Lesser of Two Evils

Due to the nature of my job, I have chosen to remain anonymous on my blog. HIPAA regulations are very strict and those who break them run the risk of receiving large fines and serving jail time. Since I am poor and have no desire to be someone's bitch in prison, I figure I'll just keep my yap shut when it comes to name and location.

To this point I really haven't written much about work, aside from my periodic, therepeutic rants about Mr.PBM and my entry explaining the asinine status of some of the direct care staff.

Working in a care center for individuals with mental handicaps is the most interesting job in the world. Many times, when people hear what I do for a living, they pat my arm and say things like "I could never do that." or "Bless you. Someone has to work with those people." I try not to become offended by their ignorance. After all, I could just as easily hear myself saying the same thing to a brain surgeon. I could never do that.

The most important thing, when it comes to residents like mine, is to remember that they are people just like anyone else. They are adults. They have feelings. If you cut them, they bleed. Honestly, it might seem like I am stating the obvious, but so many people who meet my them become a different person. I've seen people's nasty stares when we're at a public place. I've seen well-meaning volunteers come in and baby talk at them as if they were 6 months old. There is even a gas station down the street that has a restraining order in place against one of our residents because he doesn't know any better than to sneak out of the building with 30 cents in his pocket and head down the road for a coffee. We've asked the store to keep a tab for us and we'll pay for anything he takes, but instead of being compassionate, they decided they'd "Ban the Retard".

What the hell?

I wish I could sit them all down and explain the amazing way that caring for someone unconditionally can touch a person's life. The individuals that live at my care center are the most forgiving, accepting, and amazing people I've ever known. Every day, as I arrive for work, I am greeted so enthusiastically and sincerely. Sometimes they tease me, sometimes they hug me, but all the time they love me. You can't top that feeling. You really can't.

Working here is educational as well. I work with an Occupational Therapist and a Speech Pathologist. My basic duties are to monitor how the residents are doing with communication and adaptive equipment and report their status back to my two consultants. Then they let me know what needs to be done and I implement it. I am also the staff in charge of hiring, hence my long-ago rant about retention. By having duties that vary, I am able to work both with the residents as well as the employees.

There is a Psychologist on staff. Each Friday we have a meeting where we discuss how our residents are doing behaviorally and give feedback on how med changes have affected their moods. Terms like "Non-selective Cyclic Antidepressant" and "Atypical Anti psychotics" are tossed about like they are every-day English. Many times I just nod my head as if I understand even though I'm confused as hell. Other times the info actually soaks into my brain and I learn something new.

For instance, today I learned that if you take an anti-anxiety drug like Celexa, Lexapro, Paxil, Prozac or Zoloft, you might feel better but you also run the risk of side-effects like Headache, drowsiness, speech impairment, Nausea, diarrhea, weight gain, inflammation of your nasal passages, and seizures. I get anxiety just thinking about all the side-effects. But isn't that interesting?? In actuality, most who take those drugs won't get the side-effects and if they do, the benefit outweighs the bad. Thank goodness all the people here who need an anti-anxiety drug don't actually end up with explosive diarrhea otherwise it would be the staff with the inflamed nasal passages.

In today's meeting some ideas for improving our teamwork were brought up. The feedback that everyone had left me a little more motivated, a little more hopeful for good things in the future. Perhaps even a staff attitude that would encourage people to want to be here. To join a real team and do something good for our residents. Maybe the people I hire in the next few weeks have a shot at some real success within the context of our building.

I hope.