St. Paul’s Home and Good Samaritan College of Nursing are working together to provide valuable experiences for future care providers of the elderly. Each fall and spring over a 2-day period, Good Sam brings groups of students to St. Paul’s Home to interact with Residents in their apartments, in physical therapy, and even the Home’s Coffee Shop.
Meeting with Residents in the Home helps students understand how vastly different — and how disconcerting — it is when a Resident needs to be in a hospital. One student recognized a Resident as someone who had recently been at Good Sam and said “She looks completely different here – she looks so much better.”
Visiting area retirement homes and nursing care facilities also exposes students to other work environments and career options. Regarding the experience offered by St. Paul’s Home, one educator explained, “I visit nine different nursing homes with my students – this place is special. I love coming here – it’s so peaceful. It’s truly a home, and all of the staff and residents are family.”
By spending time with the Residents, the staff of both St. Paul’s Home and Good Sam are working together to help ensure a future where the elderly are cared for with love and respect. As another educator added, “I hope that we can encourage a reverence for the elderly. I was fortunate that as I was growing up my grandparents lived with us and we took care of them. Not every culture has that.”
Partnering to Inspire the Next Generation of Eldercare Nurses