It's 3:00 PM and I am sitting in report. I hear, among other things, that Jane has been transferred to acute care in critical condition, the couple in 228 are not getting along and that Bob shoved a female nursing assistant into the doorjamb when she tried to close the privacy curtain.
I am worried about Jane, I fed her yesterday. She ate her whole meal but never looked at me. She stared blankly past me as if in another world. The couple in 228 was getting along yesterday, today he's jealous of the care she received from a male nursing assistant. Bob, well Bob is Bob. He refuses to get along with anybody including his roommate and won't pay for a private room.
It's 3:15 now and I've got my list. Bob is on it. Esther is first to get up, she's sweet. She always has a smile and a twinkle in her eye. Today, I am not disappointed. Her roommate is a different story.
Millie has been demanding and rude ever since I entered the room. My patience is wearing thin. I try to do everything right but it's always wrong. The angle of the bed to her chair, the volume on the t.v. and even my hair. I thought It looked nice today. Millie fights us as we put her in her chair. The resident isn't safe though, so we take it.
I take Millie and Esther to the dining room and on my way back down the hall, Mary makes a snide comment. It's not my hair she doesn't like, but something to the effect that "If I looked like that, I wouldn't even go out.". I know she's confused, but that hurt bad. Gotta ignore the hurt I am feeling inside, there's more to do.
Next is Ronald, we pull the privacy curtain so that we can do personal care. Bob comes at me with a fist. I step back and try to explain why I had to pull the curtain. I am trying not to yell but I am scared. The nurse comes down to the room and asks Bob to settle down. I feel better. Bob leaves the room, fists clenched. Ronald won't stand, or walk. It takes all our strength to get him into his chair.
Break time seems too short today! I put my feet up and think about and pray for Jane. I pray for the strength to make it through the rest of the shift. And most of all I pray for patience.
Back on the floor, it's supper time for the early feeders. Mike is one of them. I sit down next to him and listen to him. "Someone, anyone take me home.". "anyone got any brains, you'll put me to bed". I explain that he is home and ask if he's hungry. "I could eat" he states. I start to feed him and he eats o.k. for a minute. Then I give him a glass of grape juice. He can drink by himself. I look away for a second to talk to Tina and ask if she needs her banana peeled. She smiles and says yes and at that instant I feel cold, wet juice dripping from my face and onto my new shirt. He threw the glass at me. I peel Tina's banana, grab a towel to wipe myself off with and go back to feeding him.
It's 6:30 now, time to get them to bed. I push Millie and Esther to their room pull the curtain and start to get Millie ready for bed. My partner is getting Esther ready. Millie starts to fight me. Grabs her clothes and won't let go. I walk away, brush her teeth and come back. She loosens her grip on her clothes and we get her night clothes on. As we try to put her in bed she starts to hit, and refuses to stand. We lower her to the floor. She seems to settle down. We call for help and three of us put her to bed. Her vitals have to be taken now, that's considered a fall.
Millie is easier. She sat patiently waiting, dressed in her night clothes while we fought with Esther. Hearing it all but never seeing. She says "Maybe if I fought like her, I'd get more attention." In bed now and covered up, we smile and laugh with her.
7:00, break time again! We only put five more people into bed after Millie and Esther. Half an hour is long enough to rest, relax and eat supper.
Back on the floor after break, the nurse finds us and tells us that Jane has passed away. I fight back the tears but am happy for her because her suffering has ended.
8:30 and Ronald is last to go to bed. Uncharacteristically, he is nice and cooperative. It doesn't take much to put him in. He says thank you and I almost run to get the thermometer and blood pressure cuff.
More stuff to do though. There wasn't a light duty aide today, so we have to pass waters. Lights are crazy, all over the place. Little, piddly, trivial stuff like what time it is, what's the weather like and one even asks "Why aren't these children in bed?" Oh, God, why me???
9:30, time to chart daily activities and keep up with the lights. That one's mine. It's just Tina. She wants a tape in her VCR. She says thank you and I walk out of the room smiling.
An hour later it's finally time for last rounds before night shift. It takes four of us to do Al, he's fighting so much. Another light. Bertha again, hasn't she been on the bedpan twice in the last half hour? The rest of rounds go o.k.. Just the usual stuff: hang up Tina's phone, empty urinals and fight with Millie for my coworkers hair.
Night shift comes on at 11:30, and it's time for us to go home! It's been a long hard shift. "Bye all, see ya tomorrow."
© 1997 jamdoss@aol.com
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