What a busy, crazy time it is in the nursing home. It seems every time you look around the is some other party. Between family events, staff parties, resident parties, outside volunteers holding other parties, the list goes on and on and will make you dizzy.
In the nursing home chain I work in, it starts with the Christmas and award party where all of the buildings in the state meet up for a day of awards and lunch. This is followed by the local events specifically at the nursing home that I am in.
The next step is the resident families holiday party. This is a dinner event to allow families to spend time with their loved ones. For us we are split into the Rest Home side one night and the skilled nursing side the following night.
Next in line is the staff holiday party. Another round of food, door prizes, and giveaways.This is quickly followed by the resident Christmas party with Santa.
So as you can see there is definitely no shortage of fun to be had all within a span of 2 weeks.
It’s not always joyous
As much fun as is had this time of the year, there are also sad moments that we need to be attentive to. Holidays can bring about a mixed bag of emotions for our residents and family members.
This is not only true for our long term residents, but for our short term as well. It’s not always easy being not “home” for Christmas. As much as family is around and there are lots of activities to do, sometimes “there is nothing like home”.
The feelings of sadness can be brought out for a multitude of reasons. For our short term residents that are trying to rehab back to home, it can add to the trauma of the incident that brought them in to start with. Not too long ago they were functioning at home and now not only have the trauma of needing help, but also the fact of not being safe to go home with family.
For some it could be the first time of not being home for Christmas. Or maybe it is the first Christmas without a loved one.
For some there can be a mixed bag of emotions when dealing with family. Families are tough and can come in all shapes and sizes. There could be the family members that don’t live nearby and only visit at Christmas. There is the possibility of family being unable to be there for Christmas. Or maybe it’s a family members that always seems to bring chaos around once a year.
How can we help out
As therapists we need to be extra attentive to our residents. We need to be able to quickly catch the cues of something going off track. We need to be the a supply of positive energy and change their focus to the task at hand.
We need to be the compassionate ear and help them to traverse the pitfall of the possible minefields of the holidays. We need to be supportive and help to focus on the positive and the goals achieved so far.
So what’s next?
We all need to let the Christmas magic happen. We need to let ourselves be a little happier, to be a little nicer, and to slow down. We need to take the time to enjoy the season and not get so wrapped up in all the “things”. So take some time, relax, and have a Merry Christmas!
