my favorite resident

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i thought we could all use some cheering up (i know i can) so decided to talk about my favorite resident. i ssuppose saying "my favorite" sounds a bit politically incorrect, but whatever. my favorite resident, who ive posted about before, just died and i still feel sad-- i feel an actual ache. she was so kind and caring. she used to hold my face in her hands really close to her face and she would coo and me and talk to me like i was a precious little baby (which, to her, i probably was). although we thought she had a speech impediment, and i never could understand very much she said-- just a word here and there-- i brought my daughter, who is seven, in to meet her and guess what! my daughter could have a complete conversation with her with no misunderstandings or problems!! isnt that cool! my other favorite resident-- and i think we could all agree that most of our residents are, in one way or another, all favorites-- but my other favorite resident was the opposite. she was a total spitfire-- "good morning," you would say and she would say, "oh, go to hell!" she held nothing back. however she felt, it was right there and obvious. this resident died also-- when i would say, "i love you," and she started saying it back, i started to worry. about a week later, she was gone. one time she called me a "pissin' pissant," which i thought was a pretty creative insult. it was always funny to watch new hires who had probably never even visited a care center before encounter her for the first time-- definitely not what they were expecting.

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Working in LTC isn't for everyone, so I am glad there are nurses like you to care for our aged and infirmed patients. Thank you for sharing about your "favorite patients".

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Specializes in Telemetry, ICU, Resource Pool, Dialysis.

This got me to thinking about a favorite resident of mine when I was a CNA on an Alzeheimer's unit. She was a 60ish Jewish lady straight from New York. She thought she lived in an apartment complex and was still in NY. I seemed to be her favorite, she always recognized me, although I was always someone different: one day a niece, one day a sister, daughter,etc... She would invite me into her "apartment" for snacks and we would have the most interesting conversations! She would fill me in with all the gossip...who her next door neighbor was sleeping with, etc.. I loved her dearly. She considered her roomate her "housekeeper" and was forever looking for her checkbook to pay her. She had a tendency to wear ALL her clothes at the same time, each ensemble topped off with a genuine fur coat (in the middle of summer). She developed a severe heart block, which her son did not want to treat. I was really difficult to see her collapse time after time, and wonder if this time was the last. I was not at work the day she died, but heard she was in the midst of gossiping with her "neighbor" about the "trashy people" down the hall playing their TV too loud at night when it happened. I still miss her after all these years. Maybe we'll meet again...

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Like anyone I also have many favorites. Let's see........"Lillian" is a lady who calls me "sweetie" (there are very few people I allow to call me a pet name. Personally I don't believe in pet names.....sorry another thread). She is elegant, conversive,pleasant. We share books, gossip about TV shows, snacks. I just love her. There aren't too many residents I develop a personal relationship with, I keep it mostly professional (although the residents coulnd't tell the difference)

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Specializes in LTC, home health, critical care, pulmonary nursing.

My favorite resident is an end stager, doesn't know me from a hole in the wall, and is totally incapable of speaking. I love her dearly. My other favorite, like merricat said, is a spitfire. She's not on my unit anymore, but the first morning she was there, I said "Good morning," and was met with a hard slap across the jaw, and much Spanish cursing. I said to a fellow CNA, "Oh, I like her!" I love the feisty ones.

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After reading this thread, I realized that my "favorites" have just enough dementia to be pleasantly confused and fiesty enough to slap their medicine out of my hand when I try to give it to them. One of my favorites likes to put peeled bananas in her socks and put on examination gloves that she gets off of the linen carts. Her roommate sings a continuous chorus of "I am the Silo man, and I have come to save the day!" We still don't know who the Silo man is. I would love to know. There is another very pious lady who I have come to love that won't let me give her eyedrops if it's storming outside. She says she may get electrocuted. I love my residents so much! There's never a time when I'm not surprised at anything they say or do. I think nurses who automatically write off geriatrics as a field of enjoyable nursing are missing out on so much:crying2: There is a lot they they can teach us.

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i have had many "favorite" pts. in the past 7yrs!!! and i usually go for the PIAs, the old, growly, miserable old farts!! the more they cuss & holler the better!!! its always fun to do, "remember the time that we had so+so and he did such+such!" when they pass, i always feel a loss too....its hard not to become attached!!!

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I think nurses who automatically write off geriatrics as a field of enjoyable nursing are missing out on so much:crying2: There is a lot they they can teach us.

Oh, isn't that the truth?

I loved LTC!

I just couldn't deal with the under-staffing, the B.S., politics, and the residents not having enough staff (and supplies!), to have their needs met.

I miss LTC, but I wouldn't go back.

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.
My favorite resident is an end stager, doesn't know me from a hole in the wall, and is totally incapable of speaking. I love her dearly. My other favorite, like merricat said, is a spitfire. She's not on my unit anymore, but the first morning she was there, I said "Good morning," and was met with a hard slap across the jaw, and much Spanish cursing. I said to a fellow CNA, "Oh, I like her!" I love the feisty ones.

You LIKE being slapped in the face? Zowie...do y'all like being abused outside of work as well?

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Specializes in LTC, home health, critical care, pulmonary nursing.
You LIKE being slapped in the face? Zowie...do y'all like being abused outside of work as well?
Do I like being abused? No. But it certainly makes my day more interesting.
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I really liked working in LTC in my hometown. Some of the folks remembered my dad as a young boy and still referred to him as "little Jimmy". One of my favorites was a German lady named Sophie. She would yell "Du Swinehund!" at me while she went up and down the hall.

Unfortunately, I couldn't make a living in LTC and there were no bennies.

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Specializes in LTC, med-surg, critial care.

I just started working as a CNA in a LTC to get through nursing school. So far I have fallen in love with:

1. "Anna" who kisses my hand when I see her and, last night, kissed my cheek when I leaned in to tell her I was going home (she had taken her hearing aid out for the night).

2. "Freddy" who tells me he loves me right before I turn out the light for him at night.

3. "James" who blows kisses at me and is quite possibly the most even tempered man I've ever met.

4. "Hazel" who says "Ohhhhh, boooooy" everytime I tell her it's dinner time and she needs to get out of bed. She also says "hello darling" everytime someone walks in the room.

I love my job.

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