Janice: My name is Janice Phillips. I’m living in a skilled nursing facility in San Marcos, CA.
It became apparent that because of the severe rheumatoid arthritis that was progressing, I was not going to be able to continue living by myself at home. And my son is in the Navy and travels a lot, so a skilled nursing facility was the best way to go.
It’s basically a family atmosphere. You feel like a lot of the staff are your friends and family. They’re easy to talk to, easy to go to with problems.
I’m the President of the Residents’ Council, as I have been for about 7 years, I believe. I preside over the meetings. I ask each resident at the meeting what problems they have, what issues they have department by department. We take the minutes, we address those issues after the meeting
We have a shopping outing the first of the month, we also have Pacific Drive. Normally, we go to the beach area, stop and get something to eat. We try to eat along the beach. Last time, we ate at some picnic tables near Carlsbad, which was really nice, fed some squirrels as we ate. Though we’re not supposed to.
I get around every day, so I meet all of the department heads, many times the administrator. They all know me, I’ve been here for so long. I’m kind of liked a fixed item here.
My favorite part is just camaraderie, of the staff and the residents. And, the outings, I really enjoy getting out. Its normal, a normal life, a normal situation.
Dr. Steinberg is here. He’s my doctor. He’s a great doctor. Always available, always willing to listen, and I respect him – he’s very highly respected at this facility. And, we have Tessa and Josie our two favorite mammals.
We all love Tessa and Josie. It makes it feel homier, makes it feel like we are more at home. It’s great – it means a lot. I always had a dog and couple of cats.
Dr. Steinberg: I’ve known her for quite a few because I’ve been coming to this particular building since 1992, through several ownership changes and what not. Let me just say, Janice has done such a great job on the Residents’ council.
You know, Janice has really gone to bat for people within the facility, and also has helped the facility when the surveyors are here from the state; she really explains what it’s like living here.
Janice: I’ve been friends with quite a few residents, quite a few have passed on, and I just keep making new friends.
Janice: It is a home-type atmosphere, the staff is very friendly, and caring and compassionate. We are very well taken care of, our needs are met, we feel safe, secure, and Dr. Steinberg is here and that’s another good reason. He takes good care of us patients.
Dr. Steinberg: You hear so many negative things about nursing homes, but really I think nursing homes are a place that you don’t necessarily want to move here, you might rather be at home, but this is the place people go because they require assistance, and thank god for the people who work there, who make it as good as it can be. Right?
Janice: Right, I totally agree. I look forward to getting up and starting a new day. It’s not a depressing nursing home at all. It’s lively, happy, positive. If it was depressing, I could not stay here and I’ve been here a little over 10 years. I think that’s a pretty good indication.