Well, it's that time of year again when the brilliant budget committee tries to think of excuses to cut personnell. We have to fill out tracking sheets to explain what we do with our time. Here is the memo that I composed for Alvin N. Chipmunkk, our administrator and resident services director and Squirellette, his half sister and our nurse manager.
April 4 2007
To: Alvin N. Chipmunkk and Squirellette
From: The Cheesemeister
Dear Mr. Chipmunkk and Squirellette,
Perhaps this is simply for my own peace of mind, but I am concerned with the way this new task sheet makes it look like the night shift consists primarily of down time. As I have worked night shift for a number of years, I felt that I might be qualified to explain the necessity of having a night shift person in the Gerri Atrik Retirement Community residential suites.
Night shift in a setting such as ours is vastly different from day and evening shift in that we rarely deal with tasks such as passing meds or interacting with residents for daily needs such as grooming, dressing and showers. Currently we do assist with a shower on Wednesday and Saturday nights. This takes approximately 20 minutes. We do ironing and laundry and I would not mind more laundry being given to the night shift. We post notices for activities, which normally takes 30 to 45 minutes. We currently do a bathroom assist three times a night for one resident. Sometimes this takes fifteen or more minutes, sometimes we are only there for five minutes if the resident does not wish to get up and go to the bathroom.
In a situation such as exists with this department, the primary duty of night shift personnel is to be alert in case an emergency does occur. Staying alert at night is not natural to most people but some of us are predisposed to it. I feel that such persons serve a vital function with this aberration in our biological clock. Without our presence, there are cases in which residents have fallen and would have remained on the floor until morning. We are able to help residents decide if their symptoms warrant calling the paramedics or if it is something that can wait until they can see their doctor or the nurse the next day. We are able to help if a resident has a toileting accident, a skin tear, and are capable of handling multiple other minor emergencies. I feel that without our presence such events would make life more difficult for those residents who are less able to do things for themselves and would take away their sense of security from knowing that a resident assistant is available 24 hours per day. There are certain residents who would have to hire an agency to provide nighttime care if there were no overnight resident assistant on duty.
When training on the ambulance for my EMT license, some areas were less busy than others, yet it would have been erroneous for The Netherworld Ambulance to decide that those areas did not warrant coverage. There was one night in Hellzapoppin that we received no calls in a twelve hour shift. I liken this department to those less busy areas of the city. The residents may not call as often at night as those in Assisted Living or Health Care do, but they still benefit from having a caregiver on duty at all times.
Perhaps I am being overly concerned about the way the position may be perceived by the budget committee, but I felt that as the person who is currently covering the most night shifts, I would be qualified to share my insights as to the dynamics of the shift and the necessity of having 24 hour care available for our residents.
Please feel free to share my thoughts with the budget committee.
The Cheesemeister
Resident Lunatic