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Monday, March 25, 2013

One day at the Nursing Home



Funny things happen almost daily at the Nursing Home and a frequent refrain heard around there is "We need to write a book"!   This past week was no exception and I thought I should share a few things that occurred in just one day.

The day begins with a morning med pass.  When I brought one of the ladies pills in to her, she said "How do you like my hair?" It was still quite dark, so I turned on the light and saw that this lady had cut her bangs!  She said when she was home the day before her hair was bothering her, so she decided to cut it herself.  She said the scissors was dull and she ended up cutting them all off.  She asked if she could cut my hair and said she would do it for free.  :)

Shortly after breakfast I heard something down the hall.  When I listened, it was a few people yelling "Help".  They sounded frantic and a few of us ran to the room, expecting that someone had fallen.  When we got in the room, we find two ladies sitting in their wheelchairs laughing like crazy.  Why were they yelling?  They said they didn't want to lean forward to use the call bell and they wondered what would happen if they yelled.

The visitors are also a part of our day.  We get to know the family members very well and while many are wonderful, some are quite interesting.  One of the ladies has a son that fits in that category.  Shortly after she arrived we had to ask him to quit laying on the floor in the tv area as someone could run into him with their wheelchair.  Anyway, on this day he arrived wearing pants that were slit open in the back.  It was obvious that this slit had been there for awhile as it was all frayed.  He has a habit of pulling his pants up and when he did that, the slit revealed more that we needed to see!

We have one resident who has Downs Syndrome.  I love to goof around with her and she likes to tease me in return.  Whenever the aides walk her past the nurses station, she makes faces at me and expects me to come after her. Then her usual custom is to give me a kiss on the cheek.  On this day she leaned toward me as usual - then licked my cheek!

It's never boring!


14 comments:

CAROLDEE said...

EXACTLY Mari..every day and sometimes every hour it is something different. I loved the work I did and do with the seniors I have learned much from so many of them. "It's hell getting old" one told me.."Don't ever do it."
"Sure is fun getting there" she said with a wink and a giggle.Got to love it.. Admire what the nurses do..they truly are the life savers in more than one way.

Anonymous said...

LOL! Mari, you SHOULD write a book!!!

Pat said...

I love how God supplies the humor because I know that there is the opposite side to your job. I love these stories, it's so good to know that there can be joy in the hard times.

Life and Breath and Everything Else said...

So did you let her cut your hair? ;)
I'm glad you have so much fun at work!

Sylvia said...

love hearing your stories

Anonymous said...

Free haircut? How could you pass up that offer? lol

Anonymous said...

I also was wondering if you got a free hair cut.
I love your stories and God bless you for the caring you give the elderly.
My mom used to work in a senior help care and she also told some cute stories and a few not so fun.
Hugs

Jenny said...

She licked you because she heard someone call you Coco. Duh. And you should totally have gone for that free haircut. They say the only difference between a good haircut and a bad one is two weeks.

LL Cool Joe said...

The free haircut cracked me up. So how does it look? ;)

My younger daughter often pretends to kiss my cheek and licks it instead. Not very pleasant. :D

Marsha Young said...

Mari -
Only a loving, and happy, heart like yours could and would see all the humor in such a difficult area of service.

blessings and hugs to you.

ancient one said...

I really admire people who do what you do. My daughter works in a nursing home too. There are always interesting things going on. We visit my husband's sister in the nursing home. All the staff act as if they love her and many of the other patients smile and wave at her as we push her around in the wheel chair.

Jean said...

This reminds me so much of the year Lisa worked in a nursing home while in college. She had never-ending funny stories to tell us.

Brooke said...

prank calls for help - who knew! :P

Unknown said...

Oh! This just made my day. I love that you are there sharing some sunshine with them! I totally think you need to take the hair cutter up on the offer for a free hair cut : )