indierock

To be honest, in the beginning you will have very little time to sit and talk with residents. Once you become faster with your work you learn how much time you can sit and talk with a resident. I try to give about two or three residents a day more time to talk. As for number one, it depends on the resident. Can they be consoled? Some people because of medical conditions or lack of medication cannot be consoled. The main thing to do is give yourself a time limit before you go in. Let the resident know that you can't stay indefinately. 2. I use the time i "do my job" to talk to the resident and listen to what they have to say. So i guess a lot.

most of the care plans for my residents are out dated. For hoyers and sit-to-stands, i always use two people. No questions asked. As for the two person, nonmachine lifts, it depends. Im not a big burly guy (actually i am a little woman, 4'11", 120 pounds) but a lot of these people just need the right approach to get them to do enough work that it would be a one person assist. It all depends on the resident i guess. Once you work with a resident for long enough you begin to realize their strengths, weaknesses, and what they bluff about not being able to do. For new residents or if i haven't worked with someone in awhile, i go to the cnas that do. They know more about how someone transfers than the care plan could ever tell you.

you do roll them towards you. After you get out of the test, its a lot harder. Just a bit of advice for practical use: roll them as far towards you as possible and tuck the bedpan in as far as possible before you roll them back because once they are laying on that bedpan, they usually start going and you don't have a second chance to roll them.

this is a really good idea. Also, the voicemail on the cell phone is a wonderful thing, use it. just don't answer. When we are short staffed, the person calling usually uses guilt to try to make us come in. the truth of the matter is that we have all worked short, we all know its not fun. BUT everything gets done.

I love my job, i love my residents. That being said, i am getting burned out quickly from the other aspects of the job. We are understaffed and the politics are constantly visible. I guess i am just complaining but i am wondering if any of you guys are in the same position? any advice?

you are right to not go in there alone. I actually just got a tough resident as well. He didn't want me to leave him alone, gets mad easily, and wanted the opposite of anything we got him. If you think about it these have lost everything. Yes some do take it out on the staff. Since this seems behavioral, i would try to get to the bottom of it. Tell her in a nice way that you and everyone else is tired of being disrespected and ask her what is wrong. I find a lot of behavior comes from pain or discomfort in any way. Physical, emotional, etc. If all else fails, try to avoid her, and talk to the social worker. hope this helps!

i agree with the above post about finding humor in this type of thing. i know its very kindergarten of me but i think laughing about poop is fun. i have a resident that is very shy and self conscious. One day she farted in front of me and got so embarrassed. all i could do was bust out laughing. it turns out that i laughed so hard i farted. and then she started laughing at me. since then, she has been a bit more comfy around me.

what part of pa?

hahaha. this made me smile

Another thing i have noticed is that if you watch someone that is dying, hours before they die, their eyes begin to move in a very calculated way. i have noticed with almost all of them that they will have their eyes closed and all of the sudden they will open them, dart them to a certain spot on the ceiling then peacefully close them.

the three's thing i have in fact noticed. If your residents are on the death watch they should also be on comfort measures and although the resident can't necessarily say she wants to go outside i think it would fall into comfort measures. i agree with above, follow the chain. i mean if you put yourself in their shoes, would you want your last days in a bed or would you want to be able to do one of the things you have always loved?

i can understand your nervousness about taking blood sugar. if you have the resources i would say invest in a tester and practice with friends or family, people that you know/ trust. they will tell you if it hurts too much plus you are comfortable with them. All it takes is practice and the reminder that depending on what is in the shot, it generally doesn't hurt that bad.

i always hated that part of the job. the truth is that you do learn people and how they react. Actually funny story. i had a resident when i first came onto my hall that was extremely right, hard to get up and never spoke a word. But by looking in her eyes you can tell she gets everything you say. One day i walked into her room and she just started talking to me and got up without any trouble. I guess she just finally got used to be and decided she liked me. All residents are different. you just have to watch what works and what doesn't.

i apologize if i have posted about this before but it seems even more true now. Every time i go to my nurse with a change in a resident, she responds with a "oh that is normal". I have had nurses that have filled in for her immediately respond when i say something is wrong but she won't. its frustrating because i notice everything and over the time i have been with my residents i have learned what is and what is not normal, for them and in general. I just feel like why bother? Anything i notice gets dismissed anyway. argh.

thank you for that!