Day Nine

Today was horrible! I walked into Woodcrest in a great mood and left there stressed out of my mind. It started off like any other day until I was asked by one of the nurses to watch Audrey again. I had no problem with it because we got along well yesterday and even held some good conversations. But today was different with her. She was much more active and agitated. Every ten seconds or so she would try and stand up to walk around, so we put her by a table to keep her busy. Instead, she just kept pushing the table away, trying to get away from that as well. Audrey is a resident that is definitely not capable of walking on her own so it was difficult to try and convince her to stay in her seat. At one point though, she got so frustrated with me that she started to swing at me and even scratched my hand. At that point I just called for a nurse and they took over, but it wasn't the best experience ever. After that I was asked by our floors activity boss, Kam, to run a couple of simple errands. I think she knew I was pretty upset about what had just happened. Only after that, Kam started to get on my case about little things. She is known to be a bit bossy and strung out, but today was far worse than what I'm used to dealing with. I felt like she was watching my every move, waiting for me to not do something her way so she could call me out on it. All I know is that when 12:30 came around I had no problem heading out at the end of the day. Hopefully tomorrow will be a less stressful day there.

Day Eight

Today was more relaxed and not as stressful as yesterday was. We got back to our normal routine and about half way through I was told to stay by two residents named Audrey and Lydia. They both have to have constant supervision because they get up constantly and cannot walk on their own. So, I was supervising while everyone else did our group session and set up for lunch. Lydia only speaks Spanish though so it’s a bit difficult to work with her because I only can interpret a little bit of what she says. She also gets very impatient and annoyed with me sometimes because she knows I don't understand her and I told her that. So whenever she gets difficult, Bernardo comes over to help me out because he can speak Spanish. Bernardo is one of the workers at Woodcrest. So together we took care of Audrey and Lydia until it was lunchtime. I'm looking forward to tomorrow because I'm starting to pick up some of the Spanish again. Maybe I will be able to answer Lydia's questions soon.

Day Seven

Yesterday was Memorial Day and I still went to go and volunteer at the nursing home. They're usually a bit short on staff on Mondays and I knew it would be a little crazy because of the holiday so I went in. It was a very nice set up we had. I spent about the first half an hour helping decorate the Woodcrest Medical Center van that drives in the parade. Then, I still went upstairs to my usual floor to help with the residents that couldn't go outside to watch the parade. There was about fifteen of them all together. We set them up by the windows and we watched and waved from there. Most of the residents were very excited about the parade, but some had no interest. After the parade was finished, it was time to set up for lunch. It was a fairly easy day for everyone and very enjoyable.

Day Six

It was a very slow day at Woodcrest. They said the weekends are much more calm than the weekdays. Plus I also volunteer in the mornings and the mornings are more calm than the afternoons too. So I lucked out with an easy day. The only thing is, the majority of my time was spent watching residents in the hall as they were brought downstairs for lunch. So that cut into my time that I usually spend with Margaret. But hopefully I can pick back up tomorrow morning. I also realized residents get a lot more visitors on the weekends than on weekdays. I guess this is due to more people having off from work. I am looking forward to tommorrow though because it is Memorial Day and I believe we are taking some of the residents outside to watch the parade. So it will be a nice change to their daily routines and fun for all of us. I'm also excited because I get to wear red, white and blue! A nice change to the usual khakis and polos.

Day Five

Today was much calmer than yesterday for us on the third floor. The residents were in a good mood and there wasn't any fighting between them. We focused a lot on exercises. It took up most of  the morning because the residents were very involved with it and some even started to dance when we put on some music to go with it. It was a lot of fun to see them having a good time and enjoying myself as well. I got to spend a lot of time with this one resident named Betty today too. She was waiting in the hall for the elevator because some of the residents go downstairs for lunch. I had to stay with her though and make sure she didn't wander off somewhere and miss lunch. We had some good conversations while waiting for her turn to go down. The only thing is though, she loses her train of thought very quickly and also thinks the past is the present at times. So our conversations ranged from stories of her childhood to her thinking she was in the past. However, she would also not make any sense sometimes when she lost her train of thought. She would think I was someone from her past and tell me things like she saw my brother the other day or that she went to go visit my kids. Either way, we both enjoyed talking to eachother because I got to learn a bit about her and it made her day to have someone to talk to for a little while.

Day Four

Today was a rough day at Woodcrest. The morning started off very slow and calm with the cookies and coffee. Half of the residents went downstairs after that for an activity and the others stayed on our floor. The ones that stayed with us just got into a small circle to do discussions and sing. However, once we started getting ready for lunch, it seemed like everyone started acting up. Some residents are supposed to stay in wheel chairs because if they stand up, they would fall over. There was about five of those residents that insisted on standing up and trying to walk around. Then, there were a couple people that kept on screaming about everything from what day it is to when lunch is coming. This triggered others to start acting up as well. This one lady even started to get a bit agressive with one of the nurses. I was pretty shocked because I'm not used to seeing the residents behave that way. They are always in a pretty good mood for the time I spend with them. One of the nurses said that it was probably just the weather that caused them to act up like that. I'm just glad that I got my one on one time with this lady Margaret that I feed everyday for lunch. She doesn't talk much, but shes very nice and just likes to sit and observe everyone. I just hope it doesn't rain again tomorrow.

Day Three

Day three and I think I've got the whole routine down. We start off the morning with cleaning up after breakfast. Then, we give out coffee and cookies. After, we have to get everyone into a big circle to start off the big discussion. It begins with going through what yesterday was and what today is. Then, we discuss whats going on in the world by going through the days newspaper a bit. Once that is finished, we get the residents to exercise a bit. The majority of them are in wheelchairs so its limited with what we do. It mostly consists of upper body stretches. By the time all of this is finished, its time to start getting everyone set up and ready for lunch. I help out with handing out lunches, feeding some residents and cleaning up afterwards. By the time we run through all of this, its about 12:30 and time for me to head out. It doesn't seem like a lot, but we do have a good amount of residents on the third floor which makes it time consuming to do each activity. We were even able to get some singing in today which was great because the majority of the group sang along. And it wasn't like when you try to get a bunch of little kids to sing and their all off pace. Instead, it was very nice because everyone sang together. It was sort of like a peaceful moment of bonding for all of the residents and everyone else there. Even for the people that don't normally get along.

Day Two

Today was a much easier day at the Woodcrest Center than yesterday. I was more familiar with the daily routine and knew more of the people that were on my floor. Now that I'm getting to know the residents, it makes it easier to go through the day because I know what each of them like, don't like and more about their medical conditions. For an example, residents wear bracelets with their names on it and they are color coded. Red means the resident is diabetic, green means their food gets thickened and white means they are regular or have no noteable medical condition. I'm also starting to be given more responsibility on my floor. Now that I'm starting to get the hang of working there, I can help out with various things and assist more with residents. I even got to have what they call "one on one" time with residents. This helped me get to know some of them a bit more, which is always helpful with doing my job and connecting with them in general. I also forgot to mention that we have a morning meeting just before we start the day. I love this and find it very helpful because I get to find out who I am working with for the day as well as the activities that will be going on. I'm looking forward to what day three will bring at the Woodcrest Center.

Day One

Today was my first day volunteering at the Woodcrest Health Care Center in New Milford. I was a bit nervous at first because I didn't really know what to expect. I was assigned to shadow and help a woman named Kam who works there. Together we worked with a few others in the dementia wing of the building. It was a very tense and upsetting atmosphere at first. However, over time I realized how much of a difference it made for me to be there. I am a new face for the residents to see and talk to daily now. It makes it easier knowing that I have a positive impact on the residents and that I am helping make a difference.