My Mother's Life Dedicated to the Only Woman I'll Love, My Mother.

Yesterday we had a substitute, Billie.  It restored my faith that there actually were qualified personnel at Beacon (other than our regulars).  Today we were blessed with another Substitute, Alda.

So Much For Qualified Personnel

Seems we are back to getting the bottom of the barrel workers.  I suppose BCS figured that giving us one, was enough for the year.  Maybe we’ll get a Christmas present, and have another, but I am not holding my breath.

1. To begin with, going to a new home, you don’t just walk in when the door is opened for you, without at least introducing yourself.
2. Secondly you identify yourself, which is kind of why they give you badges to have visibly displayed.
3. Don’t claim to know the routine, when really you are guessing at it.
4. When told to put soiled depends into a container, don’t automatically look at the garbage pail that is in a different room, from where you are told to dispose of it.
   1. When told to push it down, until it disappears, don’t leave half of it still showing.
   2. IF you can’t understand those simple English Words, then go back to school, and learn them or get another job, that doesn’t require you to have any language skills, or understanding of English.
5. When a person is 93 years old, don’t expect them to be able to put their own shoes on, nor do you try to force the shoes on. 
6. Don’t expect a 93 year old to hear you whisper.
7. Don’t figure on a 93 year old being able to move like a 20 year old heading off for their first date, old people tend to move slow.
8. When you are told they get washed all over, don’t figure that only means doing the legs.  And yeah, you still have to remove the shoes to do the feet.
9. Perri Care (washing of the groin area) means that you actually do it. Yes, you have to be gentle, not like some deckhand scrubbing a steel deck.   It means actually washing the area too, not imagining you are doing it.
   1. IF I can do it in under ten minutes (usually five minutes or less) and not hurt her, not cause her to cry out, I think any trained person should be able to do it.
   2. IFI can do it, and not leave any sign of the evenings cream application, surely a so called qualified & trained worker should also be able to accomplish that simple task.
10. There is always a natural embarassment, of having someone wash you, but it is easy to allay that by engaging in conversation, not by being silent.  The more you talk, even about the weather, the more comfortable a patient will be.  That translates into making the job easier to accomplish.
11. Old people have routines, DO NOT ASSUME they are finished, without at least asking them.  Just because you may not brush your teeth in the morning, or do it after breakfast, not all old people (or others) do what you do, in the morning.
12. DO NOT COMPETE to see who can get out of the bathroom first, or quickest.
    1. Trying to push past an old person, can cause them to lose their balance, which in turn can cause them to fall.
    2. DO NOT pull their walker forward, when you are in front of them, and not behind to catch them, if they lose their balance.  Hell, don’t pull it, period, without insuring they are secure.
13. Putting the Towels into the laundry basket, means just that.  ALL TOWELS USED, especially when the patient has an infection.  Yes, it may not be wet, but instead was used to sit on, it still goes in the laundry basket.  See, infection means just that.  (Not sure what that word means, then LEARN FUCKING ENGLISH)
14. IF you are not tasked to handle medications, DO NOT ASK ABOUT THEM.
    1. Like what the fuck is with so many substitute workers, who are aware that they are not TASK 2 enabled, but want to dole out pills or apply prescription creams?
15. UNLESS YOU WERE TOLD TO, you are not being asked to FEED A PATIENT.  And when it isn’t even mentioned in any care plan, whether mine or BCS, why would you even assume that is part of your assigned duties?
16. You receive a Care Plan, prior to coming to our home.  READ THE DAMN THING!  It might actually help make your job easier.

Here is a little hint for you, if you aren’t sure of things.

IF you see me standing by the door, both before & after you are finished, you can bet the farm, that you are not on my ‘return allowed’ list.   This isn’t Rocket Science, and unless you are a total MORON, a little common sense will make your job easier, but more importantly WILL HELP THE PATIENT YOU ARE HERE TO CARE FOR.

BCS Stop Hiring People Off The Street