Week: 1 January 4-8

Total # of Hours Worked: 17

Allison B. Reaves

Internship Site: Bridgewater Retirement Community

Day 1: January 4

0 Hours

This was supposed to be my first day, but I had a doctor’s appointment to go to. My supervisor told me to not worry about coming in today and to make sure that I get to my doctor’s appointment on time which I really appreciate. I am starting my first day tomorrow.

Day 2: January 5

0.5 Hours

I honestly wouldn’t count the half hour that I was there waiting for my supervisor. I had the flu, but I didn’t want to call in sick my first day; especially since she was so nice in giving me the day off yesterday. We did talk for a little bit and decided that I would have Saturdays, Sundays, and Wednesdays off since I will be working full shifts which are 8.5 hours (note, I will be sending my weekly journals every Sunday since I will be at work on Mondays all day). She appreciated me coming in but informed me that I would not be allowed to start working until my fever is gone so that I won’t be a danger to the residents. I can completely agree with that!

Day 3: January 6

0 hours

Even though I have Wednesdays off, I wanted to go in today. However, my fever was not gone until this morning, and my supervisor informed me that I need to have it gone, as well as my other symptoms, for at least 24 hours before I can start working. I have no issues with that because the last thing that I want to do on my first day on the job is bring the flu into a nursing home which is the area where I will be spending the most of my time in. I will definitely begin work tomorrow, and I am very eager to begin.

Day 4: January 7

8.5 hours

Today was my first official day on the job. We started the day off in the social services department where I am working by attending a continuing management meeting. They have this meeting with all of the directors and the president (sometimes) every Thursday morning to catch

up with the statuses of all of the current residents. The meeting lasted about an hour. After the meeting, my supervisor and I went to numerous residents’ rooms, and I was able to observe her giving them interviews about their current mental state as well as a cognitive test. She explained to me that these tests are given frequently because they are used to help determine the level of care that each resident needs. I also read through one section of four that I am supposed to read before I can start giving interviews on my own. It was very informative and was all about the assessment and how to properly ask the questions. After that, I went to lunch where I met a few more staff members. They were all very nice, which is a good thing because a happy staff means happy residents. After lunch, I received my badge as well as a laptop with my login information on it. I learned that not only will I be giving interviews, but I will be going into their files and submitting reports of their scores as well as update anything else that I do such as genograms. I read a little more in the manual before going to an art program around one. We started off with a song, then read some poems, and eventually did an art project that involved us cutting out fabric and creating clothes for a 2-D snowman. The residents loved it, and I actually had fun, too. The last thing that we did today was visit a few other residents and asked them if they would like to attend their care plan meeting on Wednesday. I’m going for a half day on Wed, so I will put more details about these meetings in next week’s journal. Today was a really great day!

Day 5: January 8

8.5 hours

Well I accidently forgot my notes at work, so this is not going to be as detailed of a report as yesterday was. Luckily, I really didn’t do all that much today because my supervisor had to leave early to go to a funeral. We did do another interview, but this one took forever because the man that we interviewed kept going off topic. After that, I read halfway through my next section in the manual that I am supposed to read. I only read half because it is a really big section. I then went to lunch, but I decided to bring my lunch back to my desk instead of taking a break because I was working hard on a few genograms that I needed to get done. I was only able to finish two of them. I will have to finish the third genogram and the rest of that section on Monday if I have time. I was also required to watch three movies about how to care for those with dementia. The first video was really short, so I finished that right away. However, the second video took me three hours just to get through two and a half sections out of four before I was asked to leave the room because there was going to be a program in there soon. I have to finish the videos on Monday because the nurse needs them back for her class that she is currently teaching. After that, my brain was on overload from all of the information from the manual and the movies, so I decided to take a break and visit some of the residents that my supervisor told me to visit. I wasn’t able to visit them all, but I did visit a few. One woman was very sweet and enjoyed my company, and another woman was the complete opposite because she was severely depressed. She kept telling me that “I’ve just trying to survive another day. There’s nothing you can do for me.” It broke my heart hearing that. After that, I visited another resident randomly because I met her yesterday, and she and I talked for almost an hour. She is really cool and very positive about everything. I was feeling sort of down all day because of some issues in my personal life, but she cheered me right up when I intentionally went in to cheer her up. It’s funny how things work out like that. I really do think I am going to enjoy this job!

Week: 2 January 11-15

Total # of Hours Worked this Week: 35

Total # of Hours Worked in All: 52

Allison B. Reaves

Internship Site: Bridgewater Retirement Community

Day 1: January 11

8.5 Hours

Today I started off by reading section C and finishing it. I walked around with another supervisor in the social services department who is very nice, but I quickly learned that if I tell her something that it will be repeated unconsciously on her part. She doesn’t mean to hurt people, but she is just a talker. I was able to meet some of the nurses on staff with her, and they were all very nice. It’s nice to know that the residents are under the care of a truly caring staff. A lot of the nurses have been calling in sick due to the flu running around, so the departments have all been in a silent chaos while still being able to manage control with the residents. I have learned that I need to go to bed earlier because I have found it hard to stay awake during the first part of my shift. I finished my last genogram today, and I learned not only how to scan them into the AOD, but how to scan in the social histories that I get my information for the genograms from. I finished the day by finishing the last of the movies that I had to watch which took forever because they were so long. I did get to walk around a little bit on my own and visit some of the residents, but I wasn’t able to for long because my shift was ending. Today was a very educational day, but it, unfortunately, was a bit boring.

Day 2: January 12

7.5 Hours

Today was a very busy day for me. I was constantly on my toes today. Today we had a huge staff meeting with all of the directors in each house. We just talked about the progress in each area and some issues that need to be solved. I started reading section D today in the manual. I also observed another interview with my supervisor. This one was done with a person who wasn’t able to respond, so we had to do a staff interview of the resident on their behalf. It was interesting to observe these two forms of interviews for those who were able to answer the questions on their own and for those who couldn’t. After the interview, my supervisor showed me how to navigate AOD (their computer software that runs pretty much everything there) to research the residents’ behaviors such as eating habits, events they go to, leisure activities they participate in, etc. I have to use this information to compare it with the nurses’ notes as well as the information that I gather during the interviews. When I do the interviews, I have to make sure that all of my work is done the day that I do the interviews because that is the day that the results are all due on AOD. I don’t have to have all of my notes written, but I do have to start them. My next assignment is that I need to make a social history for another resident with information that my supervisor has collected. I also need to make a genogram for this resident. Before that,

though, I had to fill out an application for volunteering there because even though I’m an intern, I’m still technically a volunteer, and I still needed to fill out an application so that I can be put into the system properly. My supervisor was very annoyed about this because I’m working for her and not volunteer services, but I still had to do it for legal reasons. I also have to go to a volunteer orientation even though I had literally just finished my orientation with all of the videos I watched as well as my progress with reading the manual thus far. My orientation is on the 19th from 3-5:30pm. After filling out the form, I did my daily routine of walking around visiting the residents. I then went back and finished reading section D. I only have one more section, Q, to read left. I left early at 3:30pm because technically my work for the day was done, my supervisor couldn’t find the social history forms that I had to fill out, and my brain was fried from all of the information I collected today.

Day 3: January 13

3 hours

Even though I am supposed to have the day off today, I decided to come in so that I could observe some care plan meetings with my supervisor. I started reading section Q of the manual while waiting for the first meeting to start. This is a very long section. I also went to a quality assurance performance improvement meeting before the care plan meetings which covered safety, health, and fall prevention, among other topics, that needed to be discussed with all of the staff. They do this routinely to make sure that everyone is on top of things so that the residents are always living in a safe and fall free environment. The care plan meetings are simply about the care that the residents are getting, and the residents’ families are involved in the meetings as well as the residents themselves if they wish to be there. They discuss their care package, financial issues, the progress that the residents have made in physical therapy, how they are feeling emotionally and how they are doing cognitively, and what they could do to make the residents lives better here. After the interviews, I went back home which was why I was only there for three hours.

Day 4: January 14

8.5 hours

Today we had our weekly meeting this morning. We discussed the progress that some of the residents were making as well as our new logo and other projects that BRC are starting. I finally worked on the resident’s social history that I was assigned the other day, and I scanned it into AOD. I also did the genogram for the resident and scanned that into AOD as well. I then went to do my first two interviews that I had to do on my own. My supervisor was there to make sure I did everything correctly, but I was in charge of the interview. They were not as easy as I thought because the first interview was a disaster because I was not talking clearly and loudly enough. However, my second interview went really well because I knew the resident. This resident was one of the ones that I visit on a regular basis. After the interviews, I learned how to go into AOD and retrieve some more information to put on the forms such as their resident number, room number, doctors’ names, etc., and then I scanned those into AOD as well. I then sat down with my supervisor and researched the nurses’ old notes as well as looked at the residents’ habits to

compare the information with what I learned during the interview. After comparing the notes, I was able to log in the info from the interviews into a program on AOD that electronically backs up the interview results so that others can access the documents and they are in another location in case something happens to the originals that I also scanned in. I am quickly learning that there are two versions of every document in this line of field. It surprisingly didn’t take me as long as I thought it would’ve to learn all of this. I was quickly beginning to do things on my own without me having to have my supervisor hover in case I had a question. The AOD is really easy to navigate. I decided to take a break after doing my research to continue reading section Q. I then went to visit a few residents again. I know it seems like I didn’t do much today, but everything, despite the simplicity of it, took forever to do because I had to compare and contrast my notes to everyone else’s notes for two separate residents. This took almost the entire day. I was able to start my notes that I will eventually log into AOD myself just like the nurses so that they can read it, but I could not finish them. I will finish them tomorrow.

Day 5: January 15

7.5 hours

Today started off a bit rocky because my phone died over night, so my alarm didn’t go off. I was about an hour late this morning. I will not be making that mistake again. Today I worked on and finished the two quarterly social services notes that I put off until today. They took forever to write, but they were easy enough to put together with all of the notes I gathered yesterday as well as an outline that my supervisor gave me. I wrote them first by hand and then gave them to my supervisor to edit. She only found some minor details in my notes, and she was pretty impressed with my first shot at writing these notes. In between taking breaks from writing these notes, I was tasked with updating the Residents’ Rights posters and logos on the poster boards that are outside of each nursing room in each household. There were six in all. They need to be updated at the beginning of each year. I had to travel to all six households, pull them down, take them back to the office, take off the old things, put on the new things, take them back to the households, and then hang them back up. I had to do two trips because I could only carry three at a time. This was a long process, but I enjoyed the busy work. I would rather be kept busy than sitting around doing nothing. I was able to finish all posters and both reports today in time. I put in my notes/reports into AOD so that the nurses could read them. I also went to go ask a resident if they would like to attend their next care plan meeting on Wednesday, and I went to make an appointment with another resident so that I can help them clean their room. Unfortunately, I forgot that I have Wednesdays off, and that is the day that I made the appointment for. I guess I will not be having a Wednesday off after all. Oh well, it doesn’t bother me in the slightest because I truly do enjoy this job. I am proud of all of the work that I was able to accomplish this week. It may not seem like a lot, but I have learned so much this week. I am looking forward to next week.

Week: 3 January 18-22

Total # of Hours Worked this Week: 32

Total # of Hours Worked in All: 84

Allison B. Reaves

Internship Site: Bridgewater Retirement Community

Day 1: January 18

8.5 Hours

I did the math to figure out how many more hours I need as of today. I found out that I only need 68 more hours. I realize now that I am not going to have enough time to finish my internship during interterm like I wanted to since this is the last week of classes. I will still need 24.5 hours minimum after Monday. However, I still plan on doing my midterm evaluation tomorrow since by then I will have the required 60 hours under my belt. I also started gathering information for my paper that is due on Friday. I looked at my schedule and planned it so that I would have five hours every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday following this next Monday. I will go to class and then go to work from 10am-1:30pm, go back to class, and then go back to work from 3pm-4:30pm. That way, I would only have to come back for five more days. If nothing comes up, then I should be done by Feb. 5th.

I did another interview today. It took almost all day because the resident I had to interview was not feeling well today. I had to be flexible with my time because I had to do the interview in stages. It really made me fall behind, but I still did all of my research, filled out the online copy of the interview, scanned it in, and started my notes. I decided to take a break and finally finished reading section Q! I am finally done with the manual. Thank goodness. When I was done, I continued writing my notes. I came into a snag when I got to the discharge section. I talked to my supervisor, and we both decided to completely change it. I also did my first social history interview today. It was really hard because both of us had a hearing issue, so it took a lot of my time, too. Thankfully the resident’s family walked in when I was about to give up and finished filling out the form for me. I went back to the office and created a genogram from the information that I collected. I scanned them both in and went back to finishing my notes for the earlier interview. I was barely able to get all of my assignments done today. Now, I just have to wait for my supervisor to finish reading the draft of my notes so that I can put them into AOD tomorrow.

Day 2: January 19

9.5 Hours

In my rush to get everything done yesterday, my notes were too confusing. I ended up having to re-write the second half of it. I cleaned them up and finished them. I loaded them up into AOD. I then went to another care plan meeting with my other supervisor. It was pretty short but very informative. I then did another interview which I really enjoyed because the resident was

hilarious. She kept picking on me about my blue hair. However, toward the end, the resident admitted that they feel that they would be better off dead. I think the resident was joking, but I still had to fill out a physician communication/order form to notify the doctors of potential self harm. We have to do this for every resident who feels that they would be better off dead. I finished up all of my research, notes, and then scanned everything into AOD as well as filled everything out in AOD. Today was a very successful day compared to yesterday which felt like I kept running into obstacles with the resident being sick and quiet as well as the other resident and I both having a hearing disability. After I got all of my work done, I went to a volunteer orientation that actually ended up being very informative. The copy of the powerpoint that I was given would really help me in my final paper. The orientation ended at 5:30pm.

Dr. Stitches = Fire

Dr. Lock = Intruder

Dr. Hunt = Missing Resident

These are all codes said over the intercom if these things happen. They are said in code so the residents are not alarmed to the situation at hand.

Day 3: January 20

1 hour

I went in today solely to help another resident clean her room. Unfortunately, the resident was not up for it, so I decided to visit with them. I also filled out a paper copy of my volunteer application so that they could have it on file. Once again, I notice that there are at least two copies of every form kept on file electronically as well as on paper.

Day 4: January 21

8.5 hours

We went to our weekly meeting which was boring as usual. I then got to interview a resident for the first time by myself. It was actually so much easier without my supervisor latching on to every word I say. It makes me more nervous, and I keep messing up. Without her there, though, I did pretty well. After the interview, I filled out my student evaluation that is due tomorrow. I then worked on my notes from the interview. They were pretty easy to write since my resident was pretty cognitively intact. I was able to finish all of my work, so I decided to use the rest of my time today to work on my final paper. I’m glad I did, because there were so many questions I had to answer that I needed help with from my supervisors. While I was working on my paper, my supervisor’s boss came in to talk about moving some of the residents around to make room for new ones. There has actually been a lot of talk about this because there is a man who lives in the village who needs a room. Because of all of the construction going on right now, there is a limited number of rooms. This makes me wonder if that even at a place like BRC, all they care about is numbers. We learned this in class, but I am experiencing it for myself. My supervisor doesn’t like it at all, but she has to do what her boss tells her to do even if it is annoying the residents because they have been moving around a lot due to the construction and other

accommodations such as another married couple that just moved in together. They may care about the residents, but BRC is a business after all, and just like any other business, they care about numbers, too. I also was informed that a resident that I had previously experienced being interviewed by my supervisor passed away today. This helped solve the moving around issue, but I think it is cruel to move all of their stuff out of the room so hastily. They chalked it up to the oncoming storm so that they family did not have to worry about moving the resident’s stuff out. I realized that I was sad about the resident’s passing, but I also realized that I could handle it because it was coming eventually. I have come to develop relationships with some of the residents, so I hope that I can have this attitude when they pass away as well. Because if not, then perhaps this is not the field for me after all. I am sure that I will be fine, though.

Day 5: January 22

4.5 hours

My supervisor and I started the day doing my final evaluation because it was due at noon. After that, all of my work will have been done because I stayed up all night finishing my paper so that I wouldn’t have to worry about it being late today. I will still continue to write these journals even though the semester is over with. I went to visit with another resident to fill out another social history. This one was way better than last time because the resident had clear speech. The resident was also cognitively intact, so I was able to get all of the information that I needed and then some. Afterwards, I filled out a cleaner copy and scanned it into AOD. I then left early because the blizzard was getting really strong, and I didn’t want to leave my car there. Besides, my supervisor left as well. I will have to figure out my hours again on Monday.

Week: 4 January 25-29

Total # of Hours Worked this Week:

Total # of Hours Worked in All: 84

Allison B. Reaves

Internship Site: Bridgewater Retirement Community

Day 1: January 25

8.5 Hours

Today, I started the day off by scanning in a social history, making a genogram from it, and scanning that in as well. I started my notes for the interview, and I finished my final draft early today. I had to go back to the resident that I interviewed to ask them about their discharge plan. Some of the residents, despite what is in their best interest, would like to leave sooner rather than later. Every time we have a resident who would like to leave, we have to fill out a Referral Facsimile Transmittal Notification & Tracking Form so that people from the outside agency can come and meet with the resident to see if they are ready and healthy enough to leave BRC. They come mostly from Valley Association for Independent Living (VAIL). This is an extremely annoying process that not only involves the residents but their families, too. When I explained this process to the resident, they backed out and just decided to bring it up at the next care plan meeting. This had me thinking that some of the residents who could go home decide not to because of this tricky process. Do they do it this way to keep their numbers up? I decided not to ask. I ended up finishing all of my work early, so I went to visit some residents to help pass the time. I really do enjoy visiting them. They make me smile as much, or even more, than I make them smile.

Day 2: January 26

0 Hours

Even though classes were canceled for this day, I had to get back into the swing of things here on campus which means that I had to go back to my on-campus job.

Day 3: January 27

6.5 Hours

My hours are being cut by two because I have a class at 9:00am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays. Luckily, I only have one class these days, so I am able to spend the rest of the day at BRC. However, that means I will not be able to work on Tuesdays and Thursdays because all of the rest of my classes are on those days. Yay me. Anyways, today I learned about discharge processes because one of the residents that I will be interviewing on Friday is being discharged. Every time someone is discharged, the social workers are in charge of compiling a report that is

about 30 pages about their progress at BRC, if they need services or recommendations, their list of medications, if they need durable medical equipment such as wheel chairs or walkers, their nurses’ notes, and they actually need a doctor’s note to go along with everything else as if they are still children. Their doctors also have to sign order forms that go in this report and add their own report of a face-to-face meeting with the resident. This is a new requirement for those who are on Medicare. It is basically proof that the doctors have seen the “patient” within the 30 day time period before they leave. I also did another interview today and finished everything, even submitting and scanning everything into AOD, way ahead of time, so I visited the residents today once again.

Day 4: January 28

0 Hours

I had classes all day today, so I was not able to go to BRC.

Day 5: January 29

6.5 Hours

Today was the interview with the resident who is being discharged. I had to do a Change of Therapy (COT) and a new discharge plan for the resident since they were officially leaving. It really wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be. I also did another interview and finished submitting and scanning everything for that one into AOD as well. This took all of my time to finish, but I got it all done even with two hours cut out of my work time. I’m pretty proud of what I was able to accomplish today as well as for the rest of the week. I finally have a handle on things here, and I still think that this is an awesome job and one that I think I will pursue.

Allie Reaves

Dr. Donna Hoskins

FCS 480: Internship at BRC

21 January 2016

Internship Final Paper

I plan to finish my internship at the Bridgewater Retirement Community (BRC) by

February 5th. This is just an estimated date because the incoming weather may prevent me from

working the next few days not because I will not be able to go there, but because I cannot work if

my supervisors are not present. I had to go into the spring semester because I was sick for three

days at the beginning of interterm with the flu. I was not allowed to go to work until my flu

symptoms were gone for at least 24 hours. It took three days for me to recover which costed me

25.5 hours this semester. However, despite this setback, I was still able to learn a lot these past

few weeks while working with the social services department in BRC.

BRC was founded by Dr. Jacob Huffman in May of 1965. He was aware of the growing

problem of elderly not having anywhere to go or not having anyone who could take care of them

within the community. BRC is made up of four companies: Bridgewater Home (which was

founded by the Church of the Brethren in May of 1965), Bridgewater Village (which is the

retirement living section), Bridgewater HealthCare (not a typo), and Bridgewater HealthCare

Foundation (which raises funds for BRC and any resident who needs financial assistance) (Ipock,

2016).

BRC is run by three corporations. Bridgewater Home is the first corporation. This is

where those in assisted living call home. It is also home to the Huffman Health Care Center

which is the nursing unit. It is a non-profit corporation that gets a lot of help from the nearby

community and college who volunteer their time to work here either for enjoyment or for school

credit such as in my case (Employee Handbook, 2016, 4-5).

The second corporation is the Bridgewater Village. This is the housing for those in

retirement. It is governed by a twelve-member Board of Directors. The president is elected by

the Board and runs as Chief Executive Officer of the three separate corporations, and the Vice

President manages the everyday operations of both the home and the village. There is also a Vice

President for Development that manages the foundation of the facilities (Employee Handbook,

2016, 4-5).

The final corporation is the Bridgewater HealthCare Foundation. Again they are a non-

profit corporation. They are the parent and management facility for all of the corporations which

all run under the BRC name. It was established in 1983 specifically to raise funds for BRC when

they realized that some in need of assistance could not afford to stay there and receive care

(Employee Handbook, 2016, 4-5).

The company mission is “To provide quality housing, health care, and related services

through Christian ministry” (Ipock, 2016). The BRC goal statement is “To keep Christian values

in carrying out our daily practices. Provide services in a caring, homelike environment through

the collective efforts of our residents, employees, volunteers, and board of directors. Exceed the

expectations of those we serve” (Ipock, 2016). From what I have observed, they really do stand

by their mission and goal statements.

The BRC vision statement is “To be the provider and employer of choice for services to

seniors in the Shenandoah Valley and all other locations that may be served by Bridgewater

Retirement Community” (Ipock, 2016). BRC provides services mostly to seniors and retirees

who are in need of assistance in their activities of daily living (ADL), home care and

maintenance, or rehab services. BRC residents can live in four different sections: independent

living (such as in the village), assisted living (such as in the memory care unit), regular nursing

(for those who plan on living there long-term), or skilled nursing (for those who plan on living

there short-term). In order to qualify to live in independent living/the village, you have to be at

least 55 years of age. For married couples, at least one partner has to be 55. There is no age limit

for assisted living and nursing, but you still have to go through a screening process to be

accepted into BRC (explained by my supervisor). In my experience, mostly those above 65 years

of age live in assisted living or nursing.

BRC provides numerous services to the residents in all four sections. Both skilled nursing

and regular nursing share the same services. They all have “hair care, diagnostic services, guest

meals, guest rooms, hospital services (transportation), activities, housekeeping, laundry services,

maintenance, dining services, pastoral care, restorative care, social services, the Cottage Gifts

store, the Re-Run Shoppe, furnishings, and supplies” (Nursing Handbook, 2016, 27-30). Those

in assisted living share some of the same services and others: “pastoral care, emergency services,

furnishings, supplies, housekeeping, laundry, mail services, maintenance, dining services

medical needs and management, newspapers, pantry areas, and their own storage” (Assisted

Living Handbook, 2016, 5-8). In general, the services provided to all who call BRC their home

are “activity coordinators, administration, admissions, assisted living center, memory support

unit (Gardner Wing), thrift shop (Re-Run Shoppe), Sun Trust Bank, two hair salons, compliance

officer, conference rooms, Cottage Gifts, dietitian, dining services, education coordinator,

housekeeping, laundry services, finance, facilities management, Houff Community Center

(Maple Terrace), Huffman Health Center, human resources, IT/system management, insurance,

post office, marketing and public relations, MDS coordinator, pastoral care, payroll clerk,

pharmacy, resident services in the village, restorative care genesis rehab, social services, support

services, volunteer services, wellness center (Maple Terrace), and Woodwerks/Artwerks”

(Telephone Listing, 2016, 1-7).

BRC is supporting a greenhouse concept where this nursing home does not look or feel

like one. The nurses are very laid back which makes their services feel more home-like because

the residents are able to sleep whenever they like, watch TV whenever they like, eat whenever

they like, etc. They have the right to refuse any service that was not ordered by their doctor, and

they have the right to leave whenever they or their family wishes them to. Instead of pill carts,

they keep their medications in their rooms in locked cabinets. They bring the outside in by the

use of big windows, bird cages, and dogs that come with their nurse owners from time to time.

They are allowed to go outside when they feel like walking around in the sunlight or gardening.

They even have a car that does not have a battery in it for those in the memory care unit who

would like to “drive.” They have a wide variety of activities and events, and they take the

residents on at least one trip per week so that they are not constantly inside BRC.

BRC is a Brethren community, and they have their own Brethren church and pastor. BRC

reflects the culture of the surrounding area. There is not a lot of diversity in the residents in terms

of race, religion, etc. despite the fact that “services to residents is provided without regard due to

race, color, religion, national origin, sex, or impairment” (Ipock, 2016). Bridgewater has just

traditionally been more of a white, Brethren community, and most of the residents are from

Bridgewater.

The campus has had numerous renovations within the past year or so. Now, the Huffman

Healthcare Center can hold up to 120 residents in six different “households” which is another

greenhouse concept that BRC has adopted. These households are Wellness, Serenity,

Tranquility, Harmony, Unity, and Joy (Ipock, 2016). Their names are influenced by Brethren

values. Assisted living is on the second and third floor of the main building which holds 70

residents in all. The Gardner Wing holds up to 14 residents and is also in the main building.

There are approximately 350 residents in all living in BRC, and that includes those living in the

village. BRC is sitting on a fifty acre lot (Ipock, 2016).

BRC has grounds men who keep the grounds clean, beautiful, and hazard-free. In almost

every hallway and room, there are hand sanitizers. You have to look really hard to find

somewhere on campus where there is not a hand sanitizer station. Even the rooms without one

have bottles of hand sanitizer. I think the one hall where I work that has admissions, IT, and

social services made a joke of it because there are literally over ten bottles of hand sanitizers

tucked into the support beams on the walls within a meter of each other. They are all over the

place. BRC is definitely a germ-free facility. The housekeepers also make sure that not just the

rooms are cleaned, but the hallways and public bathrooms as well. They also do all of the dirty

laundry. The dining services not only cook the food, but they clean up after cooking and clean up

after all of the residents have finished eating which includes the dishes, wiping the tables down,

sweeping the floors, and moping the floors. The nurses are in charge of making sure that all of

the residents are clean and as healthy as can be. BRC is one of the cleanest places I have ever

been in.

BRC is in a very safe location. It is also in a beautiful town, and they extend the beauty

throughout the campus. There are a lot of parking spaces for visitors, residents, and employees

which is very handy. They have an inviting entrance with a receptionist desk for those who have

any questions. The facility is also all updated and modern with all of the latest technology.

I know all of this in such a short time because as of Friday, January 22, 2016, at noon, I

will have completed 83.5 hours of my internship. I will still need to complete 36.5 hours which I

should have completed by February 5th. I realized that even with pulling full shifts and not

actually having my Wednesdays completely off, I still would have had to continue my internship

in the spring semester at least for a few days. It is very hard to complete 120 hours of work in

three weeks without burning yourself out (even with the weekends off).

I had many goals while participating in this internship program. I wanted to see if I could

gain a possible interest in this field. I also needed an internship that was within walking distance

in case I did not have a car this semester which was not an issue after all. I wanted to be able to

gain more respect for the elderly and be able to understand them better. I also wanted to get a

taste of what it would be like to work in the social work field and to see if I would still be

interested in pursuing social work as a career field.

To help achieve these goals, I became an intern in the social services department at BRC.

My duties were to help my supervisor with her daily assignments. I pretty much did the same

things that my supervisor did. There were no restrictions while working there. I even had access

to a lot of the residents’ personal information. I not only did a lot of work, but I learned a lot, too.

One of my responsibilities was to conduct interviews with the residents. These interviews

tested their cognitive abilities as well as determined whether or not they were depressed. They

helped the social services department determine what level of care they required and to see if

there was anything we could do to make their lives more enjoyable at BRC. I then took the

results of those interviews and compared them to notes that the nurses made on AOD which is

their computer program that has all of the residents’ files and information. I had to scan in the

paper copies of the interviews, fill out the answers on an electronic copy that every staff could

access and study, and then I had to write up a detailed report and add it alongside all of the

nurses’ notes so that they could read it, too. I had to read four sections in the manual that

explained each section of the interviews that I had to fill out. I also watched a few videos on

dementia care that was part of my training alongside reading the manual. I created genograms

from social histories that I was given, and I even filled out a few social histories of my own with

help from the residents and their families. I had to scan those into AOD as well. I learned the full

layout of the campus which did not take as long as I thought it would considering the size of the

place. I went to numerous meetings that went over detailed reports of residents’ progresses,

safety concerns, and the progress of BRC in general. I went to a volunteer orientation and yet

another tour of the campus (I have been on over five different tours). I visited and interacted with

numerous residents which not only lifted their spirits, but mine as well. I also had to learn how to

manage my time well so that I would be able to get all of my work done for the day which is

actually really hard when you are trying to work around the residents’ schedules. I learned how

to be patient with the residents, and I learned that confidentiality is extremely important in this

line of work. I was able to experience what it would be like having a real 8.5 hour day job almost

every day of the week. I realized that I really could do a real job, and I learned that I can enjoy it

at the same time.

I feel that I was able to achieve all of my goals. There were only a few things that I wish I

was able to do more. I wish I had more time to spend with the residents and develop

relationships with them. I also really wanted to work in the Gardner Wing, but the social services

department section I was working for strictly deals with those in nursing care. I think that even

though I had full shifts, time was not on my side in achieving these other goals. My supervisor

kept me really busy. There was always something to do which I actually really appreciated. It

made me feel worthwhile as an intern. I also sometimes had a hard time communicating with

some of the residents due to my hearing disability. Sometimes they would talk too quietly, and

other times their speech would be so slurred that I could not understand them. My supervisor was

able to help me get through that obstacle, though, but she will not always be there if I decide to

go into this field.

If I had to give pointers, I would make sure to point out that you have to have a lot of

patience for this job. You also have to really enjoy helping others. You need to be able to

manage your time right in order to get all of your work done. You also need to learn how to

prioritize properly when you know you are not going to get all of your work done that day. You

have to have an understanding and knowledge of the conditions that some of the residents could

have such as dementia. It could help you gain more patience as well as help you communicate

better. You also need to give yourself plenty of time to do the interviews because some of the

residents do not get a lot of visitors, and they like to talk a lot. Finally, I would advise you not to

be afraid to ask questions. You will never be a complete expert, and there will always be

something new to learn each day.

This internship has made me realize that social work is truly the field that I would like to

be in. I actually loved this job so much that I think I might strive for this type of job specifically.

I really enjoyed working with the residents because they are so interesting, and they have so

much to share with you. They always made me smile when I visited them, and it was rewarding

to see that giving them attention also makes them happy, too. This was an extremely rewarding

experience, and I know now that this is the kind of career that I am working so hard for. It makes

me feel so good to see that I can make someone’s day better just by being there with an open ear

and an open mind. If I were to choose this career path, then I am on the right track here at

Bridgewater College. I am taking all of the classes that I feel would help me with my decision as

to which career I feel is right for me.

Works Cited

(2016). Assisted Living Center Resident Handbook [Notes].

(2016). Employee Handbook [Notes].

(2016). Huffman Health Center Resident Handbook [Notes].

(2016). Telephone Listing by Department [Notes].

Ipock, L. (2016). Volunteer Orientation [Powerpoint slides].