I can’t say thank you enough to all the aids, nurses and others who help take care of those who cannot care for themselves.
This has really been in and out my mind the last few weeks and I can’t quite shake it…I was working at a facility at one of the nurse’s stations and was watching a worker absolutely loving on a resident, treating them as if they were their own flesh and blood. Being outside the ring of direct resident care, I don’t get to pay a ton of attention to the residents, but enjoy the time I do get to share with them. The way the staff member was treating this resident should’ve been a training video for how to treat people with kindness, love, and respect. – Then I almost got a little choked up and felt sadness overtake me. I wasn’t sad for the resident’s situation, or the difficult job that the worker has, but because I knew that this would never be a headline in a newspaper, or on the evening news, or a viral video everyone sends to their friends. So to those not familiar with the ins and outs of nursing home care, I’d like to challenge you to think a little differently the next time you see a headline about neglect, abuse, or theft and just understand the headlines you see are not the norm.
It is true, I work with residents who live in nursing homes. There are many people who really do a lot and their residents love them. I am not aware of many people who go to work to fail. People who are selfless most of the time are never appreciated. We in management seem to always look at what was not done to our liking forgetting the good. Those who do 90% of their duties right deserve respect so that they do better next time. We tend to take everyone’s credit but is very fast to blame when things are not working. Tha bad apples need to be pointed out and uprooted and honor those that do good day in and out every day. I personally love my workers and the residents alike. Keep on pointing the good of these selfless individuals, they are God’s gift to those that are sick and unable to care for themselves. This is a good story, at least for me!
Couldn’t have said it better myself! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you, Eric, for the lovely reminder. I research and write about long term care topics and this post is a lovely reminder of the hard work nurse aids and caregivers give to our elderly. We focus a lot on abuse, it’s true, and we need to tell more stories about the care and love older adults receive too. Maybe if we focus more on the positive, more of that will be in mainstream.
Thanks for the note Carol! It’s so easy to be negative.