I am a Certified Nursing Assistant and I work in a nursing home. I am going to give you my opinion about certain aspects of this environment. A lot of people think of a nursing home as a place where all the people are like 100 years old and out of their mind and just waiting to die. This is entirely untrue. Of course there are a few that are dying, no way around it, but a lot of them are there because they have something like multiple sclerosis or a cracked hip or whatever. Most of the people there are in their right mind and they are very enjoyable if you would just take the time to talk to them and get to know them a little. When I first started working there I thought just by walking in the front door that most of these people were just neglected and had bad minds and didn't do anything but just sit in this place while everybody else took care of them. Obviously I had never done this type of work before. I learned quickly that these were terrific people who would laugh with you and make you happy no matter how bad of a day you might be having. Now I look forward to going to work not only because I know I am helping someone who needs me but because I need them too.
