Share Your Stories

One of the benefits of a support group is sharing your feelings and experiences with others who understand what you are going through because they face similar challenges. Individuals in a support group have a special compassion for your situation and can share strategies that have worked for them. Sometimes it just helps to vent and know someone is listening and cares because you have a unique emotional bond.

Working on a special care unit is eventful. Each moment is different and you really have to be trained to work in this environment. Every morning I would walk on the unit wearing my clunky high heel shoes that made a loud thump. I was going to stop wearing them until one of my residents changed my mind. She would stand outside her room every morning with her gold slippers on and she would say, "I have been waiting for you, let's go," and she would give me a big huge kiss and hug. So I would walk her to my office where she sat side by side with me. After about 10 minutes, she would thank me and give me another big huge kiss and hug and go back to her room to get ready for the day. She thought I was her daughter, mom, sister and even her best friend from childhood. Her daughter was very involved and would come at least 3 times a week. Her daughter would cry in my office every visit feeling she did something 'horrible' to her mom by moving her out of her home. The next day I told her daughter to come at 7:30 am if she could. She was at the end of the hall and she was able to watch her mom at a distance. Her mom truly believed this was her home, where she had lived her entire life. We decorated it with details from her childhood memories to resemble her home. Her daughter thanked the entire staff that day and was finally able to go on a week long vacation with her husband knowing her mom was ok.