humanity
The real lives of businessmen, professionals, the everyday man, stay at home parent, healthy lifestyle influencers, and general feel good human stories.
NURSING THROUGH A PANDEMIC
We lost half of our census at the assisted living facility where I was working during the first wave of the pandemic back in March of 2020. Many deaths and many people no longer suitable for assisted living and sent to a skilled nursing facility. I blame the company who owns our facility for the loss of so many of our residents. I blame the hospitals for sending our residents back to our facility with a diagnosis of urinary tract infections when they were infected with COVID. Now, since our census is low, the administrator, also the marketer, is out recruiting new residents and not really caring if they are appropriate for assisted living, as long as there is a body in the bed. The acuity is high, and the facility is staffed for assisted living. The majority of the residents belong in a skilled nursing facility. The staff are doing the work of 3 people at times. Morality is low and, at this point, no one cares, and the residents are being neglected. They are being left soiled with urine and feces for hours at a time. Their call bells are being ignored. Medications aren’t being reordered on time, so they go, sometimes days without necessary medications. There is no chain of command regarding management of nursing staff. Everyone just comes to work for a paycheck. Going through the motions of a work day, not really caring if they’re late to work, calling out frequently, defiantly declaring what they’re NOT going to do even if it’s part of their work assignment, talking on their phones while passing out medications or giving care, sleeping on the job, and just being insubordinate, confrontational, and being complete and utter, for lack of a better word, assholes. Administration is useless. You can report how badly the residents are being neglected, or how poorly someone is doing their job, but it falls on deaf ears. I don’t know if it’s the staff’s intimidating and confrontational attitudes about almost EVERYTHING that has the administrator afraid to say anything to them or she just doesn’t care about anything but making a buck by filling beds and saving a buck by cutting back staff. All I know is that people’s loved ones are being promised services that we simply cannot provide. The staff just doesn’t care. I’m doing everything that I’ve learned over the 35 years I’ve been working in nursing but to no avail. I always get arguments and confrontation from uneducated, ignorant people. I have the personality type which, even though I know I’m right, I can be almost bullied into doubting everything I do or say. Doubting my own intelligence. It’s so frustrating that people are so ignorant they don’t even see that I’m intelligent and know my job. They question me, undermine me, and plain old ignore me. Justifiably, though, since administration NEVER backs me up with anything. A resident died because everyone ignored my concerns. Her death was attributed to “old age” but she was completely healthy the day before, as healthy as she could be, but nowhere near death. She choked on food in her sleep after I reported repeatedly that I was finding her asleep with food in her mouth frequently and was afraid she would choke. In addition to finding her dead with food in her mouth, she was ice cold and in rigor mortis, so, even though she was on every 2 hour checks for safety, she had been dead for quite some time. The nursing assistant assigned to check on her obviously didn’t really check on her all night. She was face down in the bed, face was blue from livor mortis. Her tongue was hanging out, lips deep purple, almost black, and nose, pushed to the side in a grotesque manner. She resembled a peat bog mummy I saw on television once. I was horrified. It really stayed with me for weeks. I was told by the director of nursing not to tell anyone how I found her. I knew it was from these lazy, neglectful staff members. I knew it was from being ignored when I expressed a concern just two days before her death about her mouth being filled with food from the 3-11 shift. I wrote it on the 24 hour report for everyone to read and to check that she didn’t fall asleep with food in her mouth. Completely ignored by everyone. So now, there’s a dead resident on my watch. I was devastated. I really liked that resident. She lived in my hometown and we knew the same people. Even distantly connected by marriage. Not one blessed soul at that facility was held accountable. It was swept under the rug, and forgotten.
By Elizabeth Arnold4 years ago in Journal
Top Stories From VSS Members October 2021
Top stories are quite a milestone. The spots are rare, the chances slim and the moment of glory a defining moment in every creators' journey. Haven't got one yet? Don't stress! Until you do, you can always submit your work for peer-review to the Vocal Social Society for the chance at earning a nod from your fellow creators with a Fab 5 award.
By The Vocal Creators Chronicle4 years ago in Journal
Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner-First person to make sanitary pads
Mary Beatrice Davidson Kenner (17 May 1912 - 13- January 2006) was an African-American inventor known for promoting the artificial sanitary belt, but due to racism, her patent for this invention was withheld for more than three decades. . Kenner was born on May 17, 1912, in Monroe, North Carolina to a family of black founders. He and his sisters Mildred Davidson and Austin Smith were born in Charlotte, South Carolina, four years before their young founder who sold board games, and Sidney's son Nathaniel Davidson, who approved several products during his lifetime including stretchers and mobile ambulances.
By Shreya Poudel4 years ago in Journal
Fab 5 Winners October 29, 2021
Welcome Vocal Fam! We are no longer doing solo posts to announce the winners in the hopes of streamlining your online experience. However, we still want our winners to know why they won and to uplift the collective by letting everyone read the peer reviews! Thank you to all the dedicated moderators who help read the entries every week; we couldn't do it without you. - Les
By The Vocal Creators Chronicle4 years ago in Journal
An Exciting and Learning Experience Part One
When I went to Long Island University Brooklyn Center in Downtown Brooklyn, New York it was the late 1970s. To be able to get my diploma I also took the two summer semesters. Downtown Brooklyn was the shopping district and also had big department stores like Abraham & Strauss.However, to get a part time job between my morning and late afternoon classes it was very difficult to match the hours. So I decided that since heading home on the subway was not an option and I had quite a few hours to spare I headed for The Brooklyn Hospital and signed up as a vounteer. Even though I was a business major I loved babies and children so I decided to volunteer at the Maternity Ward, the Delivery Room to be exact. I discovered that this was time very well spent and I enjoyed it a lot. Here is my story.
By Rasma Raisters4 years ago in Journal
A Community For All—'Hiraeth'
Hello everyone, Les here. A lot has been said lately about what it would mean to have a Men's Community on Vocal. Most notably, one of the Vocal Social Society's admins, Rachel Jordan (Rachel MJ), took on the concept with an academic stance. When she isn't writing award winning poetry for Vocal, working diligently to uplift her fellow creators in VSS or contributing as a regular columnist on the Vocal Creators Chronicle, Rachel is a post-graduate psychology student. She has a masters in Forensic Mental Health and was truly the best person to put together the case for a 'safe space for men'. She wrote eloquently about the topic and expertly sourced her rationale. As you can see below, she doesn't shy away from the tougher points involved in discussing such an idea, either. For example,
By The Vocal Creators Chronicle4 years ago in Journal
