My Mom is nervous about sharing a nursing home room. Any advice?

Well she's in and has her window. Her roommate seems very nice but was there twice yesterday and she must sleep alot. The only issue is that the room is super small! Not even room for a small chair.The walls have holes in them from past hangings. She seemed so disappointed but then she said not to worry about it. I'm sure once my sister and I get in there it will look nice but the other place was so much nicer she was at. They were actually begging her to come back if she didn't like it. This place is closer to her "home". By the way she had done her therapy before she left and had been in a chair all day without a nap and the PT came in and was practically forcing her to walk down the hallway and my Mom said no because she had done it already. Hope her therapist is nicer today. Thanks for listening everyone!

My mom had a completely non responsive roommate who, sadly, rarely had a visitor. Trying not to judge this lady’s family as I know how hard it can be to visit with someone who can’t interact, but also know frequent visits show the staff you care and often has the side effect of them caring more. The staff came in quietly to attend to her needs and it was not disruptive. Anyway, roommates vary, but insist on someone who’s calm and won’t be a big bother to your mom. And it’s not wrong to ask for the window side of room

If you are able to visit your mom at different times of the day to see how her roommate is, this would help you to advocate for her. She should not have to tolerate a disruptive roommate.

My MIL had a few different roommates while in LTC. One was in the latter stages of ALZ and basically non-responsive. Another was there due to physical impairment from a stroke and although cognitively very good, spent very little time in the room. It's not going to be like college, and a good admin team will work with your mom within reason. If she's the first one in the room she'll get the pick of being closer to the window. When the roommate's LOs visit, they will hopefully be respectful.

If your mom has good memory and cognition, you can call her every day to ask how the roommate situation is going. Keep a journal of her impressions for the first few weeks. I hope it goes well!