One reason is because of the considerate staff members that helped me to take care of the residents. Another reason is because the majority of residents are nice and friendly, who love the fact that they are receiving the necessary attention and help that they need. Also, at this nursing home, my day would never go as planned, something unexpected may occur such as a fall, dealing with residents in pain or sick, receiving additional residents to take care of, working short, so on and so far. I loved that my day would never be the same and that I would be working with different residents and the staff members that care about me and my ability to help others in need.
Therefore, I feel that a nursing home is a great place for the elderly to live. I feel this way because I feel that the elderly can receive a high quality of care and safety from living at a nursing home. Also, I know the elderly will benefit greatly from living at a nursing home by being able to socialize with others and receiving help when needed. Any elderly person can live at a nursing home because there is no discrimination against age, financial ability, and physical abilities. I feel that these factors help to contribute to a well- run nursing home that are filled with appreciate residents that are satisfied with the care that they are receiving.
In conclusion, nursing homes are long-term care facilities that were built to take care of the elderly, whom are no longer able to take care of themselves. The elderly people staying at these nursing homes have physical or mental disabilities, diseases, injuries, and/or vision impairments. The environment of the nursing homes is fit to better service the needs of the elderly making them feel comfortable at their new residence. Also, the generous staff members, the daily activities, and the healthy food choices are just a few reasons why residents should want to stay in a nursing home. In other words, nursing homes are great places for the elderly to live, they are organized, well-built, and always strive to reach the needs of the residents.
