second verse same as the first.

I have said it before, I love my job. The hours are great, the people mostly wonderful. The only thing that could be better is the pay. But honestly? I still love it.

My job requires me to plan and execute activities for elderly people suffering from Parkinson's, dementia and stroke. I work in a local nursing home; it is always challenging and mostly fun.

I was ill at the weekend, finally well today, I was excited to go to work since I missed my Saturday shift. Maybe I am still recovering from the weekend, or maybe I woke up without all my patience, but at several points today I wished I had stayed home in bed.

Here is my rant about work:

01.It is harder to reason with octogenarians with most of their mental faculties than it is to reason with a two year old.
02.I hate being asked the same question by the same resident everyday. S/he knows the answer, because they start the conversation "I know you said X about Y, but I just wanted to know if I could do Y?" Ummmm, no. The answer is the same as it was the last time you asked.
03.People that ask if we can do G activity because it 'sounds interesting and fun' or 'that was nice the last time we did it' and then DO NOT TURN UP to the aforementioned activity. The next day/week some of these people will say, why didn't we get to do G activity?

The things I love about work:

01.I get to be fairly creative on a daily basis.
02.I speak to a variety of people each day, all with varying needs, wants, interests, abilities and limitations.
03.All of the things I dislike as well as the variety of people I am with on a daily basis keep me constantly engaged and challenged at work. Even if there is not a feasible solution.
04.Things at work make me laugh a lot. The people are funny, sometimes the situations are funny.
05.My supervisor is great. People think she is hard to get along with, but really, just DBAD and you will be fine.

My shifts on Mondays are 10:30 A.M.-5:30 P.M. and 7 P.M.-9 P.M. I stay at work between shifts, and have dinner, prepare activities for the evening and assist with supper for residents (if necessary).

By 8:30 P.M. tonight, I was losing my patience in a big way with one of the residents (Resident S). And obviously, you must endeavour to be kind and patient all the time with all the residents, so I was walking out of the room to get away from Resident S and s/he follows me!* So I retreat back to the room I just came from, and one of the other residents says, "You can't get any peace around here, can you?"

"I am just running out of energy to deal with Resident S right now."

"Then you won't ever get peace...not for love nor money!" (Laughs).

I start laughing. Resident S is now back in the room and thinks I am laughing at him/her.

I realise that I am fighting a losing battle trying to communicate and reason with Resident S. So I prepare Resident D to go back to his/her room and say good-bye to Resident S.

I have never felt so relieved.




This post brought to you by: the people at work who drive me up a wall.




*Resident S, due to their limitations has difficulty holding a 'normal' conversation. S/he will repeat and repeat and repeat a story, statement or request until s/he gets a response. Offering alternatives or solutions is a lost cause. S/he will respond "Oh no, I could never do that because X. But don't tell anyone." What?! Why is anyone going to care about that? Basically, everything in Resident S' life is a crisis, that s/he has no control over and no one can help with, though we are supposed to pander to each crisis. But by being sympathetic, s/he says 'Oh you have no idea how hard Z is or what I have to do for Y." It is a constant uphill battle with Resident S and after being at work for ten hours, it is extremely wearing.