“Tired CNA” posted a comment on my blog, saying she wished there were something that could be done about alert residents who ring their call bells 30 times a day. And there is. Here are some suggestions: Residents who ring their call bells frequently are often anxious, needing what seems like constant reassurance. Quell their … Read more
The saying in 12-Step programs such as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) is that alcoholism is a three-fold disease: physical, mental, and spiritual. The only-half-kidding joke is that alcoholism is a three-fold disease: Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s. The holidays can be a particularly stressful time for nursing home residents as their celebrations have often changed significantly … Read more
The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ensures that the personal information of our nursing home residents stays personal, but sometimes it’s taken too far. Well-meaning staff members, not wanting to violate HIPAA, are unsure whether or not to share news of a resident’s death with their friends in the nursing home, so they … Read more
I recently saw a video showing a 99-year old woman reading and composing poetry on her new iPad, which brightened and enlarged the typeface enough that she could read again despite limited vision due to glaucoma. It got me thinking about apps our elders could use in the nursing home and upon discharge. Please add … Read more
A recent study by the Phoenix Center looked at adults 55 and over, but not employed or in nursing homes, and found that Internet use decreased their level of depression by 20%. I’m not at all surprised by this, and I believe a similar decrease in depression levels would be observed in nursing home residents … Read more
Alcoholism is not just a problem of youth. According to an 8/17/09 report in the American Journal of Psychiatry, 14% of men and 3% of women age 65 and older admitted to binge drinking (5 drinks or more on one occasion within the last month). I frequently see residents with lifelong addiction problems in the … Read more
I asked some experienced nursing home residents if they had any advice they’d like to share with residents who were just arriving, in order to make their stay more pleasant. I was surprised by the diversity of their responses and the speed with which they gave them. Please add your suggestions to the comments section. … Read more
“I told my daughter not to be so gloomy-doomy all the time. I’ll be all right.” — A recently-placed 89-year old woman I laugh with the residents all the time. We laugh at their jokes and we laugh at the crazy things that happen in life and in a nursing home. Once I was working … Read more
At the Center for Nursing and Rehabilitation (CNR) in Brooklyn, New York, Recreation Director Brenda Torres, has established computer stations with Internet connection in all the “neighborhoods,” as they call their units, and has several groups currently being run by the residents themselves. I believe both of these steps are essential for the emotional health … Read more
I was walking home from my writer’s group the other day, talking with a group member who’s a former emergency medical technician. “It’s funny how the elderly get infantilized so much. I wonder why that is,” she commented. “I think we do it to them. I didn’t realize it for a few years into working … Read more