Listen to your Grandmas

The other day, I was helping Mr. Polly do some work on my Grandma's bathroom (just replacing fixtures and such) and she asked me how the new job is going. I said I love it, but I do get tired because it's a 10 hour shift and it's more standing than walking. She hiked up her pant leg and showed me her spider veins, and told me to start wearing support hose NOW. My Grandma was a hospital pharmacist her entire career and stood for long shifts as well. Plus, genetics. So I ran out and got some support socks. (There's just no freaking way I'm gonna wear support pantyhose to work under my scrubs. Not happening. Ever.)

The Cherokee Workwear ones come in a pack of three and they SUCK. Maybe they're better if you have smaller feet, but I don't. I have big size 10 feet. And so the socks don't come up that high on me, and they kept rolling down all day too and driving me crazy. Thumbs down, Cherokee. I'll be giving those away to my shorter coworkers.

The NurseMates ones do come in different sizes according to your shoe size, and they are awesome. I got pink ones with butterflies on them. I've been hand-washing them with my same castille soap that I use in the shower, and they're holding up nicely. Hopefully my legs will be as well.

Me + Med Cart = True Love

I fricking love my new job at my same facility. I have more independence and autonomy, which is AWESOME when my coworkers are being douchebags like they were today. I'm learning a lot and becoming more med-literate, which is helping as I do my nerdy stuff like look up decision making flowcharts related to different behaviors and how to manage them. Now I can look up "screaming" on www.alzbrain.org and am familiar with some of the medications they suggest.

Also, I'm good at getting all my residents to take their meds. Even the paranoid ones. And I'm starting to remember who takes what so if I see Sally Lou limping and say "Does your foot hurt?" and she says yes, I can remember whether I give her routine tylenol or not, and go run and get it right away. Or if I see Harry starting to get hinky and rearrange his furniture while wearing lots of layers, I can think "Do I give him behavioral meds? Yes! Now might be a good time for that!"

Now I'm feeling guilty that I said my coworkers were being douchebags. Really it was only 2 out of the 12 that I saw today. And it's the same 2 that are always like that. One is just honestly very dumb, and so it's really hard to communicate with her. Example: our facility has two wings, East and West. On East, most of the residents can walk, talk and feed themselves. On West, they don't. My dimbulb coworker has been there for probably 4 months and still cannot tell you which is which. Or where each resident's room is. These are things that normal people knew within 2 weeks of working there. Not the sharpest tool in the shed, that one!

So I love getting to wheel my cart around, popping pills, doing my paperwork and phone calls to family, and not having to chase down Dimbulb to help with a 2-person transfer or Lazy to watch the floor while I go give a shower.

Oh med cart, I love you so much!

I'm in like Flynn

Had my first day of med tech/med aide training today, and I think I'm going to love it. I like getting to learn how to read the MAR's, new charting, getting familiar with all the medications and what they do, and really getting to use my brain at work for the first time in a while. Caregiving is more social intelligence and brute strength combined, and this is more being meticulous, some critical thinking, and a ton of new things to learn.

The shifts are longer (10 hours instead of 8) so that is tiring, but I'm delighted to be getting done at a time when normal people get done with work now too. I'll be working med aide 3 days a week, and caregiving in between in order to keep me at full-time.

It felt really good to have my coworkers congratulating me today as they noticed that I was wearing regular scrubs instead of the caregiving uniform ones, and I love that in this role, I get to see the whole building and almost all the residents, rather than just the one hallway at a time.

Walking around there today was like seeing a new place; the people were all the same but my focus was very different. It's kind of like when you go back and visit your elementary school and can't believe how little the desks are. Familiar, but different enough to be disconcerting and charming at the same time.

Hopefully tomorrow I'll get my book learning session in with the DON and I think I may even be working the cart on my own (!) this weekend - yikes/hooray!

Promotion

My facility is fairly small, as assisted living facilities go. We've got just under 70 residents, and usually have 1 charge nurse on shift supervising 6 caregivers/aides who take care of approximately 10 residents per shift. During regular working hours we also have the Director of Nursing and a med-tech.

All told, we've got maybe 2-3 different charge nurses for each shift, and they just take turns, and have 2 med techs. One does M-F, one does Sat-Sunday.

That doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room for call-outs, so sometimes our charge nurses end up having to work a double, and this last weekend our Director of Nursing (DON) had to come in and work a med tech shift, which she didn't like doing since she also had to come be the charge nurse simultaneously. Oops! That means she had to do all the routine med passes, PLUS all the treatements and assessments PLUS all the charting by herself. Ouch.

Med techs/med aides are a fairly new position that mainly work just in nursing homes and assisted living facilities. They can hand out routine meds to people who are able to actually take them independently - meaning that I could hand them a little med cup, say "here's your medicine" and they could then take those pills. If they had to have them crushed and in applesauce, or they weren't able to comprehend that they're taking medication, the nurse has to administer it to them.

Med techs have to be trained, need to have a basic understanding of pharmacology (how drugs interact, what they do, when to give them vs. when to hold them) and be responsible enough to handle narcotics honestly and chart appropriately.

Our DON decided we need another med tech because right now there is no backup if one of our two gets sick or goes on vacation.

Normally she would advertise within the facility to see who might like to apply for it, but this time, at our meeting, she apologized for not doing so but said that she had one person in mind for the job for a while now and was glad that this person accepted the position. She'll be training the new med tech starting this week. The new med tech is ... ME!

That's right, guys, Polly is going to learn a lot of new skills, be paid a little more, get to wear cute scrubs for the first time, and get more responsibility!

This is huge for me. I'm really excited, proud, and nervous.

Med Tech Polly, coming soon!