Nursing Home Stories

Today at the nursing home we had Agnes, an 88 yr old woman with dementia get a hold of one of the menus for lunch. Agnes lives in the secured unit which consists of 21 other residents all living with dementia or Alzheimer’s disease. We never give our residents in this community a menu because they do not understand what is is and can become very confused. Instead of a menu we offer visual choices at their mealtime. This offers them a variety and the ability to help make their own choice.

Well today Agnes got a hold of a menu early in the morning. She went though the menu and laid out a timeline for each course of the meal. She monitored the time and the menu for a short time before becoming obsessed over each of the courses and the timeline she had laid out for the day. The staff had to take the menu away because she became extremely agitated.

Taking the menu away helped calm her nerves. She couldn’t comprehend why she had the menu. There is really no clear reason why she did this today, maybe because sheloved to plan out her day and orgazine herdaily routines? Who knows. There are many reasons why she could’ve got confused. It is important to learn about the progression of the disease and how small, everyday things in our lives can be very complicated and overwhelming to an individual suffering from such a tragic disease.

—-Mary, RN. Pennsylvania.

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