part of your world

I thought that by becoming a healthcare assistant i would get this amazing insight into how the ward functioned. reality is different. today consisted of a considerable amount of washes in the morning, followed by wiping away diarrhea while trying to mobilise a patient. if it was up to me, i would have taken the patient there using a commode, but the new nurse decided against it. nevertheless, damage control was our objective. this was then followed by a major and elaborate bed movements. i was so tired by the end of my shift. healthcare assistance is not a glorified role, you are on the front line and it requires great resilience to get through shift after shift. of course, this wouldn't be a problem for someone who just wants to hurt their back at work, but for the majority of us, it means always assessing the best course of action to take. its important to work smart, because if you don't you could be wiping away diarrhea all day. 

How can we be right?

so yesterday i was faced with a prominent issue at work, our ward was invaded with post operation patients from the surgical ward. problem is, we've never had training on how to deal with these type of patients (us HCAs). everyone was so different! 2 patients came from EMT (ears, mouth & throat ward), 1 from  plastics, 1 from cardio and the remainder were abdo-pains/ gastroenterology. we had to change the boards 3 times in my shift because of ortho patients no longer were able to stay on the wards because of this influx. so predominantly i was making beds.
to tackle the problem with these new patients i had to keep asking for help because unlike ortho patients, these guys obviously were more in pain, required more nursing needs rather than what is required in the HCA job description.

bed-bound patients & muscle atrophy

it really hurts seeing people bed bound. one popped hip or fracture due to a hospital fall and there you go, a week in bed at least for recovery!
on top of it all, you'll be admitted into a place with so many other terminally ill patients you become to think in a similar way to them. its only when someone educated comes along and gives you a reality slap.
you lose 2% muscle mass for every single day you stay bed-bound without activity. it makes sense that you'll start to get weaker and weaker. even the young would feel these effects, if not a little less than the old.
research suggests that muscle loss or 'atrophy' begins within 4 hours of bed rest!
if you're a healthcare professional please please educate your patients! get them to carry out bed exercises, get them to roll around the bed independently, get your patients to do repeated movements and sit them up really well in their beds/chairs. put some music on, start dancing, change the atmosphere in your ward. these people are here not to die, their recovery needs to be enhanced with motivation. emotional labour only goes so much, get to know your patients and treat them as individuals.
its infuriating being a healthcare assistant, especially dealing with incompetence on the wards.

dark side of the moon

yes i'm talking about butts and the associated pressure sores you get from staying in bed. patients need to realise how much damage bed pans do to their bottoms - honestly! if i ask a patient to get out of bed to sit on a commode - its for their own good - only babies are allowed to poop in their beds because honestly.. if you can get out of bed, why would you choose a bed pan?!
it won't make life any easier for us HCAs we still need to fetch the equipment, we still need to strap on gloves, and we still need to manoeuvre you (the patient) around the bed. so get out if you can, because thats really the only way you'll get better.