Originally Posted by
justakiwi
The day robots take over my job will be the day the human race can consider itself doomed. Even if robots could do the job, they shouldn’t. Our elderly need and deserve one-on-one human care and interaction. It is just as important as practical care tasks - more important actually. It is the personal interaction, the building of trusted and positive relationships, the time I willingly spend with my residents, that they value the most. A couple of examples …
A female resident who cannot mobilise without support and worries that her call bell/sensor mat may not work if she needs help. When I took the time to show her that I had correctly plugged in the bell and the mat, and demonstrated them both working so she could see first hand that they were working and my pager was going off - she said “Thank you SO much dear. I feel safe now.”
A female resident who is 91 years old - frail but young at heart. She has days where she is in a funk and just wants to mope in her room (her words). Some caregivers feel the need to encourage her to “come out of your room” but I know her well and understand that she just needs to take the time to work through her funk. When I pop in for a sit and a chat (and usually a good laugh) she tells me “Thank you dear for understanding and for checking in on me.”
A 92 year old gentleman who snuck my colleague and I a box of chocolates at Christmas when other staff weren’t looking and told us “I can’t do this for everyone but I wanted to do it for you two because you have always been very good to me.”
I guess what I’m trying to say is it’s not the tasks resident’s remember and value. It’s the human interactions and kindnesses. No robot can ever provide that.
Maybe one day I’ll write a book of all of these special moments.