Medication: A Short Story

Medication is crushed and given with applesauce, (for those that cant sallow whole pills) while others are given the medication with water. Some won’t take the medication at all. Other patients refuse to bathe themselves. Resident #8, a white older man who was a very good attorney when he was younger had a stroke and now barely talks, but he will smile occasionally. Due to the stroke, he now has a lazy eye, and stares a lot. When nurse asked him “isn’t she beautiful,” (talking about me) he just smiled at me. Another Resident, #9, an older black women had a conversation with me; I asked her if she wanted to take a walk and she said “you can take a walk” – came off a bit strong at first and actually frightened me to continue talking to her as

He founded the Dove Soap Company and is the “husband” to the resident mentioned above, Resident #9. He has a wife back at home, but has also made a “wife” at nursing home. He kisses her on the forehead and says, “I love her, I loved her all my life. She is perfect.” I asked the nurses how they deal with relationships made inside and how that affects the families, as well as their significant others outside the facility. The nurses try and let their families not see the relationships when they come to visit, just to not start problems but some families do know about the relationships. Sometimes they get really upset with the nurses and caregivers but there is much for them to do, their patients are with the same people all day and they build bonds and sometimes relationships are going to happen. There was a lady, she happened to pass-away, but she had a “boyfriend” inside the home and a husband outside the home. When the husband came to visit before she passed, she had her boyfriend in one and her husband in her other hand right by her side. The husband did not care, he wanted her to be happy, and he understood she was going to be meeting new

The nurses always try to focus on having a job, whether it be taking care of the other patients or helping to move the deceased, they try to stay on task and respectfully take care of the patient. Most of the time, when one person is afraid, some one else will step in. One’s customs and beliefs will affect the way they react to dead bodies. Post Mortem Care consist of washing, caring, clothing, placing body and hands, and getting them ready to see their family, for them to say their goodbyes. “Relatives will often seek further information and support from nurses in a variety of settings” (anonymous, 2001,p. 12). Once that is taken care of then she (my interviewee) must let it go; she must not focus on the loss because if not, it’ll make her go crazy (Ostolaza, personal communication, 2014). About 7 people have passed since she has worked at Arden Courts. The deaths do not often have much of an affect on the patients. They tend to not remember the person after a few days and they do not ask the nurses or caregivers where such person has