Finalist 1: Tiffany Evancho Vote Now

Advice from an 80-Year-Old Patient with Dementia

It was my very first nursing clinical, I knew it was going to be memorable but I would never have imagined how impactful this day would be. We were assigned to do rotations at a low income nursing home near my college. Our first assignment was to work with patients with Dementia and assess their mental status using a test called the Folstein Mini-Mental. This test asks patients to recall time, place, attention and calculation. The first patient I was assigned to was an 80-year-old man who was recently diagnosed with Dementia. As we went through the test, I noticed him becoming more discouraged because of his inability to correctly answer the questions. As I tallied up his score he looked at me with tears in his eyes and gave me advice that I will never forget. The older man explained that his biggest regret was not learning and cherishing memories while he still could. He took my hand and said, “never stop learning, never stop going to school and cherish every memory you have. Cherish the good and bad memories because you never know when your mind can be taken from you. When you lose your ability to remember you begin to lose yourself.” He went on to explain that life is so short and we are only here for such a limited time so make every second count. He then looked at me and said, “if I can leave this world and have one person follow this advice, then I have left a positive mark on this cruel world.” As the semester went on and as I started working with more patients I started to realize how right he was. We really are only here for such a limited time. Life moves so fast without us even realizing it and things can change in a blink of an eye. In the field of nursing you see a lot of great things. But you also see terrible things happening to great people. I wanted to become a nurse to help people during the worst times in their life. But in reality they have helped me so much more. My patients have given me a new perspective on life and I cherish every moment. I will always remember this conversation with the older man. He doesn’t know it but his words have helped me become a better nurse and a better person. Whenever, I get discouraged in school I think of him and every semester I sign up I know he would be proud. I now have a passion for working with patients with Dementia and hope to use my nursing license to make a real difference in the lives of the people that we care about most. It hurts that he will never know how much of an impact he has had on my life and career. I wish he knew that he did leave a “positive mark on this cruel world.” I still visit him today; he may not remember me but I will always remember him.