0
November 9, 2011, Vol 306, No. 18 >

Full Content is available to subscribers

Subscribe/Learn More
Poetry and Medicine | November 9, 2011

The Nursing Home

Samuel Wallace Bender
JAMA. 2011;306(18):1959. doi:10.1001/jama.2011.1532.
Text Size: A A A
Published online
Article

Extract

When I walked past the door she yelled,
“Hey you! Come in here and tell me the time!”
She was alone in the room; her skin so pale.
There had been no son in her life to care for her.
I turned in and walked past the metal bed. It was Sunday.
Looking out the window there was a tree with no leaves.
“2:30 in the afternoon,” I said quietly. She tried to sit up but failed.
“Come over here and sit down!” I jumped; nervous.
Pulling a chair away from the wall, I dragged it across the linoleum.
The noise grated on our ears. She screamed with no teeth,
“Do you know how to read?!” I nodded yes. It was late November.
“Here, read this! I want to hear a voice! The nurses don't talk!”
I read three chapters of Pride and Prejudice to her. I had no idea who she was.
She stared at me the entire 30 minutes.
I noticed a clock with huge numbers on the wall.
She didn't blink. I didn't hear a single breath. Her hair was so sparse.
Her eyes were heavily rimmed in red from crying before I came in.
“I’m sorry but I have to leave now,” I stuttered almost silently. Anxious.
“Touch my hand before you go!” I asked, why? She just closed her eyes
in aggravation at my insensitivity. I grabbed her cold hand and held it briefly.
She smiled. She was very frail. The nurse said no one ever came to see her.

Sign In to Access Full Content

Don't have Access?

Register and get free email Table of Contents alerts, saved searches, PowerPoint downloads, CME quizzes, and more

Subscribe for full-text access to content from 1998 forward and a host of useful features

Activate your current subscription (AMA members and current subscribers)

Purchase Online Access to this article for 24 hours

First Page Preview

View Large
First page PDF preview

Figures

Tables

Interactive Graphics

Video

Country-Specific Mortality and Growth Failure in Infancy and Yound Children and Association With Material Stature

Use interactive graphics and maps to view and sort country-specific infant and early dhildhood mortality and growth failure data and their association with maternal

References

Letters

Submit a Letter
CME
Accreditation Information
The American Medical Association is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The AMA designates this journal-based CME activity for a maximum of 1 AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM per course. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. Physicians who complete the CME course and score at least 80% correct on the quiz are eligible for AMA PRA Category 1 CreditTM.
Note: You must get at least of the answers correct to pass this quiz.
Clear Answers | Save For Later
You have not filled in all the answers to complete this quiz
The following questions were not answered:
Sorry, you have unsuccessfully completed this CME quiz with a score of
The following questions were not answered correctly:
Commitment to Change (optional):
Indicate what change(s) you will implement in your practice, if any, based on this CME course.
Your quiz results:
The filled radio buttons indicate your responses. The preferred responses are highlighted
For CME Course: A Proposed Model for Initial Assessment and Management of Acute Heart Failure Syndromes
Indicate what changes(s) you will implement in your practice, if any, based on this CME course.
NOTE:
Citing articles are presented as examples only. In non-demo SCM6 implementation, integration with CrossRef’s “Cited By” API will populate this tab (http://www.crossref.org/citedby.html).
Compression-Only CPR: Pushing the Science Forward
Cone
AAM 2010;304:1493-1495.
All you need to read in the other general journals
BMJ 2010;341:c5893-c1494.
Submit a Response

Some tools below are only available to our subscribers or users with an online account.

Sign In to Access Full Content

Related Content

Customize your page view by dragging & repositioning the boxes below.

Related Topics
Jobs

More Listings at
JAMACareerCenter.com >

© 2013 American Medical Association. All Rights Reserved.
Powered bySilverchair Information Systems