AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Sorry 'bout that. It was just one of those days on the ol' North Unit, I'm afraid.
Not to say that there weren't high points... such as the patient who, upon learning how much money I make, took it upon herself to try to convince my supervisor that I am a wonderful employee and should be compensated much more than I am. =)
Or when I got to hear a patient (who normally spends all day sleeping in bed) rapping and dancing in the lounge, only to discover that he has dreams of going professional with his mad hip-hop skills.
There was also the short-lived bumping and grinding dance moves in the courtyard...
And the new admission who recognized me from his numerous previous visits and said he likes our unit way better than south...
But, for some reason, the main thing that I remember from today was what a fellow coworker said during shift change.
"I hate those people on day shift."
Whether it was meant in fun or intended to be taken seriously is not important to me. I interpreted it as the latter, and unfortunately that is how it has stuck. I have been unable to convince myself that the person was joking because I have the unfortunate inability to simply blow off criticism of any sort... paired with a rock-solid ability to hold onto such criticisms for extremely long periods of time, I am certain that it will take quite some time for me to forget this one.
Immediately, I found that I began getting angry...
Then, I began thinking.
What do staff (specifically care providers... more specifically, myself) that work day shifts on our unit do that evening shift staff don't do?
I came up with an extremely long mental list... and I keep adding things to it. Here is a brief sample:
-Gather patients and take them to classes
-Teach classes
-Actually follow patient behavioral plans
-Chart a narrative of the observed behaviors of the patients
-Pass and collect urine specimens
-Keep patients with no smoking and no courtyard orders from doing smoking or entering the courtyard, respectively
-Bathe the patients if necessary
-Help housekeeping with removing soiled bedding
-Check refrigerator temperatures
-Retrieve patients for psychiatrists, case managers, outside social workers, lawyers, psych testers, physician assistants, therapists, chaplains or others spiritual leaders, etc.
-Take pictures of patients when they are admitted
-Print out at least two large copies of the patient's picture for the chart and med cart
-Keep a photo contact sheet up-to-date with pictures of each patient together on one sheet of paper
...and that's it for starters.
If anyone from evening shift would like to take over any of those responsibilities, I would be more than glad to hand them over.
Wow... I feel better already.
For those of you who don't even know what I'm talking about, thanks for reading this far. You are real troopers and will be rewarded for your diligence. Click
here for the time of your life.
If I offended anybody, I am truly sorry... my intention was not to hurt feelings, I just needed to get some things off my chest. Not everybody who works days is a workaholic and not everyone who works evenings refuses to chart a narrative on the patients. In general, however, it cannot be denied that the day shift is generally extremely more hectic and faced-paced, as this individual would know. He used to work full-time on the day shift.
...wow. Looking over this, I realize two things.
1) I sound like a whiny little child.
2) Perhaps this is what he meant - that we are wound WAY too tightly.
Either way, I'm still quite pissed off.
I need to play some electric guitar. LOUDLY.
Toodles.
-Dave
P.S. You're probably wondering what the title of this post is all about. Yeah, I forgot to mention that in this blog - I guess I got too wrapped up in complaining and apologizing that I forgot to mention how I cope with the busy days where I find myself overworked and cleaning up messes and doing work that should have been done the night before.
A case worker at Pine Rest told me one day that she has a saying that she tells herself before anything she does. She read it in a book as a child and she has never forgotten it. The saying is "What if everyone..."
Before she does anything, she asks herself "What if everyone _____" and fills in the blank with whatever it was that she was planning on doing. So, if she were planning on throwing trash outside, she would ask herself "What if everyone threw their trash outside?" Then she would think about it from that larger perspective and see the dangers in even the most seemingly insignificant of problems.
So, while it may not seem a big deal not to chart on the patient's behaviors for the psychiatrists, case workers, therapists, and other staff to read... I ask myself, "What if everyone refused to type a narrative of the patient's behaviors?" In the field of health and human services it is most apparent that if behaviors are not documented, they never happened. So, if behaviors were never documented, how would anybody know what symptoms to be treating? That is dangerous territory there and reminds myself just how important my job truly is to the well-being of the patients.
