Hi, Your Name Is?
Hi my name is, what? My name is, who?
My name is, not what you just said.
Our first and last names are an important part of our identity. They carry significant personal, cultural and historical meaning. They give us a sense of who we are, where we came from and where we are going. Whereas, our middle names are important for when we misbehave.
More times than not, people feel a deep connection to their name that is woven into their self-image, which emphasizes the significance of learning other people’s names.
However, calling people by their preferred name can become complicated when interacting with the older generation who are known for their nicknames.
Robert becomes Bob. Dorothy now Dot. Richard may not be a dick but he likes to be called one. Elizabeth to Betty and Margaret to Maggie, Peggy or Daisy.
Then there’s my personal favourites: Hubert to Huey, Deuteronomy to Dewey and Louie to Louie.
Hopefully the modern names like Steele, Axle and Blaze will eliminate future confusion. However, we may need to double check if we are referring to a person, type of iron, a figure skating move or a house on fire.
All in all, taking the time to get to know someone’s name indicates kindness and respect. It creates a greater connection, comfort and decreased embarrassment…
We’re now well into the year but in Twas The Nightmare Before Christmas, there’s another name I wanted to call St. Nick. Today, I called a resident another name.
The nature of long term care is that it’s often the last move for people. Therefore, when working in such a facility, we witness the unavoidable circle of life. When we lose a resident, we are blessed with a new one. (That’s what Elton John was singing about, right?) Statistically, a higher number of people living in long term care, pass away in the months of December and January.
I’m not sure of the science behind this (I’m no Sheldon Cooper), but one theory is that this is a common time for families to visit. So the individual will hold on to see their family members before saying goodbye.
Let’s move on from this topic. This is a humour blog after all and I’m no Pete Davidson with the death jokes.
In the past couple of months, I had 11 new residents move in. That’s a handful of new faces, new names, new paperwork and new confusion.
The other day I went to update a resident’s care plan but I was unable to locate her in our online system. So I had to reach out to the head nurse for some assistance. She brought to my attention, with a lot of “hahas”, that I had the resident’s first name and last name reversed.
I read her response in disbelief. You mean to tell me, I’ve been calling this resident by her last name for the past three weeks?!
If we were on a hockey team this would be appropriate but I don’t think this 90 year old is practicing her puck handling.
Now, this particular resident does not speak English, so I immediately apologized to her with Google translator in hand. She simply nodded, smiled and that was that.
It took me some time to get used to calling her by her proper name but just as I had it down pat, I was once again thrown for a loop.
A registered nurse approached me to discuss this resident and referred to her by her last name, which had me questioning myself, again!
I then had another resident move in who just so happens to have the same first name of that other resident’s last name.
Still with me?
When I met with her I verified that it was indeed her first name. She confirmed that it was but stated that she goes by a nickname…
Sorry, your name is what?
