"I Had No Idea"

A few weeks ago, a volunteer and I were walking through a nursing home. We came upon a dynamic 96 year old woman. She spoke about her life and how happy she was; she had no complaints. She enjoyed the staff, her roommate and her family would come to visit frequently.

As we visited with her, she stated, "I am not a morning person, I have such a hard time getting up so early." I asked her, "what time do you wake up?" "Oh, around six o'clock" she said. "The aide comes in, gets me dressed and takes me down for breakfast". "Well," I said, "that's a bit early. Do you like getting up at that time?" "Oh no" she said, "I would rather wake up around ten o'clock and have a piece of toast and maybe some coffee." I asked, "Were you aware that you have the right to wake up when you want to, not when the staff tells you to?" "I thought that was just the way things were done, I had no idea" she said.

Residents of long term-care do have rights and often times are not aware of what they are or do not know how to get problems resolved. As Ombudsmen, we advocate and give the residents a voice that they would not have otherwise.