Nursing Home Observation Report

When I decided to volunteer at the Del Amo Gardens Care Center, I wasn’t quite sure if I was emotionally ready. In March of 2013, my grandpa suffered a very severe stroke. It caused so much damage that it paralyzed half of his body, so we had to put him in a nursing home. Shortly after starting my volunteering, however, any negativity faded away as I was eager to assist with the activities. As I participated, discovered that even though a good amount of these patients suffered some sort of disease or disability, they still have the energy to find the fun in almost any situation. The Del Amo Gardens Care Center is located in Torrance, California. They are a nursing facility that treats elderly patients around the clock. They have both a short-stay wing and a permanent-stay wing with 94 patient rooms in total. The care center is funded and represented by the California Association of Health Facilities, which is a non-profit trade organization founded in 1950. When I fist …show more content…
Upon starting my volunteering, however, I began to feel comfortable working with the patients and they felt comfortable with me. We broke the ice by standing in a circle and throwing a ball to each other. After a break, we gathered around a television and picked a movie to watch. It was incredibly difficult trying to pick one that wasn’t too intense for the patients, but we settled on a movie from the 1940s. The next day, I helped serve coffee and graham crackers to patients. Shortly after, a musician named Steve Thacker serenaded us with his guitar and ukulele. Finally, I ended my volunteer service by assisting a patient with bingo and have more fun than I thought I would have. As I left the care center, I learned something from some of the patients, and that was try to find the fun in any