well, for those of you who don't know, I am a receptionist/hr assistant at a place called Home Instead Senior Care. no, it's not a nursing home, we provide caregivers or cna's to go to homes of seniors so they don't have to go to the nursing homes etc. it's really neat and i enjoy being the receptionist and helping with hiring and all. in fact, i did my first drug screen (urine test) on someone today. and as the picture shows, i am constantly on the phone. i am comfortable with that. but, what always gets me, is the times where i have to be "back up." they tried to prepare me for this when i was hired. every 7 weeks or so i have to be back up for that whole week, which means if they call me at one in the morning i jump up and head to the clients house where i will change from being a receptionist to a caregiver. i can handle simple companionship caregiving, however, i was faced with the possibility of having to change one heavy man's diaper. yikes! thankfully my relief arrived just at that moment. the next day at work someone showed me how to change an adult diaper using a bottle. but at least it helps me picture the procedure better. so anyway, my next week of back up isn't till march, however, today i had to go to a shift. Don't ask! and it was supposedly 7 miles away. i drove around for over an hour and couldn't find it, i was so stressed out. you know, i'm knew to louisville and no one told me there were two roads with the exact same name. so anyway, today was a bit stressful. but i really think it's neat what my company does. it's actually a franchise. and the owners are great people. there are probably 500 of these companies around the states and a few in other countries. you should check it out. just google Home Instead Senior Care. if you're looking to be caregiver (maybe it's more your calling) they seem to be always hiring. i'm sure i'll have more stories for you later. maybe i can tell about the lady i cared for at a hospital.
Thursday, January 31, 2008
answering phones and changing diapers
well, for those of you who don't know, I am a receptionist/hr assistant at a place called Home Instead Senior Care. no, it's not a nursing home, we provide caregivers or cna's to go to homes of seniors so they don't have to go to the nursing homes etc. it's really neat and i enjoy being the receptionist and helping with hiring and all. in fact, i did my first drug screen (urine test) on someone today. and as the picture shows, i am constantly on the phone. i am comfortable with that. but, what always gets me, is the times where i have to be "back up." they tried to prepare me for this when i was hired. every 7 weeks or so i have to be back up for that whole week, which means if they call me at one in the morning i jump up and head to the clients house where i will change from being a receptionist to a caregiver. i can handle simple companionship caregiving, however, i was faced with the possibility of having to change one heavy man's diaper. yikes! thankfully my relief arrived just at that moment. the next day at work someone showed me how to change an adult diaper using a bottle. but at least it helps me picture the procedure better. so anyway, my next week of back up isn't till march, however, today i had to go to a shift. Don't ask! and it was supposedly 7 miles away. i drove around for over an hour and couldn't find it, i was so stressed out. you know, i'm knew to louisville and no one told me there were two roads with the exact same name. so anyway, today was a bit stressful. but i really think it's neat what my company does. it's actually a franchise. and the owners are great people. there are probably 500 of these companies around the states and a few in other countries. you should check it out. just google Home Instead Senior Care. if you're looking to be caregiver (maybe it's more your calling) they seem to be always hiring. i'm sure i'll have more stories for you later. maybe i can tell about the lady i cared for at a hospital.
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4 comments:
I bet you are awesome at that job, April! Your mom told me a little about what you were doing...sounds pretty adventurous at times!! ;)
Hi, April. How's it going? I used to work at a CIL (Center for Independent Living) as a receptionist before we had kids. I only worked in the office, but we hired nurses, homemakers, PCA's, etc. along with running other programs such as transitional living, home modifications, etc. It was really interesting, and I liked the exposure it gave me to people with disabilities. My friend who trained me in was confined to a wheel chair due to an accident she had in H.S. She is now expecting her second daughter, which I think is really cool.
april, you are amazing. i am so proud of you... if you can change a diaper like that... you can do anything.
love you!
janelle
I am very anxious to have this baby. Every day seems like 100. It's good when I have things to keep me occupied. I was thinking of making some early Valentine treats tonight. We'll have to see if I have the energy or not.
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