Surprise, I lived after all

This week is FINALLY over. I wound up with a total of 10 evaluations on new admissions, plus my patients, plus all the added crap that goes with a state survey. Thankfully although the building had a bunch of cites (like WAY too many) the therapy department had none. So we're all-clear. Until the next time. With 20 they may be back in a bit more. I don't know the severity.

Yesterday I decided to leave early and come in today after a haircut to do my 3 evals. I simply was exhausted, the people weren't all there yet, and it was a chance to mooch 2 meals off my mom. So today I did that. I only partly did one, she had a fairly high temp and just couldn't, but I am pretty happy that I made it through the week. I even went down to check on one of the 2 people who fell in the first 10 minutes I was there.

State week is always just a nightmare. You suddenly have to do everything on overdrive. Someone who we all knows yells and who normally is allowed to yell once or twice must immediately be attended to, and it's best if it is 5 or 6 employees. All these strict rules about what can touch what where and when must be followed. How many times gloves have to be changed during any procedure is monitored. Patients are asked about dissatisfaction and the surveyors don't always listen for how competent the patient is. Once they spoke with a man who had severe damage to the language centers in his brain from being beaten in the head. He couldn't really express himself, but he could get words out, they just weren't the ones that said what he meant. He also had limited understanding. We (the speech therapist and I) had tried to teach him to push buttons to communicate, but he couldn't even do "up" "down" after days of practice. Anyway, he told them we were keeping him from having a picture book to communicate and withholding his soft cushion for his wheelchair. In truth he hoarded things and we had to go to his room and pull out his TWO picture communicators and TWO cushions, plus documentation that we'd tried to convince him to use these things.

Bipolar-wise I'm actually doing fairly well. I'm really excited because I got sick, reacted immediately and am ok now. I'm just really tired. I have to work Monday, but probably only 1/2 day, and it's time and a half which is fine by me.

Heh, not the things I meant to say but I guess there's always tomorrow.