The Nursing Home - Essay Example

Daisy wondered as to why the nurses were so nice to the patients when they were not even related to them and she used to think as to why they worked selflessly to take care of the people living in the nursing home.

Daisy was highly inspired by these nurses and she made up her mind to follow a career in nursing. She kept on visiting the old age home and she started spending greater time there. As she spent more time at the nursing home, she realized that the picture of the nursing home that she had developed as a child was not totally a true reflection of the nursing home. The old people living in the nursing home still loved Daisy but she saw the sorrow and the sadness in the eyes of most of them. She did not understand the reason for their unhappiness as she felt that the nursing home was a very joyful place where all the needs of the people were fulfilled. She tried to think over and over again but she could not reach any conclusion.

One day while she was visiting the nursing home, she saw a man who had come to visit Jane who was a resident at the nursing home. The man was there with his wife and children and when Daisy questioned the other residents, she found out that he was Jane’s son. Daisy could see the happiness on Jane’s face. But the man and his family had a very stern expression. Daisy hid and started listening to them. “You are here to take me home this weekend with you, right?” The man maintained the same stern expression and said, “Mother we have guests coming over and we do not have enough space to accommodate you at the same time.”

Jane felt helpless and started pleading to her son as she said that it had been months that she had not visited the family home where she had spent her entire life before being moved to the nursing home. Her son did not respond to her requests and finally, he left without saying goodbye to Jane. This incident was an eye-opener for me. Daisy was shocked and her image of the nursing home as a beautiful house shattered at once. She understood that were greater depths behind these happy faces and there were many griefs that they had no one to share with.

Daisy became more observant and she started noticing several similar events at the nursing home. There were people, who were visited by their families and were brought gifts for, but there were many others who were not frequently visited and some did not have any guardians coming to see them at all. Daisy started noticing these occurrences and they worked towards maturing her thought process and making her understand the reality of life. Daisy was shocked to see the contrast that existed between the nurses who worked day and night for taking care of the people who were not related to them in any way. On the other hand, there were blood relatives who did not care about the people who brought them up and loved them the most when they were helpless little beings.

The incidents at the nursing home taught Daisy the true meaning of good and bad. She understood that this world is a place where different kinds of people live. There are those who value and cherish their relationships whereas there are others who have their own selfish motives and care about themselves and no one else. Daisy remained committed to her career choice of nursing as she wanted to place herself amongst the good people of society. She wanted to be a helper and a person who would support people without any conditions and she was willing to sacrifice her luxuries for this purpose.