How Care Really Happens in Nursing Homes

Briefly: Tanny, 85 year old woman in a local nursing home, diagnosis of frontal lobe, probably stroke related dementia. Becoming progressively less verbal, but still her eyes light up as though someone had turned on the Christmas lights when she sees someone she cares about. A huge grin spreads on her face. She makes you feel like you are the special one.

Tanny is restless, she wanders the halls of the home, every now and then stopping to wipe a wall of the insects she imagines she sees there. In the dining room, she clears the tables--sometimes before the other residents have finished eating. On a bad day, she clears them before the other residents have sat down.

The other day I was visiting. I stopped at the housekeeper's cart and asked for a couple cloths and a cleaner that we could spray.

I gave Tanny one of the cloths, and said, "Let's clean some of these railings." She held out her cloth for some spray, and followed me.

"You take one railing, " I said, " I will do the other. ""

We went down the hall together, she doing one side, I doing the other. When we got to some doorways, she stopped and cleaned the g lass. We did it for about twenty minutes, and then were back at the Housekekeeper's cart.

I asked the housekeeper if she could do that with Tanny when I wasn't there. She couldn't do that she said, but " Every day when I do the dining , Tanny comes to help me. She clears off the tables, and wipes them all down. Sometimes I have to do them after her,. But she does it. Then she will sweep the floors. We do it together every evening, don't we Tanny?" she said with a smile.

And that is how care should happen in Nursing Homes. It doesn''t have to be the nurse, or the care aide, or the recreation worker. It can be anyone, and it should be everyone, who participate with residents in life--their life, and who notice what the resident's lie looks like.

That is what best care is all about.

Have a loved one in a nursing home? Look around to see who is providing the best care.