Not much to say today. I know I promised impressions of the event on Friday with the Governor of Pennsylvania, but I've been so busy lately that I just don't have time. Damned paper was harder to finish than I thought it would be. Still, I rather enjoyed writing it, after the fact; I learned quite a lot about coping skills, spirituality in older adults, and sexuality of older adults, including some stuff that would make a layperson blush. Soon I'll go back and edit into a second draft, but for now, time to waste some more time.
Good news: Bayada Nurses contacted me a couple of days ago about joining their ranks. I just have to do the paperwork, attend orientation, pass the med calculation exam, and hope like hell they still like me afterwards. Sure, I won't be making as much as I was before, but then again, I'm not going to be working full time, either. With any luck, I'll get this job, and I'll finally start living my dream of doing home care.
Anyway, not too many worries about money on my end. Sure, Bayada is offering per diem work, but with the demand for home care nurses at the level that it is, I don't think I will be having too many dry spells. Also, I've started tutoring again, this time independently, and having a blast. Worse comes to worst, I still have my other license to fall back on.
Oh yes, Michael Moore's SiCKO comes out on DVD this coming Tuesday (November 6). If you haven't seen it yet, you really should. Yeah, I know it's Michael Moore, the d00d that right-wingers love to hate because he "exaggerates" so much, and is a "big, fat, stupid white man". Still, even if he does exaggerate for effect, and some of the details could have used a little more vetting, the larger message - that our health care setup is broken, and serves the very few rich at the expense of the many who aren't rich - is still valid.
Wednesday, October 31, 2007
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Sorta Good Friday
Just got done with installing Leopard. Works great, only problem was the first install didn't take, so I ended up doing the archive and install option. Note to any who are thinking to upgrade their Macs: do not use the default upgrade option. Click on the button labeled "options" when it comes time, and choose to archive and install instead. Don't worry too much if you forgot to back up your hard drive beforehand, like I did; archive and install leaves everything the way you had it before.
So, does Leopard r0x0r? Yes, in small but subtle ways. Let's just say Spaces, Stacks, and the new graphics really do make a difference. I haven't tried Coverflow, Quick Look, or Time Machine yet, but I think they'll be alright. At any rate, this should be enough for now; I doubt I'll be going through this experience again any time soon. Next time, in like 10 years, I'll just get a new Mac.
Oh yeah, before I forget ... very interesting forum we had with Governor Rendell and Rose Marie Greco at the WHYY studios. They were kind enough to go over time to accommodate all of our questions; good thing too, for I was the last one out of maybe 10-12 questioners to ask his question. I didn't exactly rock the house, and please don't laugh too hard if you see me on television, but at least I got the point across. Ms. Greco, in particular, took it very seriously, and gave a great, in-depth answer, which I will post tomorrow, after I get some sleep and listen to my recording. The Governor was great too, and put up with the time overrun with equanimity, answering the questions sincerely and thoroughly.
Enough from me. Time for sleep.
So, does Leopard r0x0r? Yes, in small but subtle ways. Let's just say Spaces, Stacks, and the new graphics really do make a difference. I haven't tried Coverflow, Quick Look, or Time Machine yet, but I think they'll be alright. At any rate, this should be enough for now; I doubt I'll be going through this experience again any time soon. Next time, in like 10 years, I'll just get a new Mac.
Oh yeah, before I forget ... very interesting forum we had with Governor Rendell and Rose Marie Greco at the WHYY studios. They were kind enough to go over time to accommodate all of our questions; good thing too, for I was the last one out of maybe 10-12 questioners to ask his question. I didn't exactly rock the house, and please don't laugh too hard if you see me on television, but at least I got the point across. Ms. Greco, in particular, took it very seriously, and gave a great, in-depth answer, which I will post tomorrow, after I get some sleep and listen to my recording. The Governor was great too, and put up with the time overrun with equanimity, answering the questions sincerely and thoroughly.
Enough from me. Time for sleep.
Friday, October 26, 2007
School and advocacy
Today, I'm happy because I feel like I've actually accomplished something today. At least, I broke away from the depression enough to actually go outside. Of course, I also had class (Advanced Illness, Death, and Dying) in the evening too. It was a good class, too. It was all about cultural considerations, decision making process, and the nature of pediatric care in hospice and palliative care. There was a pretty good discussion going on too, as there usually is. Maybe I'll go for that palliative care minor after all.
God knows I really miss that aspect of nursing. I love speaking with patients and just listening to them. Sometimes, I'd get thanked just for being there and listening, which always touched me; just doing what comes naturally to me can actually make a person feel better, and even help with recovery! One time, I sat with a lady for about 20 minutes - this was at night, when I actually had more time - explaining what hospice care and palliative care entailed, and answering her questions about it. It was easier, since her husband had passed away under hospice care, so she was ready to talk about the possibility of trying it herself. She had inoperable, rapidly metastasizing cancer at that point, and was having a fair amount of pain from it; she knew she was dying and was more worried about being a burden on her family at that point. It was a good conversation, and afterwards I felt really good about accomplishing something that really helped someone out on a deeper level. That high lasted the rest of the shift, too.
On a different note, still no luck with finding that part-time nursing job yet, but I'm in no rush. Soon, I'm going to be immersed in doing research both for the paper due next Thursday and for the question and answer session Governor Rendell will be holding after his speech on health care reform tomorrow evening. I will, of course, bring up my pet cause. Hopefully, Governor Rendell provides good answers, and maybe we can start the ball rolling on nursing home reform (fingers crossed). With any luck, I'll be too busy to be depressed.
God knows I really miss that aspect of nursing. I love speaking with patients and just listening to them. Sometimes, I'd get thanked just for being there and listening, which always touched me; just doing what comes naturally to me can actually make a person feel better, and even help with recovery! One time, I sat with a lady for about 20 minutes - this was at night, when I actually had more time - explaining what hospice care and palliative care entailed, and answering her questions about it. It was easier, since her husband had passed away under hospice care, so she was ready to talk about the possibility of trying it herself. She had inoperable, rapidly metastasizing cancer at that point, and was having a fair amount of pain from it; she knew she was dying and was more worried about being a burden on her family at that point. It was a good conversation, and afterwards I felt really good about accomplishing something that really helped someone out on a deeper level. That high lasted the rest of the shift, too.
On a different note, still no luck with finding that part-time nursing job yet, but I'm in no rush. Soon, I'm going to be immersed in doing research both for the paper due next Thursday and for the question and answer session Governor Rendell will be holding after his speech on health care reform tomorrow evening. I will, of course, bring up my pet cause. Hopefully, Governor Rendell provides good answers, and maybe we can start the ball rolling on nursing home reform (fingers crossed). With any luck, I'll be too busy to be depressed.
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Heh, it's been too long.
Oh well, I guess I really haven't been keeping up with this blog. Actually having way too much fun playing around with my Facebook profile - in fact, I've kind of been treating the updates as a form of micro-blogging. Total time-waster, and way too much fun; looks like I'll have to exile myself from there for a little while until I catch up on the schoolwork.
Anyway, I've been busy with school and trying to find myself a part-time job. I'm surprised to say that I miss working. Time was, when I still working as a pharmacist, that was just something I did, and I could just go home afterwards, unless I was on-call that night which meant I couldn't completely switch off. These days as a nurse, well, it's a pretty big part of my identity now, and I feel like I've lost a huge chunk of it since I left the old job. Nursing has always been more than just a job for me, but an extension of who I really am; in other words, I got to express my true self, within professional limits, in the course of providing patient care. I love the feeling of satisfaction of doing the job well and feeling like I actually made a difference in someone's life. (Conversely, I'd feel like a failure when things didn't go as well. Not every day can be good.) Oh well, if the job search doesn't go well, I guess I can always negotiate my old job back, and hopefully they'll actually let me work part-time.
I've been busy getting some work done on a patient advocacy campaign I've been working on, on the side. Basically, I've been trying to spread awareness about abuses of elderly residents of nursing homes taken over by private equity firms, which then make millions in short-term profit for themselves and their investors by cutting nursing staff and supplies budgets. What that translates into is a major safety issue, as there are now not enough staff to monitor certain residents who need more care, thus increasing the risk for falls, broken bones, pressure ulcers, and general declines in health. Not to mention stressing the hell out of the staff that are left, thus leading to burn-out and possible loss of temper and abuse. What really gets me, is that these companies avoid being accountable by setting up these complex business arrangements in a way that makes it difficult, if not impossible, to establish who really owns a facility and thus who can be sued when something goes wrong. You can read more about it here.
So basically, since this issue hasn't really been getting the attention it deserves in the media - due in no small part to the focus on SCHIP and the California wildfires and the Iraq Ware, all worthy subjects to focus on, don't get me wrong - I've been trying to get more people to pay attention to it. Hence, the cause I started on Facebook. Kind of embarrassing that I haven't gotten any of my friends to join it, but then again, compared to larger issues like getting out of Iraq in a timely and safe manner, stopping further global warming, and supporting breast cancer research, my cause probably doesn't seem so important.
Still, if anyone is reading this, please read the New York Times article, and see what you feel like afterwards. If you're fired up and feel like doing something, please write to the editors of your local newspapers and to your local, state, and Congressional representatives and urge them to pay attention! If you write to your governmental representatives, ask them to do something about the abuses, tell them to enforce the law and/or create new legislation to bring more transparency and accountability to nursing home management. Nursing home residents will thank you for doing this, if they find out; even if the effort fails, at least we all tried. Just because they're older and institutionalized doesn't mean we get to forget about them and let them be treated as less than human.
Anyway, I've written enough for now. Time to do a little more research; I'm getting ready to bring up certain issues when Governor Rendell visits my "town" on Friday. Hopefully, that too will help the cause. Wish me luck!
Anyway, I've been busy with school and trying to find myself a part-time job. I'm surprised to say that I miss working. Time was, when I still working as a pharmacist, that was just something I did, and I could just go home afterwards, unless I was on-call that night which meant I couldn't completely switch off. These days as a nurse, well, it's a pretty big part of my identity now, and I feel like I've lost a huge chunk of it since I left the old job. Nursing has always been more than just a job for me, but an extension of who I really am; in other words, I got to express my true self, within professional limits, in the course of providing patient care. I love the feeling of satisfaction of doing the job well and feeling like I actually made a difference in someone's life. (Conversely, I'd feel like a failure when things didn't go as well. Not every day can be good.) Oh well, if the job search doesn't go well, I guess I can always negotiate my old job back, and hopefully they'll actually let me work part-time.
I've been busy getting some work done on a patient advocacy campaign I've been working on, on the side. Basically, I've been trying to spread awareness about abuses of elderly residents of nursing homes taken over by private equity firms, which then make millions in short-term profit for themselves and their investors by cutting nursing staff and supplies budgets. What that translates into is a major safety issue, as there are now not enough staff to monitor certain residents who need more care, thus increasing the risk for falls, broken bones, pressure ulcers, and general declines in health. Not to mention stressing the hell out of the staff that are left, thus leading to burn-out and possible loss of temper and abuse. What really gets me, is that these companies avoid being accountable by setting up these complex business arrangements in a way that makes it difficult, if not impossible, to establish who really owns a facility and thus who can be sued when something goes wrong. You can read more about it here.
So basically, since this issue hasn't really been getting the attention it deserves in the media - due in no small part to the focus on SCHIP and the California wildfires and the Iraq Ware, all worthy subjects to focus on, don't get me wrong - I've been trying to get more people to pay attention to it. Hence, the cause I started on Facebook. Kind of embarrassing that I haven't gotten any of my friends to join it, but then again, compared to larger issues like getting out of Iraq in a timely and safe manner, stopping further global warming, and supporting breast cancer research, my cause probably doesn't seem so important.
Still, if anyone is reading this, please read the New York Times article, and see what you feel like afterwards. If you're fired up and feel like doing something, please write to the editors of your local newspapers and to your local, state, and Congressional representatives and urge them to pay attention! If you write to your governmental representatives, ask them to do something about the abuses, tell them to enforce the law and/or create new legislation to bring more transparency and accountability to nursing home management. Nursing home residents will thank you for doing this, if they find out; even if the effort fails, at least we all tried. Just because they're older and institutionalized doesn't mean we get to forget about them and let them be treated as less than human.
Anyway, I've written enough for now. Time to do a little more research; I'm getting ready to bring up certain issues when Governor Rendell visits my "town" on Friday. Hopefully, that too will help the cause. Wish me luck!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)