Residents come first

The Holidays are a time when family and friends try to gather with each other and celebrate the season.

This is a season of togetherness, love, family celebrations, bonding with friends and good cheer. Sounds wonderful and it is wonderful if you are able to do all of that.

Long term care staff also try to do all of this as well as make sure their residents have a wonderful season . There are residents who live there that have family support but there are also many who don’t have any family support.

They are the ones who rely on staff to make each day special during the holiday season and all year long. During the holidays, the staff may donate a gift for each resident so everyone has a gift from Santa to open. They try to ensure the Magic of the season is experienced by all.

The staff at the facility may sacrifice being with family so they can serve a holiday meal to residents who have no one. They may dress up as Santa and elves to make the holiday more festive. The activity staff is so active and making the nursing homes cheery and bright. This involves decorating a tree on each unit and any space that is a common area for the residents. Imagine how much energy this takes. If you can’t then just think of the energy it takes you to decorate your own house which may only be one tree or room.

Often, the public judges nursing homes based on Nursing Home Compare sites or what they see in the media. I challenge the public to visit these facilities during the Holiday season and witness the love and committment that staff have for their residents. Each day they commit to try to meet the needs for the many without anyone to do that for them. Often that may mean donating time after work, or not spending time with their own families during this season.

Thank you to an amazing community of Long term care staff.

Nursing Skilled Support12/22/maria.messina@skillednursingsupport.com