You gotta love them!

Specialties Geriatric

Published

Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

We have a variety of activities every day. This morning was trivia which, in reality, is just a bunch of questions which are asked by the activities aide and answered by the residents.

I listened for a few minutes.....here is my favorite:

Question: what do we make from grapes?

Without any hesitation, a group of 85-97 year old women shouted out WINE !

The poor activity aide looked perplexed and said, "Um, no...it's jam.".

I'm with the women....it's WINE. No wonder their favorite new activity is Drink and Dabble!

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Looove it! They must be retired nurses....

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Specializes in Clinical Documentation Specialist, LTC.

LOL! I would've said wine myself! I honestly never would have thought of jam!

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Specializes in LTC, assisted living, med-surg, psych.

Wine was my first thought too, and I don't even drink! :)

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Specializes in Critical care, ER, stepdown, PACU, LTC.

My husband and I make our own wine! I've told him more than once I'm saving several bottles from each batch for when I'm a resident in the nursing home. I have a lady in our LTC that gets a martini every evening if she wants it, so I don't see why I can't start saving up now for my nightly bottle of wine:)

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Specializes in LTC.

We have a resident that gets his beer on occasion.....only don't mix with a prn dose of narcotics.....sang all night, sounded like a true old bar scene! lol

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Specializes in Home Health.

We had PBR and whiskey in our med fridge for one of our residents. And a prn order for a glass of wine for another. Some nights I was tempted to pour myself a shot. :p

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The activity aide was wrong... the correct answer was obviously wine.

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I'm with the women and the rest of you. My first though was WINE! :yes:

Then grape juice. We have concord grapes and we make juice every year.

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This points to something I have though of for over a decade. We train CNAs to care for the elderly as if they are infants. We teach them I change, bathe, dress and feed. Frequently new CNAs are young moms and this is what they know.

Elderly are NOT babies and shouldn't be cared for or in this case have activities as such. These are people who have laid family and friends to rest, had careers, ran a household and GASP-reproduced. Many were wine drinking, cigarette smoking (because it's how you stayed thin), husband loving women (and wife loving men). We have this theory that activities for this generation must be censored-but must they? I've had women ask me straight out if I was going to breast feed my new baby (when I was pregnant), how the birth was etc.

I'm not saying to start darker conversations, but it goes there, roll with it within reason

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

Penholder,

Your post is misplaced. We are not infantalizing elder residents. We are celebrating them. I've been a nurse for more than 30 years and have NEVER taught a CNA to treat an elderly person as if they were a baby. You must be hanging out in the wrong places.

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They might be old, but they know what's up....:up:

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