Long-Term Care

Resident self-identity

LTC Nursing Assistant Trainer, May 5, 2005

Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to LTC Nursing Assistant Trainer!

Next to loss of privacy, one of the most frequent complaints about being a nursing home resident is that of being treated impersonally. Sometimes staff members are so busy taking care of residents' physical needs, they forget they are dealing with real thinking, feeling individuals.

An increasing number of studies show that a person's emotional state affects his or her health. For this reason, it's important to remember to treat residents as people and not just beds, room numbers, or diagnoses.

The following are some questions you can ask residents to begin to understand their individual self-identities:

Age

  • What are some of the national and world events you've experienced in your lifetime?

    • Parents

  • Tell me about your parents.
  • What did your parents do for a living?

    • Family members

  • Do you have any brothers or sisters? If so, tell me about them.
  • Did you know your grandparents? If so, tell me about them.

    • Courtship and marriage

  • Are you married? If so, tell me about your husband or wife.

    • Children

  • Do you have any children? If so, tell me about them.
  • Do your children have children? If so, tell me about them.

    • Belief system

  • Do you feel the world is essentially a good place?
  • Do you or did you attend a church, mosque, or temple?

    • Career

  • Did you work outside the home? If so, what did you do?
  • Did you enjoy your work?



    • Want to receive articles like this one in your inbox? Subscribe to LTC Nursing Assistant Trainer!

    Most Popular

    Related Articles