It has taken me several weeks to think about how to write this post. As it so often happens in this line of work, I have experienced recently the death of a resident to whom I had grown attached. She was a very sweet woman who always had a huge smile on her face. She lived on a hall that I had only worked a few times, but every time she saw me she would come up and give me a big hug and let me know how much she appreciated the work that I do. I remember one day she saw me in the dining room and actually followed me to a hall on the other side of the facility just to give me a hug. On the weekends when things were all caught up and slow, I would keep her company in her room as we watched TV or just talked. She would tell me about wen she was growing up sometimes but most of the time she couldn't remember much of anything so she would ask me about my family, work, and life in general. Our moments together not only helped the time pass quickly, but they reminded me of why I love my job. Its helping people that makes this career worth while.
On the day my friend left this life, I was in an in-service meeting for the nursing staff. As we left the meeting, I saw her being wheeled away on a gurney. I looked at her face and knew she was hurting. I told her I loved her and that I would see her soon. She smiled. It wasn't until the next morning that I found out that she had passed. As I began to tear up over the loss of my friend, my supervisor reminded me of something. She said to me, "We are not here so that we can make them better. Our goal is to make them comfortable. If you did that for her in her last days on Earth, then you did what was expected. We have others to help so we need to save our tears for a time when others are not counting on us to be strong."
As I type and reflect, I know that she was right. It is only now, a month after my friends passing that I am finally able to have some time to cry. I only hope that our friendship was as comfortable for her as it was rewarding for me. I shall never forget her.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Thursday, November 4, 2010
Do you really care or is this just a paycheck?
It seems that no matter where I go to work, there are always people who are there simply to get a paycheck. Then there are those that are there because they like what they do and are good at it. Nursing, I have found, is no different. Except we have a third group. These people are those that don't really like what they do and anyone who does is an instant target for backstabbing and condescension.
In the last several weeks I have been a victim of the most vicious lies imaginable. I have been accused of mistreating the residents, not paying enough attention to the residents, paying too much attention to the residents, and sitting on my butt instead of doing my job. Oddly enough, it is the same group of women accusing me of all of these things. I wish that they would make up their minds! It is this same group that one day will complain to the charge nurse that I am not doing anything and then turn around and ask me to help them with a combative resident.
One example is when I was working on a Saturday, I was informed that I would be working on a hall that I had not worked in a while. While walking down the hall to answer a light, every aid on the hall, including those refusing to answer said light, went to complain to the charge nurse that I wasn't doing anything and that they would not work with me.
On a more recent occasion, I was asked to supervise the bathing of a gentleman who would not allow a woman to bathe him. He is independent so I knew that all I needed to do was to watch him and give him verbal cues to assist him. Despite my efforts to get him to use soap he turned off the water after only a few minutes without once touching a washcloth. He began to dress himself while I was pleading with him to take another shower. We were both getting quite frustrated with each other, so I excused myself and stepped into the hallway to calm down. He was fully clothed when I left except for shoes and socks so I knew that he was in no danger. Outside the shower room, I found all of the aids working that hall, sitting down and joking around. I asked them if they would finish the job while I cooled down and one of them got up and went into the shower room. About twenty minutes later I was paged to the Nursing office where the Director of Nursing was and I was asked what happened, right in front of the girl accusing me of leaving a resident unattended. Upon hearing what happened from me, the DON took my side and excused the "tattler" as she called her from the office. She told me that I did the right thing and that I was doing a good job. When I left the office, the girl that reported me gave me such a stare that if looks could kill, I would not be alive to post this blog.
As near as I can see, as long as the DON thinks I am doing a good job, those backstabbing little girls can stick it in their ear.
In the last several weeks I have been a victim of the most vicious lies imaginable. I have been accused of mistreating the residents, not paying enough attention to the residents, paying too much attention to the residents, and sitting on my butt instead of doing my job. Oddly enough, it is the same group of women accusing me of all of these things. I wish that they would make up their minds! It is this same group that one day will complain to the charge nurse that I am not doing anything and then turn around and ask me to help them with a combative resident.
One example is when I was working on a Saturday, I was informed that I would be working on a hall that I had not worked in a while. While walking down the hall to answer a light, every aid on the hall, including those refusing to answer said light, went to complain to the charge nurse that I wasn't doing anything and that they would not work with me.
On a more recent occasion, I was asked to supervise the bathing of a gentleman who would not allow a woman to bathe him. He is independent so I knew that all I needed to do was to watch him and give him verbal cues to assist him. Despite my efforts to get him to use soap he turned off the water after only a few minutes without once touching a washcloth. He began to dress himself while I was pleading with him to take another shower. We were both getting quite frustrated with each other, so I excused myself and stepped into the hallway to calm down. He was fully clothed when I left except for shoes and socks so I knew that he was in no danger. Outside the shower room, I found all of the aids working that hall, sitting down and joking around. I asked them if they would finish the job while I cooled down and one of them got up and went into the shower room. About twenty minutes later I was paged to the Nursing office where the Director of Nursing was and I was asked what happened, right in front of the girl accusing me of leaving a resident unattended. Upon hearing what happened from me, the DON took my side and excused the "tattler" as she called her from the office. She told me that I did the right thing and that I was doing a good job. When I left the office, the girl that reported me gave me such a stare that if looks could kill, I would not be alive to post this blog.
As near as I can see, as long as the DON thinks I am doing a good job, those backstabbing little girls can stick it in their ear.
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