Substitute #2
Going to be interesting to see, what substitute #2 will be like. Monday it was supposed to be Anita, that turned into a Trudy, and today it is supposed to be a Pamela. Will it be her, or another sub for a sub?
I can understand, how at times people need a break. Hell, wish I could get one, but that really isn’t an issue for me. What is an issue, is the quality of staff being sent into the homes, which frankly scares the crap out of me.
IF the quality of staff that I have experienced where like the regulars we have, my stress levels would be conciderably less. I wouldn’t be wondering if I’ll have to call 911 to get a Paramedic in, because of some incompetent person. I wouldn’t be having nightmares that behind that closed bathroom door, a worker is assaulting or hurting my 92 year old mother.
YES it is a stretch, an over active imagination, however it is fueled by the numerous workers I have seen, who simply haven’t a clue as to how to do their job. It is fueled by workers who are not good in dealing with elderly patients, and more than that, is fueled by a Company that refuses to provide information as to the qualifications & training given to their workers.
Before I could Finish
In checking the schedule, after 9am, when the worker was due, it appears that well, THEY FORGOT ABOUT WEDNESDAY. Kind of goes to show you, just how in tune this company, Beacon Community Services is, with their Patient Needs.
IN CALLING BEACON, it appears that in checking their schedule, they gave a big OOPS, then said that a Trudy was scheduled. Uh, sorry, if she had been scheduled, and it is now 9:30am why isn’t she here?
CAUSE NO ONE WAS SCHEDULED IS WHY!
Now I will give Lisa & Ben credit, for at least dealing with the issue quickly, however, the end result is this.
- Mother was sitting on her bed, waiting for the worker.
- The bed now needs changing
- My Schedule is shot
- I had to change her, and she’ll need a change again
- Added Laundry
- Breakfast is delayed, which means her regularly schedule medication is also delayed.
- A substitute for the substitute is being sent, another NEVER BEEN HERE BEFORE ONE.
I can accept mistakes, I really can, but it is more of HOW you deal with your mistakes, that makes a difference. YES I should have noticed that there was no scheduled worker for today, Wednesday. Course the schedule doesn’t come out until late Tuesday night, and this morning, I was still half asleep. Not an excuse, merely an explanation.
This was not a last minute glitch. Beacon was fully aware that THE REGULAR SCHEDULED WORKER WOULD BE OFF TODAY TWO WEEKS AGO. And that is what is perturbing, in that even knowing, they can’t figure it out.
IT IS THE PATIENT WHO SUFFERS FOR THEIR MISTAKES
Aah, Trudy
Well Substitute #1 for the week is gone, and even Mom agrees, NOT one of the better workers.
To begin with, I really don’t think making personal calls at the end of your time, is appropriate, especially when you haven’t finished the assignment. I know that time is precious, but really, things need to be done right, not half assed.
Secondly, sorry but depends aren’t designed to be flying half mast. It leads to leakage, which leads to more laundry, but more importantly, leads to discomfort and skin irritations. It means, my dear Trudy, that right after Breakfast, I had to change Mom’s nightshirt, plus her depends.
IT also meant that I had to wash her, in her privates, which is why you were sent here in the first place. I then had to dry her, and once more apply the skin lotion, to avoid discomfort, and irritations. In other words, YOUR TIME HERE WAS BASICALLY A WASTED EXERCISE.
While I can understand not knowing the procedures, given its a first time, there are some things that really don’t require instructions, or maybe they do? Such as how to properly put depends on a person, such as not letting someone unsteady on their feet walk unattended to the dining room, while you make a phone call.
These SHOULD BE common sense, something that is obviously lacking with many women being sent into our homes. And you know what surprises me, is that these aren’t young women, but in their late forties, early fifties. THEY SHOULD KNOW BETTER.
I suppose the real problem is, that I expect too much. Call it a sense of entitlement, or whatever, but really I was taught that no matter what, I should ALWAYS do my best in whatever task I am assigned. I was taught, that I may fail, but as long as I could honestly say I had tried my best, then I had succeeded.
Funny how today that isn’t the case. IF it truly is that these people are doing their best, then we really are in deep shit, because they simply aren’t up to snuff. IT does come down to training, but it also comes down to using common sense.
Makes me wonder, how the younger generation is going to be, in handling the aged, which means, how they gonna care for US.
Need to Know
Our Provincial Government is on the hot seat, for the lack of security when it comes to Patient Files. Seems that sensitive files were somehow, misplaced, misused, and well, just poorly handled, which I guess is a political thing, for now.
And yet, when people are being sent into our homes, they come ill prepared simply because no one is telling them why they are being sent. There is a dirth of information being given to them, though they can probably find all they need to know, on Google. Makes no sense, really.
Yet Carol James, Stephen Harper continue to cry about being ACCOUNTABLE, but I have to wonder, to whom? It seems to me, that it isn’t about being accountable to us, the people, but to their SPECIAL INTEREST SPONSORS. Somehow, that just seems wrong to me.
However, when it comes to helping people, it just seems today that our society is not about the individual, but more about corporate profits, about the bottom line. Yet many of the agencies hired to provide health services, are NON PROFIT. Now I don’t know, but to me, non profit means that they don’t make a profit, though I would also assume it means they don’t lose money. That they still have to meet their expenses, and maybe have a bit left over, as a reserve.
And yet these Non Profit Agencies are buying up other companies, right, left, and center, somehow.
Somehow, we have lost sight of the true purpose of health care. It isn’t about making money, least it wasn’t when I was growing up. Yet today, it is. That says a lot, about our society, I think, and worse, about us as human beings.
Week of Substitutes Pt. 1
This is gonna be a fun week for us both.
2 of the regular home support workers are off this week, which means, we get newbies for four out of the five days. And the first one scheduled was Anita, but hey, we got a substitute for her already, Trudy. LOL
So far, a nice lady but the information she’s been given is that we have a dog, and Mom has a broken wrist.
Uh the cast came off in September 2009. Such updated info!
She may indeed be nice, seems nice, but without any advance information on what is expected of her, how can she do a good job? It amazes me at how any company can send people into Patient’s homes, without giving them a list of what they are to do.
For example, a sponge bath isn’t all that complicated, but apparently so. I am asked, today, if she has to make Mom her breakfast, which I suppose is what they do, though since we have been using the services of Beacon Community Services, we have NEVER needed anyone to make the breakfast for Mom, or dispense her meds.
Yet routinely with New Workers, or Substitutes, we are asked that. Kind of makes you wonder, what information (IF ANY) that these ladies are being provided with.
Simple, ASK ME!
You know, it really isn’t fair, to the worker, to mother, to me, to be sent in cold to a place. AND yet, that is what happens when you send a substitute in, without giving them any information on what is expected of them, of what they are about to face.
Beacon Community Services needs a real lesson in how to manage the care they provide. VIHA needs to have their procedures examined, and CORRECTED, before they endanger more people.
First off, a substitute needs to be told what condition their patient is in, what medical realities they have, so as to not assume that a 92 year old, can do what a bloody 50 year old can. Such as standing, without anyone near by, or walking with a walker, without anyone standing behind.
They need to know if the Patient has sensitive skin, has brittle bones, and other conditions that determine HOW ONE HOLDS THEM, HOW ONE TOUCHES THEM. Yet Beacon Community Services ignores that, and okay, they have thousands to deal with, but what about the actual worker?
Why can’t the worker, BEFORE THEY START, ask me? After all, I am the one who let them in, I am the primary caregiver, so I should know, shouldn’t I?
The GOOD ONES do ask, but today’s worker was here a few months back, so I guess she figures she is able to figure it out. WRONG! Things change, the strength, the conditions, all change, but this one knows it all, and instead of asking me, is asking a 92 year old, who can’t hear well, who doesn’t talk well, who’s thought process gets a bit confused at times, but hey, this worker knows better.
SHE DOESN’T NEED TO ASK ME. BULLSHIT!
It isn’t all that complicated, tedious perhaps, but not complicated. So why do these women do this? Why make it more stressful, when common sense should rule, should tell them, “hey this is a new situation, let me ask the fat guy who let me in, what the routine is” but no, that might be a sign of something. I don’t know what, but I was taught, if you don’t know something, YOU ASK SOMEONE!
And next week, we get three days of substitutes, if not four days.
