Students help seniors cope with holiday stress

Header image for Interrobang article CREDIT: STEPHANIE LAI
(From left) Emily Newman, Maranda Welsh, Jacob Gingrich, Lyndsay McPherson, Jessica Blum, Lola the dog and Rachel Cole presented their final project to seniors in Cherryhill - how to cope with stress around the holidays.

A group of six nursing students and a dog presented their final project at 190 Cherryhill Circle on November 25.

The students – who have been working with seniors all semester – were tasked with presenting to seniors ways to cope with holiday stress.

“We’re talking about depression, stress and financial stress all around the holidays, because we know it affects them more than the younger people,” said Rachel Cole.

The second-year student says despite the cold, the group appreciates the seniors who came out.

“We appreciate that they’re coming back … and they’re coming to watch us and we’re giving a bunch of tips,” Cole said. “We finally get to talk to [seniors we haven’t talked to] and let them know what’s going on in Cherryhill. That way, they can get out there and use the resources.”

Cole’s group mate Maranda Welsh hopes the seminar helped those who came.

“We’re hoping we bring a lot of resources to them because through the coffee hour we discussed and they said a lot about how it’s difficult for a lot of them to attain the resources,” she said. “Sometimes they don’t know about things, so we’re really hoping they get a lot of education out of our seminar, because we do have a lot of information.”

Both students confessed that before starting their placement at Cherryhill, neither of them had considered working in geriatrics.

“I wanted in the beginning to work with kids – pediatric nurse or in maternity, because I’ve never had experience with seniors, but it’s so rewarding,” Welsh said. “The gratitude they would give us – it’s just awesome. We had a sense of how rewarding it would be to be in the nursing profession.”

Cole echoed her classmate’s sentiment, as she too wanted to work with youngsters.

“I was a little skeptical,” she said. “I wasn’t sure how they would take to us, if they would like us – and they loved us, and we love them.”

“We built up a great relationship. Now that we’ve done it, I’m actually considering it. I would be open to geriatrics and pediatrics – I’m open-minded now.”

Kim Jordan, their instructor, says the experience of working with seniors will help the students down the road in their careers.

“Building on experiences and learning to communicate with people,” Jordan said. “Resources [are] a big part of it – knowing what’s out there. I think we’re all still learning what’s here in Cherryhill.”

“There’s so many resources that even I was unaware of, and I’ve been a nurse for a long time. Just knowing those things and in your career down the road, those are great things to have.”

Both Welsh and Cole will miss the people after finishing placement.

“We’re going to miss coming here every morning and talking to people,” Cole said. “People just have ball here. We’re going to miss each other and working on our projects.”

“We learned so much about therapeutic relationships and working as a team,” Welsh said. “We got to finally implement learning about a therapeutic relationship and how it works.”

The students will be focusing on the more medical side of the field next semester.