Control

We spend the first 15 or 20 years of our life trying to get control of it.  You find me someone on the planet who hasn't started a sentence with "When I grow up I'm not going to..."

After that, hopefully, we get things running in our general preference of direction.  It's not perfect, but at least our mistakes are our own.

When we get to the end, the people around us start to take over again and we're stuck back where we were.  They decide what we eat, and when.  What medication we take, and when.  What clothing we wear, what time we get up and go to bed and a thousand other things that we have managed to control for 40, 50, or 60 years.

Is it any wonder the residents get mad at us?  We're just doing our best to make sure everyone gets taken care of, but they see it as us stealing their independence.

I got accused of treating a resident like an animal yesterday.  If you think about it, they're right.  We do the same thing to our pets and farm animals.  When you put people in a group setting, it becomes harder to treat them like individuals.  Especially when your nursing center is still operating under the old mindset of  "Breakfast is at 7:30, Lunch at 11:30, Supper at 5:00 and everyone needs to be in bed by 10:00".

Every once in a while I hear mumbling about culture change.  I'm looking forward to it.  Giving the residents a little control back will make things more chaotic, but it will also make them happier about being in a less than ideal situation.