Can't we all just get along?

Seriously.

Our first responsibility is always to take care of the residents. But our second responsibility should be to take care of each other. Most of us are not working in a vacuum. We rely on our coworkers to show up and work alongside us so our residents are as comfortable as they can be. There's no benefit in deliberately doing things that make the job harder for the next shift. Hell, on any given day, there are things that we want to do that don't get done to make the next shift easier. Going out of our way to make the next shift harder is stupid and harmful to the residents.

What a dumb thing to be blogging about. This sounds like the kind of crap that goes on in high school. Yet, it's not. In fact, the people involved are all over 30 years old. If that doesn't frighten you, it should. It frightens me to realize that we never mature mentally beyond age 15.

My goal is always to leave work with everything and everyone in the same or better condition than when I came on shift. I don't want the folks on the next shift to groan when they come in and see me. I want them to know that they can rely on me to do my best. And when I don't make my goal, I apologize. I also sometimes offer to help them set things to rights so that they won't be completely miserable and overwhelmed.

If we take care of each other, the residents will also be better taken care of and that can do nothing but good for us as a Nursing Center.