Friday, March 5, 2010

Losing Staff

One thing that is very hard on me is losing staff. Whether it be to a hospital, another client or a pregnancy, it's always difficult for me to have someone leave. Most of the time the nurse and I have a relationship where we understand each other and have bonded. I know that as nurses, they aren't supposed to be "friends" with their clients but its hard to work so close to someone (full-time is 36 hours a week) and not form any sort of bond/friendship/relationship. I'm sure others with caregivers can relate to my situation.

After someone leaves, the main goal for me is to get someone to replace them. Usually they give a two-week notice. Sometimes it takes a while to find someone and sometimes it happens very quickly. It just depends. In the case going on now, one of my nurses who has been here for almost a year worked her last day on Wednesday and is going to be working at Children's Hospital. I'm very happy for her. I've already interviewed and met five nurses, three of which are going to work to fill the shifts. While it is hard on me to lose staff, it's also hard on the nurses as well to leave.

Jenni

2 comments:

Elizabeth-Plain and Simple said...

I know exactly what you mean. My nephew has had 3 different caregivers in the past year. It seems that as soon as we get one trained, they will leave and we have to start again. Yet, we are getting to meet new people and like you said you can't help but form a bond with them. We only have one for 16 hours a week (usually 4 hours a day, 4 days a week). Most of the time they leave because they have found better employment making more money and we can't blame them for that but it is hard on Skylar as well as us to start over with someone new. It is so helpful when they are familiar with you and the way you want things done. I pray that everything goes well with your 3 new nurses. Have a wonderful weekend.

Elizabeth

Matthew Smith said...

Hi Jenni,

I thought I'd let you know, a lady called Nancy Hall, who is a quad (C3 inc, no vent) from somewhere in NY state who paints with her mouth, did a video demonstrating how she paints. It's a bit dark but it shows it pretty well. You can see it here.