Lawrence Convalescent Ctr

For the most part the residents are well cared for and the staff members are helpful and treat them well. The facility itself is always clean and things seem to be well organized, they stay in compliance with state regulations and always pass inspections. The facility seems to look really good on paper, but it took taking a closer look at how the facility is ran for me to find a couple of issues that really do not sit well with me at all.

The first issue being that I have is that the staff kind of squash any signs of individuality or expression from the residents, if that makes any sense at all, it's hard to explain exactly what I mean. It's really something you have to see to recognize. But I never see the staff really encourage creativity or praise accomplishments, and they don't promote special interests or hobbies. I am not sure if it's intentional or not, but I have seen it happen on several occasions, each time involving different residents and staff members. To use an example, during one of my visits, I heard a staff member tell a resident to stop singing! I was listening to the resident sing and I was happy because it is rare that I see the residents in this facility open up and show their personalities, but I was thrilled to see the resident expressing themselves through singing and then to hear a staff member, who SHOULD be encouraging individuality and personal expression, tell the resident to stop because it was annoying, really made me mad on so many different levels. It was all I could do to remain composed. The scheduled activities are not any better as far as personal expression. The activity schedule states that there are weekly creative activities, but the residents tell me that most of the time they get cancelled, so any activities involving artistic expression such as arts and crafts rarely take place around the facility. I understand that this is a nursing home and not a more active assisted or independent living community, but that doesn't mean that the residents can't hold a paintbrush or write a story or make jewelry or anything else involving creative expression or requiring individual thinking. Now don't get me wrong, they do have scheduled activities, but it is mainly activities involving group interaction as oppose to individual thought or expression. The activities are usually those that involve exercise to help make the residents stronger, group activities such as bingo, events such as musical guests or holiday celebrations, and such. Also, when they do offer some type of creative activity, such as arts and crafts, it seems like the staff are more concerned with the mess then taking the time to open their eyes and see how happy the residents are and that they are having a blast. Overall, it just seems like the residents are not at all comfortable with showing that they are individuals with their own thoughts, ideas, personalities, and all. It seems as if they would rather sit and watch TV then find a hobby, it's like they have been molded this way almost. It's sad.

The second issue I have is that the staff treat all of the residents the same, and I think this also goes along the lines of the lack of individuality, but they treat every resident as if they are so ill that they aren't able to do anything for themselves. Again, I realize it's a nursing home and that some of the residents require a lot of care, but I also know that many of the residents are well enough to be active and still maintain some independence. The staff really should stop treating the residents like children, they are adults with more life experience than most of the staff members, but some of the staff members still treat the residents like they (the staff) know what's best for them (the residents). They do not let the residents have as much say as they should and they do not always involve the residents in decisions being made about them, which is never okay. There are, however, some staff members that interact very well with the residents and they encourage the residents to attempt to do some things on their own and celebrate with them when they do. They are friendly and really appear to care about them. They are skilled in working with skilled nursing residents and they are great with the families. This issue would disappear if they could just get every staff member to be as wonderful in working with the residents.

I like facilities where the residents are treated as individuals and are made to feel special because of their individuality. Facilities where creativity and expression are welcomed daily through activities, and where the different personalities shine through and make the facility exciting and interesting. It is my hope that, Lawrence Convalescent, will become more like this, and when it does I will be more inclined to refer people to the community.