Captain's Log #36 - New Job a Keeper


I’ve worked 8 days at the Veteran’s Home in Yountville. There are 7 of us in one good-sized room, each with a largish cubical; quite spacious. One of my ‘walls’ is a large north-east facing window, I have a Peace Plant and a Boston Fern and the 3 stuffed animals my mother made for me on my shelves. My co-workers are super nice and friendly, outspoken, joyous, loving. We have very supportive supervisors who have the attitude of facilitating their subordinates, ‘how can I help you?’ So very different from my last, brief place of employment. I am the person who first meets with the prospective residents to explain the costs and receive financial documents. (I think I’ve been training for this job my whole life.)

The residents are veterans who live in California (although we have a few that have snuck in from other states, all you need is a California Driver’s License) and are over 55. That’s pretty much it. They have a preference for Purple Hearts, Distinguished Service, POWs, those with over 70% service connected disabilities, or are homeless. The minimum qualification is being able to get along with others… They have very little services for mental illness or heavy PTSD. Now you know what I know.

The woman I replaced retired. I’m being trained by shadowing another woman who is very organized and efficient. We went to one meeting with a prospective-resident couple in their 80s. The wife’s coming down with Alzheimer’s and  he wants to be sure she’s taken care of. She’s too old to care for him. She’s on the waiting list to come into the Memory Care Unit then he’ll go into our Licensed Care Unit, unless he’ll need Skilled Nursing by then. They’ve lived together for 70 years, he wants to take care of her, it’s vital. Now, we all know where the story ends but we do the best we can and hope that we connect with compassionate health care professionals. On a side note, I had to visit with three veterans in our hospital. Knocking on someone’s door, gently entering, calmly explaining your purpose and interacting with the resident. Some people are curmudgeons, others, you just want to find an excuse to hang around and chat (I hope to visit that guy again.) At the end of our meeting with the prospective residents, the couple thanked us for being so supportive and helpful, and he called me “young lady.”  Yep, it’s a keeper.

Let me know what’s going on with you.

Many blessings,

Karla, mom & k.j.

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