In the rush...

... to get everything done, I sometimes forget why I like my job.

Last night I was pushing pills. I had a new resident to introduce myself to, which I did, medicated her and went on. Because that's what I do and what I HAVE to do to get everyone their "supper" pills before I have to start passing their "bedtime" pills.

New resident doesn't have any bedtime pills, so I don't go visit her and complete my med pass, finishing up just before nine pm.

When I'm done passing meds, I take a break. Sometimes, like last night, it's the first break I get. (Yeah, yeah, don't talk to me about "two 15 minute breaks and a 30 minute lunch". If that happens for you everyday at your facility, I'm happy for you. I get that once a week for sure, more if I'm lucky. This is not a complaint, just a statement of fact. Frankly, I do better on fewer breaks.) About five minutes in, I get a request for prn medication from the new resident, so I trot down the hall, to fix her and then try to scoot back to break.

She called after me, asking for a snack. I told her what we had, got her order and trotted back with juice and one of every cookie/cracker we had because the "good" cookies that the kitchen bakes were all gone.

While I'm getting ready to leave, she starts giving me her health history for the last six months. So, I listen, still standing. (If I knew her better, I would have sat down, but I don't know how she feels about staff in her room yet.) We chat about physical therapy and about how they will get her back on her feet and I suddenly remember that the reason I like my job is because something as simple as giving a person an ear to bend can make all the difference in their world.

My goal today is to remember this more than one time before 9:30 pm.