Job's Over The Years

[Wayne Goodwin]

 

Ever have a Job you hated ?

If so how long did it take you to leave that Job ?

[Kim]

I've only been working for the past 4 years. When I got divorced, I was literally ONLY qualified and hire-able doing ONE thing and THAT was taking care of the elderly. (ANYONE who can pass a drug test and background check WILL be hired to take care of old people...you don't even HAVE to be NICE!! It just doesn't seem to matter.) I started out with a "non health" homecare agency and though I NEVER hated my job, really but some of these old people are OCD and have some really strange "Depression Era" ideas and QUIRKS. SOME used to drive me absolutely batty. SWEET little old ladies....HA!!! YOU WISH!! They're a pain in the arse much of the time but GENERALLY, I LOVE working in the "home setting" and I have found I have quite a talent of patience with the VERY difficult people!! Who knew?! NOW I live with my client who YES....is a pain in the BUTT sometimes but we mostly get along famously.

Between the FIRST agency I worked with in Tennessee and the one I work for NOW, I worked at a nursing home as a nurse's aide. I loved the "residents" though the work wasn't always pleasant, I felt like I was making a difference with these people in their "last years" and I talked with them, sang with them, etc. It helped that I knew words of songs from WW2 and OLD movies and movie stars, even though I cant carry a tune in a bucket...LOL! (Funny but THEY never laughed..,,they were JUST excited that SOMEONE knew songs that old and could sing along!!) What I HATED about that place was my fellow Nurse's Aides and nurses.....What ATTITUDES, What LANGUAGE! It was disgusting!! One of my LAST days there, as I was checking a client, she was HALFWAY out of the wheelchair and I made the decision to ease her onto the floor (better than her falling OUT herself.) When I did, I grabbed some pillows and layed her up against me (she was a BIG WOMAN but that's what I always did when someone fell.) I called (from my cell phone) the nurse who was on the OTHER floor and told her what happened. The nurse let out this EXASPERATED grunt and said, "OMG, that F-ING woman has fallen out 3 times today and she is doing it ON PURPOSE! OK...F*CK!!! I will be down" ANd she SLAMMED the phone down...do you know that she FINALLY got down there 45 minutes later?! This poor old lady who had a severe bad back had to lay against ME at an awkward angle all that time!! She had Mild Alzheimer's and was often in a really bad mood and hated everything but for 45 minutes, I got her talking about every happy thing she USED to like. It was kinda cool to see her smile for once!  I saw nurse's aides do things that BORDERED on abuse. They were cruel and condescending to the people, they yelled at them to GET BACK INTO THE F-ING BED! I worked 3rd shift for awhile. We were supposed to check on them but some never did and they would have accidents then they would say something like, OH GROSS to the people. MY co-workers HATED me too. My supervisor KNEW I wanted the "harder" floor because I talked to each person and took my time...my "FAVORITES" were on the harder floor but she deliberately denied assigning me that floor WEEK after WEEK and gave it to people who TOTALLY SHIRKED their duties.

They all kinda turned against me towards my last few months because ONE of the family members requested I be the ONLY one who went into their mother's room at night to help her to the bathroom (besides the head nurse because she was being roughhoused and bruised from a certain aide who pulled this LARGE woman up by her wrists.  The woman had SEVERE ALZHEIMERS and was a major Italian *itch....LOL!! But I could handle her pretty well. Mostly because, I know you shouldn't antagonize Alzheimers patients...you just try to agree with their crazy stories! Well, my supervisor "KISSED THEIR BUTTS" and assured them that I would be there for their MOM 5 days a week. I was assigned 3 times in 3 months!! 

I wish I could say, this is an isolated incident. Its NOT. I have talked to people from as far as Australia and much of the same stuff goes on in places like this. There ARE good Nurse's Aides.  I DID know several good ones when I was on the 3-11 shift but except for ONE person, SANDY was the ONLY good person on that shift. Her and I ONLY worked together about once or twice a week and our co-workers would call us Sandra Dee and Goody Two Shoes behind our backs. SHE still works there and says its as bad as ever!

 

[blithe spirit]

You are a good woman Kim. This kind of care is so needed. 

One of my Gradmother's spent her last year in a nursing home. Luckily, she had lots of family to come and visit so she got better care I think than many. It shouldn't be that way. People who abuse the elderly are as bad as those who abuse children and those who unable to do for themselves...we are all going to be there one day.

[Wayne Goodwin]

I've had friend say they applied for a job and be turned down for being "Over Qualified" . Don't understand how one can be "Over Qualified" ?

[dwalt]

Wayne it usually means they won't pay what you want.

[Lucinda Stone]

i was a union factory worker for many years, worked my up the job levels, went into management, stockroom, production control supervisor... they booted my butt out after 29yrs when the aerospace industry tanked and by then they were starting to out-source the manufacturing(used to be 2000+ union folks, now maybe 10?) but that's another story for another day.  i actually liked all the jobs i had there.  for the past eight years, i've done data entry which has to be the most brainless boring job in the world, but i do get paid fairly decently, and thinking i've only got a short time to go before retiring...

[Kim]

Thank you, Blithe...to ME its a NO BRAINER...these old people represent our parents, grandparents, our friends, and "US" but these girls just don't see it!! I think its very sad! I am glad your Grandma received good care. MOST of the residents where I worked had family come in at least weekly. We had 5 residents who had  daughters and  sons who came in every single day. OH...and one woman would bring her mother's "boyfriend" every day. He ended up in the same nursing home, just down the hall from Mary....LOL!! (THAT was a case of "childhood sweethearts" who broke up, married someone else and reunited in their 70's after they were both widowed. And they had been together for almost 20 years!)