Date the Weekly Reflection was first submitted: 02/26/2020

Name: Elizabeth Deely

Nursing Home: North Florida Rehab and Specialty Care

Date of visit:

Length of visit: 1

1. Tell us the names of the nursing home residents you visited this week. If they were the same residents from week one, did they remember you from your last visit?

We visited Richard again. He did remember me (for the most part). Since Sophie wasn't there last week but I was, that seemed to confuse him a little but, he remembered me.

Jan wasn't available last night, her curtain was drawn.

Before we left, Heather introduced our group to a woman in the hallway named, Carol. She was in her wheel chair playing an electronic game of Yahtzee. I'm glad Heather did this because as we left Richard's room looking for other familiar residents, I asked her how they meet the residents they visit. She did a great job of showing me how instead of just telling me. 🙂

2. What is one new thing you learned about the residents you visited today?

I learned that Richard is more of a football fan than a basketball fan. And, that he enjoys travel magazines. It was revealed that I am an FSU fan (shiver) so he told me that a relative of his went to FSU because they didn't accept women at UF.

Carol was very aware and engaging. She seemed genuinely pleased that we stopped to introduce ourselves. She's been at the facility for six years, "this is my home" she said. She reads 2-3 books a week – which I think is absolutely incredible and recently listed to a podcast about the importance of using one's imagination. She reads all kinds of books – mystery, history, and biographies mostly. The library brings a cart of books every month/other month for the residents to borrow. She also has her own books but once she reads them 1-2 times, she puts her name in them and shares them in the facility's library. I'm looking forward to speaking with her again. She seems like a very strong woman who knows her reality and is comfortable with it. Granted, I met her for 7 minutes but that's my first impression.

3. Did you feel any more or less comfortable this week at the nursing home as compared to last week?

I definitely felt more comfortable. There was still come awkwardness and a couple of silences that made me jump into my own insecurities but definitely fewer than last week.