Nursing Home Education

Today, at the nursing home I am at for the semester, I watched one resident try very determinedly to teach another resident how to "walk" across the floor in his wheelchair. He was crawling along at about one inch an hour. So she tried explaining, repeatedly, how if you move your feet as if you were walking, but stayed seated, you'd move quickly. Unfortunately, every time she said the word "walk," he'd try to stand up to walk. Then she'd yell at him to sit down, which he would. The process would then start all over again. After about fifteen minutes, she gave up, but boy was it amusing.

I love the signs of life in the home. Many of the residents are so impaired that they cannot socialize, but the ones who do are active. The romances, hurt feelings and roommate quarrels aren't obvious at first, but now that I have been there three months, that world is becoming more transparent to me. I love this population.