Things to Look for When Searching for a Good Nursing Home

When I was in college to obtain my journalism degree, I worked as a CNA in my home town. It was a very small town of a population of about 2,000. The majority of these residents knew me from when I was a small child. I heard all kinds of stories about how I used to run around in pig tails and my famous bib overalls.

I just smiled and went about my job of taking care of these residents. My friends joked that I wiped butts for a living, yes, I did. There was much more to it then that though. It was seeing someone who was once depressed, smile. I wanted to make a difference I wanted to make all of them smile and laugh. There were many that their family had forgotten them. Even in this small town, they were lost.

That first week I decided that this job was going to be more then what they deemed as simply wiping butts. These forgotten individuals were human and would be treated as my new friends.

There was a man that sat each day and stared into space aimlessly. I checked his records and there was no reasoning for it. So it led me to wonder if he was sad, just depressed. Was he a forgotten? I learned his name and soon learned he already knew who I was, the girl in pig tails. I smiled after he said that and I explained that pig tails were no longer my style I was a college student. He shook his head and said, "No the girl in pig tails, that is who you are."

I usually left from college to go directly to work and I changed in the work's bathroom. Since I still had the long hair I took the two hair ties from my pocket and placed my hair into pig tails.

It was then that I went directly to this resident that sat and aimlessly stared into space and I sat next to him. He began to laugh hysterically at me, and shook his head at me. "You are right pig tails should not be your style any longer." The resident then gave me five and got up and asked another resident to play a game of cards.

Another resident I found was not happy with her wheel chair. The doctor had told her she now needed a wheel chair.

"Look at me now!" she cried.

Noticing an empty wheel chair on the side of the wall, I obtained it. "Look, I can walk. Let's race."

The other residents looked on as it was time to head for supper.

"What are you doing?"