Today I want to comment about seniors, the very elderly, the special care clients and those who have dementia, brain injury and similar special concerns.
These clients and residents are Vulnerable with a capital V! Â These clients depend totally on their PSW, DSW, HCA, whatever the title of the caregiver personally involved with them.
Personally I can tell you from the family member point of view that your gut tells you a lot about caregivers. Â Personally as a PSW who worked in facilities I can tell you my gut worked then too. Â Unfortunately I was not able to act on the feelings I had – regarding those who did a good job and those who didnt. Â Why? Because whistleblowers are ostracized, excluded, shunned, and not to mention you will be kicked out of the facility…because???? you are a troublemaker. Â Not to mention that if you whistleblow…everyone knows who did it, and because the RNs come into the staff room and listen and hound you until someone tells! Â Once you are known as someone who stands up for others and tells the truth, and speaks about physical abuse, rudeness, verbal and emotional abuse…..well, they want to literally get rid of you as fast as they can run your little tush out of the building.
This is no fairy tale. Â OPSWA and our staff talk to PSWs daily, weekly, at meetings, on the phone, by email and in person. Â PSWs tell us about the abominable behaviour that goes on, the rules, the stresses, and I know that they wonder why they got into this field. Â It is really hard to remember that you came to this job because you care for people. Â When you become a PSW, it feels more like you are hurting than helping, when you have to get 10 to 15 people up in a two hour period…before breakfast and by the way do at least one of your two baths. Â When you come to work day in and day out, and the first thing you do is go to the board and see who is NOT coming into work today…and you go back to the staffroom, to fortify yourself with a snack and coffee…and you sigh and know that your energy level (which at full staff will be depleted in 8 hrs) is now going to be running on a dangerous low level….increasing stress and possible injury to you, and increasing the risk of injury and anguish to your residents who will ring more, yell at you for help, be uncomfortable in their brief for too long, lay in one position for too long.
No matter how many times this is discussed, it is still happening daily for our vulnerable seniors.
I want to celebrate the Guardian Angels who do their best and beyond each and every day. Â Without the PSWs who show their compassion, work as a team, can multitask and bring humour to the job as well as a warm and caring attitude to their clients and residents – our facilities would be in a crisis situation. Â It already is…its just always humming under the line of OVERLOAD! Â It has been this way for years and I wonder how much longer it can keep going.
Can you imagine what it would be like to have residents waiting in rooms for care, food, personal change, transport to the bathroom to void like they used to do in the real world when an exhausted spouse or family member cared for them? or even before that when they could make it on their own?
It is True!  You will be put into diapers even if you dribble like the commercials tell us “oh so tastefully” on Television.  No using simple small pads for your incontinence.  Regardless you will be given personal products that are lumpy, bumpy and plain uncomfortable…but they are the best on the market.  And mark my words, these products are marked on the outside…just like the guage on your car’s gastank…that signify Empty, Half Full and Full!
When will your personal incontinent product be changed? Â When it is 75% or more Full! Â When will your Guardian angel change it? Â If she or he can, they will change you before that, by hiding a brief in your bedroom for your need, by taking it from an emergency brief box….Who thought up that name? Â An emergency buffer box of briefs in all sizes…and before you can hand it out to your resident who is sitting and waiting in their wheelchair, or on their bed, or in their bathroom, waiting for attention…..you will have to what? Â Tell me this again? Â Write down the time of day, the name of the client and the reason for the brief to be taken from the box?
This makes as much sense as inspectors from the Min. of Health only talking to the heads of depts., and when they did speak to PSWs on the floor – they never got the real story – they only got told everything runs just fine here, proud to be part of this establishment! Â There are always extra staff put on the floor for Ministry visits – if possible to know in advance. Â Keep the Secret, Keep the real story under the bed, Keep the world from finding out that residents are short-changed, fed nothing but crystal packs of instant juice…cheaper than the real stuff…and that meals are of the kind that only dogs would enjoy. Â I must admit that on Christmas and Thanksgiving the cooks made real turkeys, and for the most part they did the best they could with the food. Â But really? Â Not the kind of food I want to live out my days eating. Â Not the kind of life I want for myself…even if I have Guardian Angels looking after me.
Its kind of like going to a jail and getting the local snack bar in town bring you over a meal in a box…not quite…but almost. Â Its almost like living at home except for the money you pay you have NO rights…NO control over anything.
If you don’t feel quite right and you want to miss a couple of meals in the dining room or just have tea and toast in your room….you are told…by the PSW…who was told by the RN in charge, who was told by the DOC….regimentation must go on.  No staff able to hand deliver food to residents in their room for no reason.  Must attend meals so they are socialized and fit into the regimented rules of the wonderful carpeted, painted and decorated facility that is “just like home”  Yep, do you want to move in yet?  I don’t blame you.
So many times I saw little old ladies in their chairs, peering at writing paper, pen clutched in their hands, writing to the administrator, writing to the Min. of Health of our Province, writing to anyone who they thought would help. Â Why? Â Because in their old age they were paying upward of $1800 and more a month for personal care, good meals and drinks, clean rooms, Guardian Angels or PSWs to care for them.
If this is Heaven, then we need to put up a sign : “Work in Progress”
There is no money for more help, there is no way that owners of facilities will change the rules. Â Rules make the place run right! Â Rules are necessary so that meals, baths, care and breaks for staff can happen. Â I can tell you that plenty of girls work through their breaks to care for a palliative client. Â They work through their supper break, a half hour becomes 15 or 20 minutes because it is impossible to do all the care, get all the duties done before the end of the shift.
Any PSW who gets hired, went through the PSW program, and wants to make a difference – please consider them Guardian angels. Â They are! Â Ask us for more info. Â We have it.
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