kaiasunshine

i googled it and came up with this! http://www.parl.gc.ca/content/lop/researchpublications/prb0751-e.htm#acanadian in 2002, the canadian human rights commission’s 1988 policy on alcohol and drug testing was revised to reflect recent jurisprudence. the policy now states that the following types of testing are not acceptable: (1) pre-employment drug or alcohol testing, (2) random drug testing, and (3) random alcohol testing of employees who are in safety-sensitive positions. when an employer can demonstrate the existence of bfor, the following types of testing may be included in a workplace drug and alcohol testing program: (1) random alcohol testing of employees in safety-sensitive positions; (2) drug or alcohol testing for reasonable cause or after an accident; (3) periodic or random testing after disclosure of a current drug or alcohol dependency or abuse problem, if such testing is tailored to individual circumstances and forms part of a broader program of monitoring and support; and (4) mandatory disclosure of present or past drug or alcohol dependency or abuse for employees holding safety-sensitive positions, within certain limits and in concert with accommodation measures.

Hey this is a really old topic but an interesting one! I just googled the laws in Canada regarding drug testing in the workplace, out of curiosity, and came up with this link- http://www.parl.gc.ca/Content/LOP/ResearchPublications/prb0751-e.htm#acanadian "In 2002, the Canadian Human Rights Commission's 1988 Policy on Alcohol and Drug Testing was revised to reflect recent jurisprudence. The policy now states that the following types of testing are not acceptable: (1) pre-employment drug or alcohol testing, (2) random drug testing, and (3) random alcohol testing of employees who are in safety-sensitive positions. When an employer can demonstrate the existence of BFOR, the following types of testing may be included in a workplace drug and alcohol testing program: (1) random alcohol testing of employees in safety-sensitive positions; (2) drug or alcohol testing for reasonable cause or after an accident; (3) periodic or random testing after disclosure of a current drug or alcohol dependency or abuse problem, if such testing is tailored to individual circumstances and forms part of a broader program of monitoring and support; and (4) mandatory disclosure of present or past drug or alcohol dependency or abuse for employees holding safety-sensitive positions, within certain limits and in concert with accommodation measures."

This is a hilarious thread! Love it!

Yeah I'm not sure if it's similar everywhere but in BC, care aids can do an additional one-day course that teaches them to pass meds that are already pre-measured in blister packs or pre-filled sealed med bags. The idea of care aids doing all of the things the DPH has suggested is totally scary...what the hell is the point of having LPN's if care aids are doing the same job?

As a care aid working for two years now, I sadly have to agree with all of the other replies. While I understand financial constraints can really get in the way and stop people from being able to take certain programs, honestly I cannot see how reading a manual could prepare anybody to take control over the care of 10-20 people. After 4 months of studying coursework and textbooks like you would be, and watching the teacher demonstrate situations and care, we ALL needed the two months of full-time practicum in order to become anywhere near competent. Real life is MILES from text book, and developing the speed, confidence and skill you need to function at a job in complex care or a hospital or community setting requires more time than most employers would be willing to give employees starting from scratch. Everyone in my class was a bumbling mess for the first part of practicum. There are so, so, so many things that seem like common sense to most employees but really only develops after a proper, supervised practicum and then months actually doing the job, but these are things that are so important to the safety and comfort of your residents/patients. I find it terrifying that Florida allows people to work as care aids with no practicum, which is the most important part of a person's training. I would never allow someone to look after my mom's daily health and safety without extensive hands-on training, there are too many things that could go wrong. I am so sorry to be so negative, but in my honest opinion I just don't think it's right, or safe, or plausible. I may be wrong! Just my opinion!

In BC, Canada my tuition is about $4000/year not including books! But you could end up with $40 000 in loans by the end if you're using loans to help pay for living expenses while in school...

There may not be much you can do, but there may be something! Here's what I would try: Protect privacy and comfort of course...no one wants to lay there naked! You can warm a blanket in the dryer and cover the client with it, then only lift enough of it to wash one part of him at a time (if you're washing the right arm, expose only the right arm and then re-cover it when you're finished with it). If you have access to his old music, of if the family can tell you what music he used to enjoy, play some of that during the bath. If not, play some soothing music. Aromatherapy can be nice too, candles or oil burners or those scented eye pillows. I would also verbalize everything I was doing; even if you think he can't understand there's always the chance that he may! Good luck :)

I don't think she lacks empathy, I work in dementia and it is my favorite area of long-term care and there are still days when I get flustered and frustrated when I am unable to give people the care they need due to combative or resistive residents. I think it definitely takes a while to get used to it, and I know a lot of care aids who say they would/could never work in dementia as it's not somewhere they feel they can handle. You know what? A lot of RN's would never work in psych or peds or the ER either! Everyone has areas they like and dislike. When I used to feel depressed in dementia in the beginning, I would need to remind myself that these peoples' brains have deteriorated. I started to imagine them not how their bodies present them but how their minds were functioning. We had several end-stage residents and I would start to imagine that I were caring for (this sounds bad when verbalized but I don't mean it in a bad way at all) infants. I found I was a lot gentler and more patient when I tried to understand how their minds were working. Anyway, my advice would be to stick it out for two months. That will give you a bit more time to adjust to the situation. I would recommend trying to get a position on a more cognitive floor if possible, as dementia just may not be your area. Give working as a CNA a chance, work a day or two a week, and if you hate it immensely in a couple of months you can always leave the position :)

I work in a long-term care facility and get sick less often than I did before I started working there...but I do tend to eat better now. Sleep is always big for me so I usually sleep 8-9 hours a night, plus I eat lots of fruit and veg and try to stay away from animal products, take vitamin C daily with a calcium supplement and try to get enough sun. I'm also taking up kayaking this week, and enjoy cross-country skiing! I generally get two head colds a year, as well as strep throat and an ear infection 1x a year each. However this year I've been doing other things to nip it in the bud- when I get a cold or flu I take upwards of 6000mg of Vitamin C per day and that either prevents it or seriously shortens it, and (this is hilarious) if I start to feel an ear infection coming on, I stick a clove of raw garlic in my ear for a few hours. It sounds and looks really bizarre but it works for me, believe it or not! I don't put it in far of course, less far than an ear plug, but it does the trick! This year has honestly been a much healthier year for me :)

I'm starting nursing school in a month (!) and I've already done three of my courses, including anatomy and physiology which is supposedly one of the hardest courses. I studied A LOT. More than I ever expected to for one class. But you know what? I got by with an A- (84%) when the average was a C (60%) or lower. Not as high as I had hoped for, but the class required a lot of work and dedication to do even partly well in and I learned that most of the people in the class did not seem to want to make the effort. It's not that hard to memorize information, it's just time-consuming. Never expect to fail. Expect to spend a lot of time and effort to do well, but enjoy the learning process and be proud of yourself for working hard! :)

I'm a CNA and I work casual in long term care, meaning I work all shifts. Generally when I get a few night shifts in a row, I will have been working day shift all that week so it's a very hard transition. There is literally nothing to do between midnight and 3am when I start changing people (other than an hourly bed check on all 28 residents, and all residents are stable and sleeping) and at 2am I start to crash hard. Usually I'll take a blanket and lay down on the couch with the tv on for half an hour. I have the phone in my pocket which is how we're notified of a call bell or bed sensor going off, and keep the tv on because I can't fall asleep with a tv on. Then I'll doze for half an hour or so, never falling asleep but kind of staying on the cusp. It helps me stay 100% for the rest of the night and I know if anyone wakes up on my floor I'm coherent enough to hear anyone moving around or hear the call bell go off. Not ideal but certainly very low-risk in my eyes...if I get two rotations of graveyards in a row then it's easy for me to adjust and stay up all night but working casual makes it hard to ever get used to one shift!

I found when I was backpacking in South America (I speak conversational Spanish) that there were a few times when I could get by on my own but was with someone who was fluent and I ended up relying on them at times- even to order something for me in a restaurant! I could order myself but I knew that my grammar and vocabulary weren't perfect and I was a little self-conscious to stumble along when I was with someone who spoke the language very well. I imagine it was probably a similar situation with your patient. She likely knew that she spoke enough to get by, but with a fluent speaker to translate for her, there would be no risk of error in understanding for either of you. This way she wouldn't misinterpret anything you were saying :)

/delete, I figured it out!

For me, the expectation of doing it was FAR more stressful and uncomfortable than actually doing it...when you're actually there with the person (except for maybe the first few times you do it) it's not a big deal at all. Like everyone else has said, you realize that they are unable to do it for themselves and you know it needs to be done. You want your residents/patients to be clean, comfortable and healthy and if there's a way for you to help them achieve that, you're happy to oblige :) Another thing I noticed when I was first doing my practicum was that you are so involved with doing it correctly that the rest of the world kind of closes off for a minute! I saw it as more of a task to be done than an uncomfortable situation. Talking to the person while you're doing it (like small talk or having a conversation) also makes it more comfortable for both of you, depending on the person. It's really not as bad as it seems and you get used to it pretty quickly. I'm sure there's a rare 1/100 person who can never get used to it but like anything, you adjust!

A google search should be able to help you in what you're looking for, but of course it depends how much you're willing/able to spend to volunteer! These are the one's I've favorited on my computer :) http://www.goabroad.com/ http://www.abroaderview.org/inclusions.php http://www.volunteerabroad.com/search/nursing/volunteer-abroad-1 http://www.serveyourworld.com/articles/264/1/Free-Volunteering-Abroad http://www.imva.org/Pages/orgdb/wblstfrm.htm http://www.volunteerhq.org/programmes.html http://www.kayavolunteer.com/ http://www.medicstoafrica.com/