When a person arrives at a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF), rehab center, or Assisted Living Facility (ALF) they are very often disoriented and confused. This could be because of the late effects of anesthesia, brain injury, dementia, and/or Alzheimer's to name a few possibilities.
One of the things that I liked to do soon after a new resident arrived was take them on a tour of the facility. If they were in a wheelchair I would wheel them around, if they could walk we would walk. We would visit and I would point out where pertinent things were; for instance, the dining room, therapy gym, administrator's office, activity room, etc. Then, I would bring them back to their room. After completing the evaluation or some other task. I would take them on another walk around the building. This time, I would request that they guide me. "Tell me how to get to the ________." or "Show me where the _______ is." This served multiple purposes. 1) I could find out if they were oriented and if their recent memory was intact. 2) I could find out if they needed help getting to meals or other activities. 3) I would know if we needed to target orientation within the building during therapy sessions to increase pt safety.
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