We’ve heard in the news about long-term care staff and the stress they’re under all across the country. I mentioned last month that our nurses, receptionists, housekeepers, CNAs, janitorial staff, cooks, and admissions staff are Copley’s heroes. They have stepped up during one of the most trying times of our lives, continuing to work on the frontlines of this pandemic.
But what doesn’t get talked about enough is the emotional connection our staff has with our residents. Working at Copley at Stoughton isn’t your average job where you punch in and punch out. We develop relationships with all of our residents. Often, these relationships last years and years. We know their birthdays, their favorite foods, their favorite colors. We know their spouses and their siblings. We know their children and their grandchildren and their great-grandchildren. We take care of them through the day, and, when needed, we sit up with them at night. We play games with them, chat with them, and spend time with them. They are not just a number. They are our friends and our family. And when we lose someone in our “family,” we grieve.
We are mindful that the stress and emotional toll of this virus is not just experienced by our employees, but also our residents. We do everything possible to ease their loneliness and worry, and that includes spending extra time with them because their family cannot. We assist with FaceTime and shortly we will be adding skype for our residents to communicate with their loved ones. We plan distanced activities to keep them occupied and stimulated. We are committed to making the best of a very difficult situation.
We look forward to returning to some level of normalcy, but until then, we will continue to take the very best emotional and physical care of everyone under our roof. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me anytime.
Thank you and stay safe!