Archive for January 12th, 2010
Posted on January 12, 2010 - by Nurse Virginia
AVATAR – The Message for Healthcare Workers
“I See You”
What is the real message of Avatar?
Is it the story of a white man and a blue woman? The story of military against environment? The story of the early frontier and treatment of the American Indian? The story of Pocahontas? There are so many stories that come to you while viewing Avatar. But the thought that is expressed over and over throughout the film is “I see you.”
Does the Healthcare worker really “see” the person they care for?
Pg, 16- of Please Get to Know Me – Aging with Dignity and Relevance
A close friend explained the difference between a new purchase of a costly picture and a nursing-community resident. Often when we purchase something new for our home such as a prized picture, we pick exactly the right spot for it, and we know it will look beautiful in that special place. For a period of time we enjoy it: however, after awhile we no longer notice it unless someone calls our attention to it. That reminds us how much we like that picture.
The more I thought about it, the more I believed it was a fair analogy. Staff members who don’t respond when residents call out may have become desensitized. They might be kind caregivers and sincerely care about the elders, but not everyone can maintain a high awareness day after day, feel and express empathy, and “see” those for whom they care.
Virginia Garberding, R.N.
Director of Education, The Wealshire, Lincolnshire, Illinois
Please Get To Know Me – Aging with Dignity and Relevance
By: Virginia Garberding and Cecil Murphey
Posted on January 12, 2010 - by Nurse Virginia
Caregiver Support – Why did he get dementia? Learning to Move Past the Guilt
If I can ever find my elusive birth certificate I am sure I will find stamped on it in capital letters my real middle name: GUILT.
I have nothing but time to think now, and I find that some times I am flayed with feelings of inordinate guilt: If I hadn’t once wished to be alone, I wouldn’t have magically conjured George’s illness. Nor would I be experiencing such indescribable grief for that brilliant man who has already begun to forget all that he’d been and done and those he has loved. And for our children and me who have to go on without him.
I wonder, too, why it is George who is felled by dementia. I mean, the man I’ve loved all my life, a brilliant physician, could be saving people’s eyesight. How does that compare with writing books and playing the piano? In simplest of terms, my husband’s life is worth more than my own. I feel guilty for being, at least for the present, healthy and whole.
In the claustrophobic silence that surrounds me, my mind runs wild with guilty questions. Was I a good wife? Did I make George’s life happy? Was I smart enough, caring enough? Did George know how much I valued everything he did for me and our children? Did I tell him how much I appreciated his kindness, his gentleness, his patience? Did I say “I love you” enough?
I visit George three times a week, listening to National Public Radio on the way, trying to distract myself from the inevitability of what I will find when I knock on the door to his room…the increasing sadness and pain of being with him the way he is…removed, less able to converse, an unfamiliar George in a familiar body.
From: Moving to the Center of the Bed - The Artful Creation of a Life Alone
By: Sheila Weinstein www.centerofthebed.com
Virginia Garberding, R.N.
Director of Education, The Wealshire, Lincolnshire, Illinois
Author: Please Get to Know Me – Aging with Dignity and Relevance
- Help your elder find comfort, relevance and respect no matter how frail he or she is.
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