The work is too hard, you have to be always on your feet, always keep an eye out for things that happen out of expectations…translated…
Had it not been due to chance I'd started, volunteering at this elderly daycare center, I probably, would've, never, known, how trying the work day of a caretaker, is.
The center takes in about thirty elderly persons a day, and they all have varied sages of, deterioration to them, there were three, four of them, who'd become, completely, detached with their, external, environments, and needed to be fed at the meal times, to be reminded that they needed the water intakes, to get their diapers, changed. Sometimes, the elderly in the home would be in a foul mood and refused to eat, the three of us caretaker, with our manager, the four of us would, take turns, trying to persuade the elder, using an assortment of means, to get her/him to finish her/his, meal, and, there's the, clean up after the feeding times to get to afterwards.
this is still the easier parts...photo from online
Sometimes, we'd had to, mediate the altercations between the residents, don't be fooled, by how old these, elders are, when they fight, they'd become, stubborn, children, refusing to let the other person win the fights, disregarding that they can't, steady themselves, grabbing their shoes, then, throwing them. Had it not been us with the fast eyes and hands, quickly grabbing both, separating them, then, there would be a WWF showdown of the elderly on site.
When I first began volunteering, I'd found, that all the caretakers were wearing the waist protective braces, and some were wearing the knee braces, the wrist protectors, then, I saw the families, wheeling in the elders on the wheelchairs, and I'd understood why. The elders, once they're in the center, had to switch to the four-legged walkers, because their wheelchairs took up too much space, and they can't push the chairs on their own. In the time it took to switch them, the caretakers had to, carry the almost limp elders to get to the walkers, while I stayed on the side, helping to steady their, walkers, and helped the elders feet to stand on the floor, and, the caretakers, working up a total sweat in the winter season, that was, the norm here. And, if the caretakers didn't have the protective gears on, they can easily, injure themselves, and, we must, care for ourselves, before we care for, another.
The small voice maximizer was also, a must-have for the caretakers, easy to get the activities started, to get the elders' attention, to prevent them from doing something dangerous. And, every time the activities were over, I saw the elders, drinking down the water in gulps, I'd always felt relieved, and, offered my greatest respect, had it not been the spirits of giving to others, this work that's taxing to the body and the mind, it wouldn't be easy for the volunteers to keep on going; there would be the changes in personnel every two, three months, and that would be, normal.
As I witnessed the day's work of these, long-term care facility caretakers, I'd understood, that they are, working harder than most, that they are in need of understanding from the society, our support and encouragement too, after all, without these, workers who provided the services they that provide, we, ordinary citizens, with our work already cut out for us, can't even take care of making enough, how would we have enough energies, to take care of, the elders in our, lives.
I'm truly grateful for these, long-term care caretakers!
So, this work is not for the feign of heart, nor for the weak of body, because working in long-term care, you need a ton of agility, to move the elderly individuals around, because they can't move themselves, and you have to be quick on your feet too, to deal with the sudden onsets of, an assortment of situations that might surface between the elders in the center too.
No comments:
Post a Comment