Nursing Home Observation

A few days ago I took New York City public transit subway system and I visited Mary Manning Walsh Nursing Home (MMW). MMW is located on the Upper East Side of New York City. MMW provides residents with skilled nursing care 24 hours a day. They also provide short-term rehabilitation and a small, 10-bed Hospice unit. Mr. Joseph is one of the nursing directors and was kind enough to extend professional courtesy to me providing me with information and a tour of the facility although he made it clear that he was extremely busy. MMW believes in providing residents with physical, emotional and spiritual health. There are clergy and social workers available daily to provide residents with advice, counseling and also to console and pray with them.
Mary confided in me rather quickly and said if I am offered the position I should request a different floor. I explained I was not applying for a job and what my purpose was. At this moment Mary and I became best of friends! She informed me that this unit was a horrible unit to work on as you have to watch everything you do because one wrong move or even one resident that doesn’t like your hair or the color of your scrubs will have your terminated or written up. She expressed how unfair the other residents are treated which shocked me. Mary took me to a lower floor and as soon as the elevator door open I was immediately welcomed with the strong smell of urine and feces. There were no flowers, no pictures on the doors, residents looked as if they hadn’t bathed or changed their cloths, beds unmade, and the food looked like something I wouldn’t serve an animal. Mary stated, “Welcome to the poor unit”. I cannot begin to tell you how upset this made me feel and how it broke my heart.
I was lead to believe MMW was this elite, upscale nursing home in a very ritzy part of Manhattan. Now I know why their reviews are so low. Mary confirmed to me that years ago only those financially secure would reside in this facility and those who paid cash. In order for MMW to receive accreditation and other certificates they needed to open their doors to the public and allow a diverse crowd to apply and
I initially felt the first floor I toured was kind of fake and the people were snooty and everyone was over doing it almost as if it weren’t natural, but I was happy to see how clean and happy the residents appeared for the most part. The “real” units broke my heart. I learned at a very young age that sickness does not discriminate against anyone rich or poor, black or white. Those residents should have been treated the same way, regardless of money and or status. Nobody wants to die alone or in a home, let alone a place like this. I believe every floor should have flowers, and every floor should be almost identical to each other. The staff was even miserable and with attitudes. I couldn’t wait to exit the facility and once I did I never went back to speak to the nursing director as I felt he should be ashamed of himself and embarrassed as a nurse that he allows this. This assignment only confirmed and validated my plans for the future. It also made me realize why I am so humble and treat all my patients the way I would my own family. Life is beautiful and many take it for granted, including myself at times, but nobody deserves to be treated in that way. We are all getting old and some of us will be in a position that we will have no other choice but to depend on someone else. I make it a point when I am precepting a nurse to inform them that nobody asks to get sick or require medical treatment and nobody asks to get old