L J J D

2011-06-14T13:35:00.000-07:00

I know I have been slacking on updating this! My last day at Thorntonview was two days ago. It was so sad to leave all of the residents and even staff. A few of the other nurses and psw's told me that I could use them as a reference to get a job there! Awesome! Also, I started my other placement yesterday at Marnwood retirement home. There are only 12 residents there, about four men and the rest ladies! It is such a different feeling, retirement is more housework. I guess it's a relaxing change ;) haha. Although, a man had to be rushed to the hospital while we were there. His blood sugar was too high, so I went out and got the ambulance and showed them where to go. He came back near the end of the night and was better. Thank goodness. We spent about an hour and a half playing cards with the ladies before we headed home. Too bad those two days I was explaining about I was feeling like crap! Achyness, headache, sorethroat - everything! I am suppose to be at my second day of placement today, but instead I am in bed with Strep throat and tonsillitis. Ugh. This is the only day I can miss, so I need to get myself better!

2011-06-01T16:33:00.000-07:00

So, there is a lady in the home who I enjoy speaking with, when she is in the mood. She has a doll, but to her this doll is a real baby. I walked into her room the other day and she looked at me and smiled and pointed over to the baby on her bed and said "I just put her to sleep", "Isn't she just beautiful?" I sat with her for a good half hour while she was holding the baby, asking me questions and telling me stories about this baby. She then said the baby looks like me ;) haha! It was just so amazing to see this.

2011-05-26T16:09:00.001-07:00

I can't believe that placement is almost over! Things are going great. I realized that I really enjoy working with people who have Alzheimer's disease. There was a lady on the first day who was really rude to me, apparently she gets that way in the mornings. The other day we were toileting her, she is a small lady but it still takes three people to do it. She was swatting at the two other girls, yelling at them. So, after it all she was back in her wheelchair and one of the ladies had asked her if she could fix her shirt, and she again swatted at her. The resident then looked at me and said "you're nice" grabbed my hand and kissed it. She then let let me fix her shirt. It made me feel really good about myself! There also is another lady who has Alzheimer's diease and she is so hard to get up at times. The other day I ended up getting her up, dressed and down to the dining room for breakfast/lunch and sat with her while she ate a sandwich in the afternoon :) .. Again, the other day there is another lady who has the disease and she also has agoraphobia, I believe. Her and I went for a walk and in the dining room their was a bunch of people in there. She looked at with with a look on her face that made it clear that she was uncomfortable. We ended up walking through the room with no problem!

2011-05-16T10:34:00.000-07:00

There is an older lady at my placement. I am pretty sure she is close to 100 years old, if not close - is! She is completely mobile and the cutest lady. She always calls all the nurses and PSW's "momma" so she goes to me today, "Bless your heart, momma" .. Even though I have only been at Thorntonview for about a week, I feel like it is going to be hard to leave behind some of these residents. I may need to put my name in this place afterwards!

2011-05-13T13:56:00.001-07:00

My perceptor wasn't at work today so I was kind of everywhere! I felt so lost, lol. Sadly another man passed away last night (RIP). Today went kind of slow.. At lunch their was a lady who had a seizure at her table, she is okay though! It was pretty scary to see, because we didn't know what was wrong with her at first. A resident told me today that she was a nurse, and that there is a hospital opening up soon and she put her resumes in there already. I thought that was kind of cute! I am starting to get used to this place. I really like the residents :)

2011-05-11T14:24:00.000-07:00

Today was a good day! I feel more comfortable with the home already. This morning I got a lady dressed, cleaned and helped her get ready. It put a smile on my face when I was dropping a lady off in the dining room for breakfast and I heard someone yell my name and I look over and it was the lady I assisted getting ready earlier :). I also assisted with a dressing change today! That was interesting. It's something I can cross off my list now. I was in the two ladies bedroom that I have been feeding the past two days, making their beds and I realized that they had the same pictures hanging up around the room. I then asked around and found out they were mother and daughter :)

My first day

2011-05-10T14:35:00.000-07:00

Today was my first day of placement. It was overall a very interesting experience. I ended up having a huge headache last night, so my bedtime was at 930 pm. I woke up around 530 am and got myself ready. I had no idea what to expect for the day. I was both nervous and excited. When I first showed up my perceptor told me about the morning duties. We woke up the ct's and got them ready for the day. Sadly during my first break I heard that a man had passed away just across the hall (RIP), and a lady just a few doors down from him was un responsive and was sent to the hospital (I think she is okay). After that, I was told to bring some of the ct's down to the dining room for some lunch. I fed a lady whos dentures kept falling out of her mouth while I was trying to feed her. It didn't seem right to me, but apparently that always happens? There is a lady who sits at the tables I was at today. I think she is close to 100 years old. She is completely mobile and is such a character! The stuff she says is hilarious! Near the end of the my shift I woke up a lady and asked her if she wanted a drink, she agreed and drank it. When she was finished I told her I was heading home - she grabbed my hand and said "Can I kiss you before you leave?" she then kissed me on my cheek. Tomorrow is a new day, new experiences.

2011-05-05T17:12:00.001-07:00

I was so worried last night. I realized that I couldn't find my original copy of my criminal check. If I couldn't find it I wouldn't be able to go to placement on Monday. This morning I ran into class and explained to Becky (My teacher) that I was 98% sure I had given her my original a few months ago. She really didn't think she had it, but she double checked just incase. She went downstairs to check the files and to our surprise IT WAS THERE!

Precious Moments

2011-05-03T09:24:00.000-07:00

The other day I was browsing the internet and I came across a website with with a ton of Precious Moments figurines. I never realized how beautiful they actually are. Some of them really caught my eye. I should look into collecting them.

2011-05-02T19:03:00.000-07:00

Now tell me you don't love this band?

2011-05-02T18:29:00.001-07:00

Some people.. That is all I have to say.

2011-04-29T14:24:00.000-07:00

I'm getting really nervous for placement. My teacher tell us that as soon as we get out there, everything we have learned in class goes out the window. No one uses the text book. She also tells us that we are going to see so much abuse and some things are going to make us so uncomfortable that we will probably want to quit right then and there. On top of all this, she tells us to stick by it, that the job is really rewarding. I agree. I understand what she is saying - In my opinion: If you are witnessing these things then leaving and quitting this field of work, you are not helping the situation. You would pretty much be turning a blind eye. You can help the situation by sticking around and doing the best you can do, and being the best you can be. Like my teacher always says, we can change it "One PSW at a time."

UFC

2011-04-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

I am not really into UFC - I have seen only a few fights. Brad (my boyfriend) really enjoys that stuff, and got us tickets to see the fights in Toronto for tomorrow night. I'm actually pretty excited for this :) We are going with his brother and his brother's girlfriend.

2011-04-27T15:39:00.001-07:00

I have a hard time letting go of things - especially people. What can you do? If someone isn't going to give you the time of day, why should you continue trying to keep the friendship alive.

2011-04-27T15:16:00.000-07:00

I need to start going to the gym again. I have a membership, but I feel as if there isn't enough hours in the day. I don't really 'need' to lose any weight, but it would be nice to lose around 15 lbs for the summer!

2011-04-26T17:58:00.000-07:00

I think it's safe to say that I have the most amazing boyfriend, ever. Picks me up from school and surprises me with these:

I know it's not only me.

2011-04-26T17:19:00.000-07:00

I wonder why everyone gets so nervous to present their work to other people. Myself included. I am in a Personal Support Worker program and today I had to present a project on Renal Failure to my class of about only 16 females and 2 males. Sounds easy enough, right? Wrong! This past weekend was Easter. I spent the whole weekend stressing over this project, making sure everything was perfect. I mean, I know everyone gets a little on edge, and the nerves start to flare before they get infront of the room full of people. It just makes me wonder, why. You spend days on end with these people, you'd think as time goes on you would be more comfortable around them all.
-- At the end of it all, I think I did a pretty good job!

2011-04-26T16:37:00.000-07:00

It's been this way for as long as I can remember. I don't remember a time when I haven't been a worry wart. I am currently getting into the nursing profession, as weird as that may seem concidering I am a complete germaphobe and have an intense fear of death.

-- This will be interesting.