[acadia]

ejcimd, hi. I am curious, what did you do at DHHD? What is DHHD? My children are older, if I were back in school right now, my son would be as well. That does sound interesting!!! Good luck on the pre-regs.It is a good feeling when they are out of the way and that much closer to nursing. I am on the coast, edu was at UMA though. Cadia

[Jenny67]

Hi Everyone!

I'm located in Maine also. I'm a Pre-Nursing student at UMA.

[acadia]

rninme, are you still here, probably outside enjoyng this FANTASTIC weather. I will be shortly!!!! Write when you get a chance. Cadia

[acadia]

Hi Jenny67, welcome, it is always great to hear from another of us out there. How are you? I am hoping people will be writing again soon.I love having a Maine site. I grad. UMA. Cadia

[acadia]

AS a graduate from UMA, I would advise anyone to do as much "hands on" during clinicals as you can. It is one thing to do a "procedure" on the dummy, quite different with a real live person!! I wish we had more pharmacology( I know it is up to us) but again, out in practice it is hard to take the time to look up/remember onset, peak, S/E. and pass meds timely manner. Anyway I was well prepared for exam. Studied hard though, read everything. Acadia

[voodoosgirl]

So glad to see Maine nurses posting here! I usually check this forum every chance I get and there wasn't much talk until now.

We moved to Maine 6 years ago from Massachusetts. Voodoo the Arabian (my horse) needed a cozy home so we sent him to Maine, he liked it, and we quit our jobs and followed him here. We love it here and although we are from "away" and have made the obligatory city-folk mistakes with the horses, the mailbox, the driveway, the town office etc, the folks in Bradford have been kind enough to let us stay (so far).

I work at a social service agency in Bangor that provides residential services to adults with mental illness. I love this job, the residents and the staff. The "red tape" and bureaucracy I could do without.

Hope we can keep this going. Maine is a great place and the nurses here can be spread very thin, I feel I need a stronger network of nurses to connect with, maybe this forum can help.

[acadia]

Hi Voodoosgirl, it is nice meeting you. It has been quiet here lately. I am glad to hear from others, I know what you mean by stronger network. I think it would be helpful.
I used to work with mentally ill adults in that type of setting, as well. It was the best job, I actually went home thinking I made a difference, it was a very good feeling! Also none of the red tape bureaucracy, it was all about the people we were working with.I worked in crisis also, which was very interesting.
I am a transplant but from so far back now, I am rootbound!! take care, hope to talk again Acadia

[voodoosgirl]

Hi Acadia,
Every time I get frustrated with the administration, I go to one of the group homes so I can ground myself! I find this work to be very rewarding and challenging.
I do struggle with the system though. State and federal funding cuts, managed care for mental health, prior authorizations. Our folks can have difficulty advocating for themselves at the grocery store never mind on a state and federal level. We are trying hard to build skills for our residents that can carry them through these toughening times.
Talk soon I hope.

[acadia]

voodoosgirl,
I know exactly what you mean. Administration is away from the homes (in more ways than one) I don`t think they have a clue what it is really like in the homes.(typical) The people in the homes had made such incredible steps, sometimes 1forward and 2 back, but coming around ever so slowly to living in a community. I used to enjoy advocating for any bit or scrap of independence I could fight for, for them. They don`t speak up for themselves well, you are right, usually they would just fold, be quiet. Even in that area slight progress was being made. The challenges,the conversations, their struggles in a world that does not understand them. When I think back to where the group was when I first came into their lives, until the time I left, it was just amazing!!
the sad thing to me was (well one of many) they weren`t supposed to get better, and they all got better in degrees, but some really got better, but there isn`t much out there, and staff come and go... so the continuity that follow through would get lost.
Their diseases fascinated me, the way they survived amazed me. There was one person that could say 5 sentences in a row as if they meant something, and the 5 had nothing to do with each other, but I took the time to keep listening, realized there was a pattern an actual conversation, but I had to listen to all of it, put it together to figure out what this person was trying so hard to say. Well, you can probably tell by my exuberance and could talk about this forever. I just loved it!!I see though it is 3A, so I must get off to bed, or soon not bother. I hope to talk again, I`d love to hear some of your stories, the success and why, the things you all do. Anyway write again Cadia

[voodoosgirl]

Hi Cadia,
Funny how this type of work gets to you, in a good way. The people I work with are very "nothing is impossible" oriented so that is the driving force. If workers or contacts don't feel that way, we do alot of education and moderate trade-offs.(our favorite approach is to say "how can we prove this to you") If a guardian says "no way" to something, we ask what smaller steps would they agree to and how can we help the resident show the guardian progress.

Very challenging, thinking outside the box, creative stuff. Patience for sure, progress can really appear to be slow. Success may not look like what our average expectations of success might appear to be. definately humbling.

I often "joke" that I'd rather deal with a dozen client crises than one staff problem. Staff are way more trouble than residents anyday. Said With Love