It occured to me today that I have less than three weeks left here in the hamlet. I fly out the first, back to a new apartment in Ottawa, back to having the world at my fingertips again. Time has flown by- doubtlessly in part because I have had, including the day I flew in, about 36 waking hours off.
It's taken some getting used to, to be sure- but this place has grown on me like cheap tequila. The job environment especially, since it's a better version of what I've been doing down south, but with more people and less supplies. Still, I'm looking forwards to wings and my wife when I get back. That, and a nice pub patio, lots of sun, and a bit more hustle and bustle. It might be the nights, it might be the size of the town, or it might be that I've been listing in a city for so long, but I kind of miss that background hum of activity. It gets awful quiet here by night, even with the kids running the streets at all hours.
I am, however, really enjoying my time up here. Learning to slow down after a year and a half of being taught to do nothing but move faster is a real boon, I think. Long term care down south values speed above all else- you have occasionally overlapping two-hour windows to give between thirty and forty people their medications. This, of course, often overlaps with things like wound care, their meals, any appointments or physio they need to do, family visits, etc. So you go as fast a possible, often barely skidding to a stop between medication passes to deal with issues or try to help out your PSWs, before your next pass. Slowing down means someone has their meds fall behind, or is woken up to do wound care to receive critical medication. This is all, of course, before you chart any incidents that may have occured on shift.
Up here, I have the ability to assess my patients properly, make suggestions to the doctor to help their treatment. I'm not being run ragged, nor are my PSWs. Incidents are prevented- there hasn't been one fall, one behavioral incident, one skin tear since I've been here. And that's the way it should be.
It's taken some getting used to, to be sure- but this place has grown on me like cheap tequila. The job environment especially, since it's a better version of what I've been doing down south, but with more people and less supplies. Still, I'm looking forwards to wings and my wife when I get back. That, and a nice pub patio, lots of sun, and a bit more hustle and bustle. It might be the nights, it might be the size of the town, or it might be that I've been listing in a city for so long, but I kind of miss that background hum of activity. It gets awful quiet here by night, even with the kids running the streets at all hours.
I am, however, really enjoying my time up here. Learning to slow down after a year and a half of being taught to do nothing but move faster is a real boon, I think. Long term care down south values speed above all else- you have occasionally overlapping two-hour windows to give between thirty and forty people their medications. This, of course, often overlaps with things like wound care, their meals, any appointments or physio they need to do, family visits, etc. So you go as fast a possible, often barely skidding to a stop between medication passes to deal with issues or try to help out your PSWs, before your next pass. Slowing down means someone has their meds fall behind, or is woken up to do wound care to receive critical medication. This is all, of course, before you chart any incidents that may have occured on shift.
Up here, I have the ability to assess my patients properly, make suggestions to the doctor to help their treatment. I'm not being run ragged, nor are my PSWs. Incidents are prevented- there hasn't been one fall, one behavioral incident, one skin tear since I've been here. And that's the way it should be.
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