Dont have one for today

Well, I have been out of blogging for a while. I took a week and spent a few days in Los Vegas and had a blast. My girlfriends and I meet at the airport we all arrived within 30 min of each other and left the same way too. So that none of us had to be alone for long. Oh it was a fun trip. The one and only downer about is was that Bluelady had to be in meetings all day. So she was only able to come with us in the evenings. But what fun we had in the evenings. We say Phantom of the Opera, the lions at the MGM being fed, and saw some drunk women in a bar dance. NO they were not us. There was so much to See and to do I wish that we could have had more time there, more to do, to talk about, to share. I miss Blue and Windy. It was a great trip.

Life is The Blues

I am watching Blues Brothers 2000 and I know that it is not the one that most people like But I love the Gator Boys at the end. I am not sure but I think that is Charlie Musslewhite playing the harp. I did not see him but it sounded like him. OK so I happen to love blues and blues harp is the best. It is fun to play too.

But that is not what this heading was to have been about. My brother has put in notice for his job, he has not gotten a raise in over a year and the boss hates him. I can understand why he wants to quit but he is staying with me. I don't want to end up supporting him. That might happen if he does not find a job soon.

Halloween and possably getting fired

My work is having a Halloween costume contest. Now for those of you who don't know I work in long term care and rehap for physical thearpy. So I am going to make myself into an old lady and become a patient. I am going to get latex face makeup and add wrinkels, some bruses so that it looks like I fell and landed on my face. Some bandages in places, and borrow a wheelechair. I am alos going to make my hair white. It ought to be fun and if I get fired so what it is not like I have another job well I do have another job.

I think that this will be the best costume ever. I mean being an old lady in an nursing home. That will be cool.

Ch ch ch anges

My best friend has moved from her home to a new state and for her I am glad. For me not so much so. It is not that she has moved away from me she lives on the East Coast and I live on the West. What it is, is that she will not have a phone for about two weeks. I call her every morning and we talk at least twice a day. We are going to be suffering here at least until the phone gets turned on.

Another change that is coming up I might in January be going back to school. I don't know what I want to be when I grow up. It has been a while sence I have been in school so I have to start over with the prereqs. That will not be fun but it is understandable. The one thing that I will have a problem with is if I go into nursing. This state requires that you take a CNA class, I have been one for 20 years, and they wont let us test out of it. That to me is a waste of money and time, both mine and the teachers.

Passwords and computers

I have not been able to post in a long time. First my computer recived a virus, nice right? Well, not really by the time I got it fixed it was to late to post my post on September 11th. Not only that but because I have not been able to log on in forever, I forgot my password, not just for here but for other things that I have on here. One day I will be smart enough to make and keep a list of what password goes with what link/site/program.

I have had to reload everything from programs to drivers. I dont know how I got them or if someone gave them to me.

Resignation

Well, they did it starting on the 6th of August the hours are being cut at MJ. Not only that but they have made us all reapply for our jobs. They are taking away the set days that we now work and putting us all on 4 on 2 off. Now for those who are single parents out there it is quite difficult to have a kid or more than one kid and only one weekend off every six weeks. So I had to go on call, I will give up my benifits to be able to work when I need to and yet have the time off to spend it with my kid. So I am now looking for a job that will take me off nights, I have been working them for 3 years. It is time to get back on where I have a life. I know this is short but it is late and I need to get the kid in bed and I need to get in bed too.

ANGRY

I am really teed off. Mjs is trying to fire us all and we are waiting for the union to see what they can and cannot do. Our contract states that we have an 8 1/2 hour day getting paid for 8. They want to take us to a 8 hour day paid for 7 1/2. That is against the contract. They are also trying to put us on a 4 on 2 off work day. That means that we are getting one weekend off every 6 weeks. I have put in my time and will not work weekend again unless I want to. They are also trying to take away the weekend bonus.

I know they are trying to run underbudget but that is not going to happen by doing this to the CNAs. They need to look at the nursres. The ones that work evening shift are there for hours after the shift ends saying that they are charting. What they do is the chat and tell jokes on the clock until 3 am. That is racking up big overtime money. So we are waiting to see what the union Lawyer says on this one.

We have to reapply to our jobs not even sure that we will have the same shift that we now have. And that wonderful paper is due in on the 30 of this month. We found out all about this on the 23 they gave us alot of notice. If we dont have this in on the 30th it is concidered a voulintary resignation.

What do you think about this.

This has my sister very angry. I do agree that if you expect a kid to do something they will do it.

"I would like to see it that if you don't have your HPV vaccine, you can't start high school," said Juan Carlos Felix of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, who leads the National Cervical Cancer Coalition's medical advisory panel."

Read the whole artical here. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/30/AR2005103000747.html

I understand about wanting to protect people from getting cancer but I would think that not having sex would be the way to go. Who knows what they long term effects are going to be. Sure they might have found a cure that works now, but what are the long term effects.

After Death and Double Shifts

At Mj's a patient recently died. She had no family who came down to see her and she died alone. When her obit was printed it was all about the company that she worked for. It was started for by the grandfater, then the father and now the son. She had worked for all of them, never taking a sick day, never taking a vacation. I find that sad that her job was her life.

I worked a double shift several miles from my home. The drive was the best part of the experance. I started out on one wing and worked all of them. The care at this place was not the best. One of the regular staff that I worked with did not do cath or peri care at all. The place smelled like an outhouse. I will go back if asked because the money is good, and I think the people there deserve good care. I managed to get someone to eat who normaly does not eat. I spent time with her so that she was not fed at the speed that military men eat.

I know there are worse places than MJ to work. At MJ my complant is not the care but how the staff is being treated. There is a great big diffrence in that.

Neglect

Working in long term care you have things that you must do that not only makes your job easier but it also makes the job of the person following you easier.

Right now we have a wing that is got a lot of full care people on it. These people cannot get out of bed for whatever reason. So they have catheters, and bedpans. Some are incontent. Now when you get to the end of the shift you are to have the catheters empty, the trash picked up, and things just generaly neat.

Last night was not the case. There were people not in bed but on top of them, soaked with poo and pee. This reflects on all shifs as neglect. It is not fun going into a room and a patient that should be clean and finding dryed poop on them. That is not good care.

Also when asked about someone that you should have taken care of for the past 8 hours if they can walk you should know the answer. Not say "I guess they can they have been charting that she does". Not good.

Happy F(*&ing Birthday

Today is my birthday and I have gotten flowers dielivered to me for the first time ever. I also got a Tshirt and a cd. But that is not what I want to talk about. In the mail today I recived 2 items from my work. One was a birthday card with a ticket for a free meal to be eaten on my shift only good through the month of June. Can anyone guess what is wrong with this? I work graveyard shift, the KITCHEN IS CLOSED!!! So I have a useless meal ticket.

The second was a Dear Employee letter stating that they are cutting our hours from a full 8 to 7 1/2. So they have cut my pay on my birthday. That acctualy does not come into effect until the 11th but still that sucks. They think that we are going to be able to give the same amount of care to each person. That is bull. That half hour overlap was to get and give report on the patients. How can we know who or what we have to deal with if we are no longer getting report. That is lack od communication and that is very dangerous.

Good news Bad News

I have been back to work, both at MJ and at hospital. I do have to say I like hospital much better than long term care. Why? Let me start a list.

Hospital Long Term Care (old age home)
faster pase stabilty
staffing meets patients needs Staffing meets state requirements
nurses help with patients Nurses do paperwork
responce time is faster to call light not enough people to answer call light
change is a constant things stay much the same.

Hmmmmmmm maybe I should work full time in hospital.

Why and What Makes Them Think I Care?

My local Sunday newpaper had the headline, "It a Girl for the Jolie-Pitt's". First off, I do not live in a small one horse town, I live in the capital of my state. Population about 90,000. There is a University, a community college, and a seaportt. I know that in this town there has to be more news than some people who I don't know having a baby a world away. What bearing has this on my life? How does it directly effect me?

To the first question the answer is none. They are not moving in nextdoor, I do not have to babysit, nor do I have listen to it cry. To the second question the only answer that I can come up with is so that I can have a conversation with people that have no life, nor the intrest in anything other than those who have money.

Memorial day

Memorial Day is fast approching, what does that mean to you? An extra day off, taking the kids to the beach, a trip some where? A picnick in the park, the welcoming of summer? Who are you going to remember? That is what memorial day is for, remembering those who died for those who lived.

In my family there have been members in the service of the United States before there was a US. From the Revolutionary war to the war in Iraq there have been members who have served. Some who have come back to raise families others who died in service. My grandfather lost brothers in World War II. My dad was in the Navy as were 2 of his brothers. Even today there are cousins in Iraq. Each one has in some way bought me my freedom. The freedom to fight, to have a family, to read my Bible and to watch stupid T.V shows if I choose to.


Now those that we remember do not have to be people that we personaly know, or even those who fought. There are and were people who serve but in ways that is not often recognized. Miltary chaplins, cooks, designers, animal trainers, and the list goes on. There are as many jobs for those in service as there are in civilian life.

Then there are the animals that served in the wars. Dogs trained to sniff out bombs, and other explosives. Who remembers them. Yes, there are movies on their lives and deaths too.

So remember that Memorial day is for remembering those who have died for our freedom.

Short

The last night we again worked short staffed, it did not start out that way. We were fully staffed when we were informed that one person had to go to another floor someone had called in. I don't understand how they can pull someone from trasitional care and put them on long term care. Why could not some one from long term stay over a shift? I know why they did not want to. It is hard to give addiquate care for people when you are short staffed. The night that I worked the patients were complaining about having to wait to long to have the call light answered. It is not easy to tell them they have to wait to go to the bathroom. I don't know why I stay in this line of work.

That is what it feels like at work. Walking on black ice. I work in heathcare and here in the states they will tell you that there is a shortage of workers in that field, nurses, physical theapest, ect. What they don't tell you is why there is a shortage. The reason is simple, money. Oh not the pay that the nurses get but what the coperations want to keep. (will refer to the coperation as MJ). Well, MJ gets x amount of dollars for each person, and what help is needed for each person. If they have to be feed, MJ gets more money. Now to keep the money we are staffed with what the state calls "acceptable ratio". 64 patients on night shift gets 2 nurses and 4 nursing assistants (CNA's). Now if there is a fall on the unit because someone tripped or was to weak to walk and tried to anyway MJ looses money. Easy to understand right?

WRONG!!!!!

The CNA's and the nurses take the blame for the patient falling. MJ does not look at the condition of the patient (confused, medicated, ect) they look at what this fall is costing them. So instead of adding staff to meet the need of who they have in there. MJ expects that the state knows what they are talking about based on medicare numbers. The numbers don' lie, we are all drones exactly alike right?