10/01/2025
Sorry for the long post, but I wanted to share an article that was written a few weeks ago. It’s an important topic that I think is worth sharing…
Greetings from your friends at PNC! This week I would like to address the dreaded “nursing home talk.” I am referring to the talk that some people must have with their loved ones when the time comes in which moving them into a long-term care facility is the best option for their wellbeing.
Unfortunately, there is still a stigma when it comes to thinking about moving into a “nursing home.” Some people have an image of residents sitting around in dim lit rooms just staring at the plain white wall. There’s a misconception that residents wake up at 5am, eat supper at 4:30 and go to bed by 6, and that there is a certain stale smell that lingers in the halls. People think that residents don’t have a social life which would make sense if they aren’t allowed to leave or have visitors. Sadly, there are a lot of people that view nursing homes as a sort of prison where people merely come to die.
Although some of these things might have been true 50 years ago, life in a “nursing home,” which has now changed to long-term care facility, has drastically changed from when our great-grandparents were residents. Although it’s never an easy decision to move our loved ones from their homes, it’s comforting to know that they can still live a fulfilling life in a long-term care facility. People still have choices regarding how they spend their day. At PNC, we have some residents that are night owls and love to sleep in until almost lunch time. We have one resident that takes a weekly drive with their family, a resident that sits outside for hours when the weather is nice, a resident that goes to play card games weekly with friends, and one resident that goes to stay with relatives for a week a few times a year. Currently every resident gets their own room with their own bathroom, but we do have the option of a double room if a couple would like to share.
There are activities and games that residents have the choice to join in on or not. Not everyone likes to play cards, watch movies, or play bingo, and that’s ok! There are a lot of residents that like to do their own things like diamond art, reading, watching TV, chatting on the phone about the latest town gossip, crocheting, putting together puzzles, completing word finds, solving crossword puzzles, and even trolling Facebook. Our facility has residents with all different personalities, and we do our best to make sure that each person feels valued and at “home” as much as possible.
One thing you do have to get accustomed to if you or a loved one moves into a long-term care facility is the meal/food lingo that is used. For example, a person gets breakfast in the morning, morning snack around 9:30am, dinner is served around 11:30am, and lunch, which consists of coffee and a light snack is served at 2:30, supper is served at 5:30, and the day finishes off with an evening snack around 8pm. I have been at PNC for almost 8 years, and I still can’t get over the fact that lunch is called dinner, and the afternoon snack is called lunch! I do know though that with all of the food offered, it can be very easy for someone to gain weight when they move in here! It’s kind of like when people go off to college and gain the dreaded “freshman fifteen,” only now it’s the “tenant ten!”
Another misconception is that people think if they or a loved one moves into a long-term care facility, they are “stuck” here. If you or a loved one were to ever move into PNC, we DO NOT throw away the key and keep you locked in here. In fact, we have a lot of people stay temporarily while they receive rehabilitation services or recover from an illness or surgery. Over the years we have had many people move in and move back to their homes when it’s deemed safe to do so.
Times have changed and so has life at a long-term care facility. It’s no longer a gloomy and scary place that you dread sending your loved ones. I can only speak on behalf of PNC, but our facility is full of life and laughter and can be a Godsend to families that need us. Not every facility operates the same, so if you are faced with the difficult decision of moving your loved one or yourself into a long-term care facility, be sure to do your research.
I encourage anyone that has questions to call us. In fact, call and set up a tour of our facility, even if you don’t have a need for our services. One of my “infamous” tours will at least give you piece of mind that a long-term care facility is not a prison, but rather a home away from home where you or your loved one can thrive if the need should ever arise.
Life does not end when you or your loved one makes the decision to move into a long-term care facility. It means receiving quality care that ensures the wellbeing of both the residents and their families. If the day ever does come that you or your family must make the difficult decision to move into a long-term facility, remember the words of Dale Carnegie “It isn’t what you have or who you are or where you are or what you are doing that makes you happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it.”
-Heather Duerre
