The other day I was visiting a senior care facility at mealtime. It was also at this time that the RN on duty was passing out meds. She was going at a pretty fast clip, but still taking time to interact verbally with each resident. Her comments were upbeat. This enabled her to dispatch her duties with little or no resistance from the residents. But maybe she was going a little too fast.
As she approached one woman in a wheelchair the resident immediately picked up her water glass, obviously knowing the drill. "I can see that you're a lefty," the nurse said in a cheerful voice. "You picked up your water glass right away with your left hand when you saw me coming." The resident didn't comment. An appropriate comment from the resident might have been, "Did you notice that I don't have a right arm?"
Just a little extra time. Just a few seconds more. Slowing down to inhabit their space and their world for just a little while. That shouldn't be too much to ask.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment