SeaCat
Hey, my Halo is smoking
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2003
- Posts
- 15,378
So today I went to work and was met with a lovely bit of hell.
It all started with just getting to work. The police had blocked traffic on the main road leading to the hospital due to a minor fender bender. I had to detour through some of the more lovely sections of town. Traffic was much heavier than I expected. I was twenty minutes late by the time I got to work and was berated for this. Then I find out the other aide had decided she just didn't care to come in today so I was running solo with 20 patients.
Naturally this means the patients are or two types. Either they feel well enough to go home and are angry that they are in the hospital or they are truly in terrible shape. What this means is if I'm not getting yelled at I'm cleaning shit off the patients, the floor, the bed and/or the walls.
Then there is the promised for lunch from the hospital. We had in writing the promise from the hospital teeling us not to bring in lunch as we would be getting fed. The food was completely and totally inedible. (We couldn't even order out as no one was delivering.) (I finally gathered together some money and headed out to a local grocery I knew was open. I gathered up what I could find and brought back enough food to feed the crew.)
Needless to say we trully weren't feeling the cheer.
Then at roughly 1700 one of my patients was finally released. This patient is a retired M.D. and a royal pain in the butt. He knows better than everyone and is willing to argue with them about his care. I have taken care of him in the past and knowing how he works make sure I have everything in writing. When he doesn't want to get out of bed I show him the written orders. When he still refuses I make sure he sees me writing down his refusal of care and then allow him to read it. I'm polite about it but I don't let him get away with shit. He and his family respect me for that but I didn't know just how much they respect me. I wheeled him out and waited for his son to drive their vehicle around to pick him up. After I had him safely buckled into his seat the son comes up and hands me an envelope while telling me a copy of the letter inside has been sent to the C.E.O. of the hospital as well as the C.E.O. of the corporation.
After I get back inside and before I get upstairs I open the envelope. Inside I find the letter and read it. It's a rather nice one and maybe a bit embarrasing. I also find a smaller envelope nested inside and within that envelope are ten $50.00 bills. Wow!!!!
Then when I finally get home and log on I find an E-Mail from one of my former patients. She is now back home in Japan and wanted to wish me a happy Holiday. She told me about her latest travels and thanked me for giving her the courage to try new things. She also told me about her new job and how things are going for her. Attached was a picture of her when she was on vacation and SCUBA Diving in Thailand. (Man she looks good in a tiny bikini.)
In other words this Christmas was not without it's good points but they had to be watched for.
SO how was your Christmas?
Cat
It all started with just getting to work. The police had blocked traffic on the main road leading to the hospital due to a minor fender bender. I had to detour through some of the more lovely sections of town. Traffic was much heavier than I expected. I was twenty minutes late by the time I got to work and was berated for this. Then I find out the other aide had decided she just didn't care to come in today so I was running solo with 20 patients.
Naturally this means the patients are or two types. Either they feel well enough to go home and are angry that they are in the hospital or they are truly in terrible shape. What this means is if I'm not getting yelled at I'm cleaning shit off the patients, the floor, the bed and/or the walls.
Then there is the promised for lunch from the hospital. We had in writing the promise from the hospital teeling us not to bring in lunch as we would be getting fed. The food was completely and totally inedible. (We couldn't even order out as no one was delivering.) (I finally gathered together some money and headed out to a local grocery I knew was open. I gathered up what I could find and brought back enough food to feed the crew.)
Needless to say we trully weren't feeling the cheer.
Then at roughly 1700 one of my patients was finally released. This patient is a retired M.D. and a royal pain in the butt. He knows better than everyone and is willing to argue with them about his care. I have taken care of him in the past and knowing how he works make sure I have everything in writing. When he doesn't want to get out of bed I show him the written orders. When he still refuses I make sure he sees me writing down his refusal of care and then allow him to read it. I'm polite about it but I don't let him get away with shit. He and his family respect me for that but I didn't know just how much they respect me. I wheeled him out and waited for his son to drive their vehicle around to pick him up. After I had him safely buckled into his seat the son comes up and hands me an envelope while telling me a copy of the letter inside has been sent to the C.E.O. of the hospital as well as the C.E.O. of the corporation.
After I get back inside and before I get upstairs I open the envelope. Inside I find the letter and read it. It's a rather nice one and maybe a bit embarrasing. I also find a smaller envelope nested inside and within that envelope are ten $50.00 bills. Wow!!!!
Then when I finally get home and log on I find an E-Mail from one of my former patients. She is now back home in Japan and wanted to wish me a happy Holiday. She told me about her latest travels and thanked me for giving her the courage to try new things. She also told me about her new job and how things are going for her. Attached was a picture of her when she was on vacation and SCUBA Diving in Thailand. (Man she looks good in a tiny bikini.)
In other words this Christmas was not without it's good points but they had to be watched for.
SO how was your Christmas?
Cat
