Observation at Pine Hill Nursing Home
Northeast Texas Community College
On April 13, 2013 I observed a nursing home facility. The name of the facility is Pine Hill Nursing center in Jefferson, TX. The age group of the patients I observed ages ranged from 70’s to late 90’s. Observing the nursing home was a new experience for me. I have never had any immediate family that I have gone to visit in a nursing home. I have never really spent much time inside one. The only time I have spent in a nursing home is if my church goes to sing there for Christmas. It is a different experience when you actually walk down the halls and go into the bedrooms of the patients. When we would go with my church, all you see is the people that are able to come down and be a part of the activities. You never see the people that aren’t able to get out the bed alone. Observing the nursing home I got a chance to see a mixture of people. There were some really nice elderly and there were some not so nice ones. In my opinion the elderly that were shut off to themselves where the ones that had no visitors. As I walked down the halls with my notebook to take notes, I often stopped in different rooms. I stopped to just simply ask a few patients how there day was going or tell them how nice the weather is outside. The only interaction they get is when the nurse comes in and asks, “You ready to bathe?” or shout out “It’s time for your medication.” No matter how old everyone needs social interaction. One of the nurses on shift told me that the patients do not have many visitors, maybe a former church member will stop by occasionally. She says she doesn’t see much family only during the holiday seasons. In the book it does indicate that support from family and friends are important to people living in nursing homes. I visited men and women rooms black and white. The first thing that I noticed was that the elderly white women had all kinds of figurines such as angel statues and plants. They also had colorful quilts, and just a lot of stuff to make their rooms feel like home. Passing the rooms I noticed the white ladies crocheting. The black women were more into cross-word puzzles and puzzle pieces. The men both black and white both did not do any activities. I seen the majority of them either sleep or watching TV. The majority of the patients at the nursing home were female. That could be a factor because women do live longer than men. It’s just a few more whites there than blacks but not many. The nursing home is not real fancy; it is more on the lower income nursing facilities. The nursing home is generally funded through Medicare or self-pay. If a patient there