Before I began my internship, I was excited and nervous. What can I anticipate? Will it be exhilarating or could it end up being boring? Will I be able to come up with ideas for my project or will I get stuck? I just wanted it to be worth my time! After leaving NCAAT and feeling pumped, I figured the internship would go similar, and I just happened to be right.
Before interning at St. Joseph’s of the Pines, I thought of it to be a rich and snooty nursing home. Wow, was I wrong! St. Joseph’s is a beautiful place that treats their residents and patients like family. Not only does St. Joseph’s offer independent living at two locations, Pine Knoll and Belle Meade, but they also offer assisted living at the Coventry and more personal homes, home care, independent living for low-income adults, a mobile unit, several daily activities for residents to participate in all across the campus and especially at the Club house, as well as Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation. St. Joseph’s is not only in Southern Pines, but can be found in Aberdeen, Carthage, Robbins, and outside our county in Red Springs and Fayetteville. I was able to visit several of these locations and facilities, and join in on some of the fun!
With over 750 staff, it was impossible to meet everyone in three weeks, but believe me when I say that I met a lot of the staff while visiting and interning at the different sites! I went to the Club house and met with Sam, the Fitness guru and coordinator at Belle Meade and Pine Knoll. He was able to show me how he helps residents to stay healthy and how he caters to their needs and wants. The balance machine was by far the coolest thing I have seen. According to Sam, the residents biggest fear is falling, so why not provide them with a machine that can help them with this fear!
I also was able to work at the Coventry, along side nurses and watched as they took care of patients and how they assisted them. The most memorable part of this building was the memory care unit, in which many of the residents in this locked unit suffer from Alzheimer’s and dementia. I noticed some paper memory games while I was there. Leeann, one of the nurses I was shadowing, told how research states that when patients play memory games, it can help them with memory loss.
I was also able to work in the Health Clinic and Skilled Nursing and Rehabilitation. I probably spent most of my internship in this unit. I shadowed nurses, obtained a good overview of how the admissions office works, how patients are welcomed in and out, saw how evaluations and tests were performed, how nurses came up with a treatment plan for patients, and reviewed occupational and physical therapy. My favorite unit was the occupational therapy. The room was called Village Therapy, and it looked like everyday life including a car, a bedroom, a grocery store, and a kitchen. Patients came to this unit to learn how to get back on their feet after surgery. Therapists and aides worked with patients to get them back to their normal life, physically, and cognitively.
The last week, Carrie and I worked together. She showed me around ATL (Accelerated Technology Labs) and I learned about using Microsoft to code and build our own app, which was pretty neat! We thought of different ways we could use this in our own classes and STEM camp. Then I showed her St. Joseph’s for a few days, and we talked about different ideas that I thought of, such as students creating memory games for the different residents.
The biggest take away that I discovered was how much employees must be willing to make a connection with their residents in order to get them to do anything! Empathy was a huge piece, and therefore I think we will use the design thinking process to build some of our STEM camp ideas. Communication was another crucial piece at both internships. If we are to teach students anything, we must focus on this critical skill!
I feel I have a much better understanding of everything St. Joseph’s and ATL offers for our community, and how we can get middle school students excited and ready for the work force! I look forward to creating lessons based off of our internships and working with students in our STEM camp for the Boys and Girls Club!