We're All Teachers

For the last 45 minutes, I held a short discussion on the qualities that make a teacher great. (I also had a personal talk with a good friend of #3 which I will discuss later on)

During the teacher discussion, I related the qualities back to the stories we all shared. It's really interesting to see how our experiences teach life lessons to each other. I also linked three traits back into my experiences from volunteering at Aegis and how I've become a teacher to the residents.

1. Teachers can say everything without saying anything.
My presence as a young individual changes their entire day. I don't need to talk, I can simply smile or pull up a chair next to them and I've already changed their mood completely. I have tried to show through my actions that no matter how old or young, there are people willing to change lives for the better.

2. Teachers don't accept failure.
I hate seeing residents have bad days and I most especially hate seeing them fall back from independence. If there's one thing I could wish more for for them, it is a cure. I wish there was some sort of cure to stop these wonderful people from deteriorating. I wish there were a way where they didn't have to lose their personality, their memories, and themselves. Cure or no cure, I will not let that stop me from making a difference in their lives.

3. Teachers are adaptable.
I have come to accept that as time has gone by, residents I have come to know are not the same. These residents suffer from different forms of dementia and Alzheimer's disease. The best that I can do for them is to make them have a better, brighter day.

I know that #3 enjoyed my company today and I too enjoyed his stories. As the discussion came to a close, I greeted the residents goodbye and was able to quickly get in a good talk with #3's friend. What she had told me impacted my inner "nurse" (if I can even call it that). It truly impacted my feelings and sympathy for these residents.

#3's friend told me that #3 was actually a resident living in the home care. She informed me that he is only 60 years of age. That is very young for someone to have a form of dementia. He is nearly 20 to 30 years younger than some residents and it really does hurt me to know how young he is. Doctors found plaque in the arteries of his brain that could have potentially been the cause for his memory loss. On a positive note, his friend did say that he has been getting better in the past few months since he's been at Aegis. The new medication he is taking controls the memory loss, but it does not stop it. His friend visits him almost everyday. She is not obligated to, but as a good friend of his (also having worked closely with him since she was Chief of the SFPD), she spends 8 hour days accompanying him. Her selflessness is what I seek for as a nurse and she's an inspiration to me.

Today was not what I expected it to be and I am so glad I came to visit. I'm happy that instead of hosting a game, I spent some quality time getting to know more residents. These great people deserve their stories to be heard.

Life Stories

Today I spent 2 hours and 45 minutes with the Assisted Living residents. I will break my blogs up by each activity.

Initially, I was nervous ,yet again, to be thrown out into the wild with the residents by myself. After a few minutes, we were all able to warm up to each other and it really wasn't bad after all. I truly enjoyed the time I had getting to know 3 residents personally, especially #3.

For the first 2 hours, I had a personal discussion with 3 of the residents. Nancy, Vera, a resident who would like to be kept unknown (i'll address him as #3 in this blog), and I discussed about careers and my future career goal in nursing. Nancy was a librarian, Vera had studied psychology in college, and #3 was a police officer for SFPD for over 30 years. The main difference between the three is that Nancy and Vera are quite old and #3 is rather young to be living in Aegis. I gave him the benefit of the doubt and assumed he was only there to visit. 

For a large chunk of the 2 hours, #3 narrated his life stories and experiences as a police officer for LAPD & SFPD. His stories were so vivid and clear that I had to assume he wasn't a resident. He shared close-to-death experiences, one that even involved a criminal firing towards his head 4 times at a crime scene. As #3 shared his interesting stories, he would say how he come back to the point that he was just doing his job to protect fellow officers and to protect the public. I related those words back to my own passion for helping others and my future goals as a nurse. I shared with the three residents some of my deepest career desires. I shared that I am determined to study hard in order to become accepted into the nursing program at CSULB; I am determined to save lives; and I am determined to fulfill, and surpass, the expectations required of a nurse. #3 expressed how he admired me and believed in my success. I took that to heart, especially coming since it was coming from a person who has seen so much injustice, and so much good in this world. 

After our 2 hour session of life stories, I connected our talks to a short lesson of the fifteen unique traits of a great teacher. 

4/23/13

Yesterday I spent 1 hour with the Assisted Living residents.

When I first arrived, I read to some of my favorite residents. The bond I've created with some residents is really great. I honestly don't know if they remember me or not, but either way if they did or didn't, I still like talking to them.

After some time passed, I decided to switch to some trivia. A woman I don't usually speak to, who's name is Ilene, was playing trivia with me. From what I've observed about her over the past few months is that she's pretty normal compared to the other elderly folks. I have not see any signs of dementia and I used to wonder why she was even at Aegis. As I got her brain going on the trivia questions, I learned a lot about her too. She recalled where she lived, places she visited, and even the schools she attended. But that's not what really caught my attention. As I was speaking to Ilene, I noticed that she was constantly repeating herself. At first I thought it might have been due to old age. But then I was starting to see a pattern and I linked it back to dementia. Our conversation was very similar to this:

Ilene: "I lived in San Francisco. I was right next to Twin Peaks. The weather was great."
Me: "I'm glad you liked it. Especially since you lived next to a nice view."
Ilene: "Oh yes, I lived in San Francisco. Right next to Twin Peaks."
Me: "Would you go up to see the view?"
Ilene: "Yes, my siblings and I would. I was 1 of 8 children. We lived right next to Twin Peaks."
Me: "Wow 1 of 8, that's a lot!"
Ilene: "Yes, my mother had 8 kids... and I was 1 of 8 children. My mother believed in the boys having college educations. I went to school for book keeping."
Me: "Did you like book keeping?"
Ilene: "Yes, I loved it. I was a book keeper for 30 years. I had a great pension from it"
Me: "30 years, a very long time."
Ilene: "Yes, 30 years. I was a book keeper for 30 years and I loved it. I had a great pension from it."
Me: "Would you have wanted to do anything else?"
Ilene: "No, I wouldn't. I loved book keeping. I was actually a book keeper for 30 years and I loved it."

I'm sure you can grasp the idea. If you are wondering if I found this conversation annoying, the answer is no. I didn't. Days like these really make me wish that there is cure for Alzheimer's Disease.

Yesterday I spent an hour and a half with my mentor and the AL residents. We were only able to squeeze in a game of balloon volleyball and food healing talks with them in that short hour and a half since the residents were going out to eat at Nick's that afternoon.

The first 45 minutes consisted of beach volleyball. The AL residents were all circled up and I stood in the middle continuously serving back the balloon to them. It was funny how the women would crack up every time they hit the balloon very hard. Including so, Joe Warren was there with me playing balloon volleyball with them. It still surprises me how a simple activity like this can pump them up.

After balloon volleyball, I shadowed my mentor in food healing talks. We had an insightful conversation about fruits that heal the soul and body. The residents were so funny during this conversation. I could tell they were digging memories up from the past each time we mentioned a different fruit. Some would say, "That fruit is sweet!" or "I LOVE that fruit. I used to eat it all the time!" Cherries, tangerines, avocados, tomatoes, peaches... you name it! A woman named Mary recalled having an apple tree in her backyard. She began a sentence with, "I hope those... those..." and then blanked out. I figured she wanted to say that she hoped squirrels wouldn't eat her apples. Mary then said, "Those things with the furry tails." I wasn't completely sure if she blanked out because of old age or because of her dementia.

Following food healing, I helped some residents get to the dining room for lunch, and some onto the bus for their afternoon outing.

I'm hoping that for my next visit, I can have another great conversation with the AL residents.

Realizations

Last Friday, April 12th, I visited the residents of AL during Happy Hour. Previously, my last visit at Aegis was a downer, but I am happy to report back that this visit restored my hope in pursuing to help these people.

For Happy Hour, residents were entertained by two talented men who sang and performed music for them. I have never seen the residents in such a good mood. They were drinking (which is a little hilarious), dancing, and enjoying themselves. At first, I was a little uncomfortable throwing myself out there to interact with the residents. I watched my mentor Joe dance with a few residents before I finally decided to dance.

I danced with a very adorable man named Clarrence. He was so happy to be up on his feet and moving. I also danced with a wonderful woman, Helen. Even at 97, she can still groove to "Spanish Eyes". (Her eyes were also blue, if I may add). A feeling definitely struck across as I danced with these residents. I felt so much joy in seeing them happy because on regular days, they aren't as upbeat.

I learned an important lesson that day, my purpose. I'm there to bring them happiness... something that is confusing to find with Alzheimer's/Dementia. My participation really makes a difference in their day. But, I'm also beginning to realize that even if I bring them joy and happiness, it's not what I'm searching for.

I had a very insightful conversation with my mentor. It is comforting to know that even though I'm leaning towards a different direction in nursing, I have not disappointed anyone (or myself). Rather more, I'm viewing this in a positive light. I found out that Geriatrics is not for me.

As I complete my mentor hours, I will continue to strive to bring company and happiness to those residents. Even though I don't want to go into geriatrics nursing, it doesn't mean I will stop making a difference in their lives because they sure did make a difference in mine.

I haven't had the chance to update my blog in a while. Since my last post, I've spent another 2 hours towards senior project. Again, I will break my blogs up.

On March 27th, I spent one hour with the residents of Aegis. It was a very quick visit since the residents of AL were taking a scenic drive to Pacifica to see the new tunnel and visit a farm. I helped my mentor load seniors onto the bus. Their excitement was very adorable. They were talking about the animals they wanted to see and it was almost as if I was loading on a bus of elementary school children. (Not to sound disrespectful in any way.) After loading them onto the bus, I spent some time with LN residents. They were very quiet that day and it was a rather more gloomy day to be around them. Many of them were either napping or watching a video on ice-skating. Their quiet days are my bad days. It's the day I dread being there, it's the day I wish there was something more I could do to get them by, it's the day where I question if I even want to pursue Geriatrics Nursing. With those thoughts, I left.