Why Not?

Things have been about the same at work; there's a restraining order against the husband of one of my little old ladies, because the husband has been threatening to come to our facility and kill his wife and then himself. He states that he has a gun and is ready to do so. He lives within walking distance of our facility.

It's been stressful.

The new admit, the very combative one, continues to be that way. Some of it is kind of funny, like how he walked around with his underwear outside his pants for hours the other day. But it wasn't funny that he started shoving away anyone who tried to talk to him or help him change them to inside his clothes. And it's not funny that it takes 3 or more people leaping on him in order to complete any sort of care.

My classes start very soon, the week after next! I can't wait. I'm still waitlisted for one of them, but I'm #2 on the waitlist so it should be fine. I'm just nervous about the delay screwing up my financial aid, but I've been in touch with the financial aid office and they say it should be all right.

The biggest news is that I've applied for some jobs at our local hospital. We'll call it Father Sainty's. Over at Father Sainty's, they'd cut pretty much all CNA positions in an effort to save money, which has been a common trend among hospitals these days.

I don't understand it, because why would you pay a nurse much more money per hour to do something an unlicensed person like myself can do - take vitals, reposition, toilet, check blood sugars, etc.? Maybe it's because administrators assume (wrongly) that nurses can do all that AND do the jobs that only they are allowed to do at the same time. Crazy.

At any rate, Father Sainty's must have figured out that if you expect nurses to do everything, everything doesn't get done or at least not very promptly. And I'd expect that patients were unhappy with that. So they're adding back a LOT of CNA positions, and I've applied for every single part-time benefits eligible job they've got.

I have no idea what my chances of even being interviewed are, but I figured it's worth a shot. It'd be great experience, better pay, and include benefits. Which I don't have now.

I know, I know, all CNA's seem to think they should work in a hospital, as if the change in the type of facility is somehow magical and going to get rid of the worst parts of our jobs. I don't think that. I know it'll be at least as hard as what I do now, probably more so. But I've got a couple of years experience under my belt now, so I may as well try to be paid as much as possible at this while I go to school. And I won't be shocked if a patient tries to take a swing at me, or eats their own poop, or does any of the million disgusting things that I've gotten used to working with my current population. I'd miss the consistency of working with the same residents all the time, for sure, and I do still genuinely enjoy and get a kick out of people with dementia. But feeling actually in danger at work has taken away a lot of my daily happiness at the GreatRep. So leaving there wouldn't feel like as much of a loss as it would have in the past.

So, yep, I'm not holding my breath, but wish me luck anyway!