Switching Up

Along with all the insurance trouble this summer, I also had changes in nurses. A long time night nurse had family trouble and took an indefinite time off to deal with it. She has since moved on to other work. Therefore, a new night person started in June. For ease, let's call this nurse Judy (not her real name).

Living in small town Iowa, nurses sometimes have to travel quite a ways to come and work with me. However, Judy actually lived close by and didn't have to drive very far. My nursing agency had wanted to shift her over to me from another client for a couple years, but it didn't work out until this summer. Judy has been doing very well with all my cares and has a great personality. Unfortunately, like many nurses, she is starting to get near retirement age.

The physical requirements of staying up and working nights have not gone well for Judy, and she has told the agency that she needs to go back to days. That means she'll be no longer working with me. Due to this development, another nurse was sent to train last night and is scheduled to come again tonight.

It's rare to find someone so quickly, so that was a good start. So far, she seems to be learning everything well and I hope that continues tonight. When she trained with Judy last night though, mom said the first question was how to get on days. Hopefully that won't be needed, but we'll see.

Caregivers through the nursing agencies seem to be hit or miss for how long they stay. I've had a few that stayed for several years, but others just a few months or weeks even. Getting used to a new person's mannerisms and how to work with them takes a while. With switching them up frequently, that gets to be a real challenge.

Hopefully this trainee will work and be able to come for several years. As with everything else, time and patience will tell. It's just a regular part of the quad life.