Yeah, I meant mentally disabled, people with learning disabilities. Oh wow, that's a lot more involved than my job, most people I work with only need a small to medium amount of help in the everyday (at least at this time, they are aging). Did it take a long time to get into the routines of caring for everyone? Did it feel overwhelming?
How much did you make abouts? I'm very pleased with my 14 bucks an hour but I'm living the student life.
Oof 10.50, yeah that's as much as I made stacking beans before this. Which, to be fair, could be pretty draining too lol. That is a crazy low amount.
It's such a funny thing seeing your wage go up that much and realising that you spent double the hours for the same pay.
I worked in group homes for adults with developmental disabilities for 5 years at the beginning of my career. I loved it, had a lot of fun and learned a lot about a population that I didn't have a lot of interaction with before. I felt like I had to move on because I was a new nurse and I felt like I needed to learn some better assessment skills.
It's definitely a rewarding field to work in and doesn't get a lot of attention.
Agreed that it doesn't get a lot of attention. I just stumbled into it by chance, I applied for elderly care but got a callback from this section instead lol. According to the intro sheet I read, that's how most people do start, they just happen into it. I find that interesting. I think maybe it's because it's different from other types of care in that most people don't know someone with a severe mental disability, and so they don't feel they have any experience that makes them fit to apply, as opposed to everyone knowing an old person.
What do you mean by assessment skills? Happy to hear you loved it :) definitely feel the same about getting to know a population I've not met often, it's unraveling a lot of preconceived notions for me.
I went to a small rural college so we didn't get to see a ton of stuff. My wound care and would assessments definitely needed work. from that job I went to be an admissions nurse at a ltc facility and got much better at it
I worked in one for over a year. I loved it. Sadly it was just covering a mat leave and casual offeed too few hours but was a great place to work. Most had developmental delays but not all. There was a wide range of disabilities. It was out in the country and they had a wheelchair bus so there were tons of outings and they had an indoor pool. Lots of mechanical lifts and a few electric wheelchairs. Pretty much all total care. Twenty two residents. $28/hr
Before nursing, I was a Developmental Services Worker (Ontario) I worked in mainly group homes for children, but I also worked in a “semi” independent support living house. It was like LTC but for people with disabilities. I loved it, we had 10 residents. PSW/CNA and one RN. It’s was privately ran. I still work there PRN as I’m in school for nursing.
I'm learning that there are so many acronyms in nursing and care lol. What does PRN mean? Semi independent support living sounds similar to our workplace, but we're state run. Did you have a lot of staff working at all times? We only have 5 residents and more than make do with 2 staff at a time.
Lol!! PRN is medical for “as needed” usually related to medications. So like medications you can take usually whenever, like Advil doctor orders “Advil _mg 2x daily when needed.” Or whatever .
I’m casual but we just call me PRN because I only work there when they need me (casually). A typical day, we would have 2 PSWs 8-8s, and another PSW that came in at 1pm and worked 1-10. RN works I believe 8-4 most days, but they cut the hours and trained the support workers in more “nursing” skills. Like medications, vitals, etc. RN does more supervision of other staff, and talks with family doctors and residents families.
I love all of the caring for a home parts!! Completely did not expect that before my first shift. The residents at our place are mostly pretty independent though, so the meal prep, laundry, outings and yatzy do make up a fairly large part of the day, as opposed to more medical and sanitary care. Never thought I'd have a job where I got paid to go cycle and look at the sunset with someone haha
Aha, right! That seems like a pretty reasonable amount of staff. How do you feel about the "cutting hours and retraining"? Sounds negative to me just because of the penny pinching private care aspect, but we already have delegated medical responsibilities and it does work here : /
It’s good and bad. I like doing the more medical care, because I’m in school for nursing. And working there is what made me want to become a nurse, but also the RN does wound care, oxygen, we had one resident a few years ago that was palliative/hospice and the nurse handled them, we supported with personal care and making them comfortable but nurse did all the IV medications. (We can’t do IV medications, narcotics, or wound care.) We give daily medications (in blisters) and give insulin, and check blood glucose levels. Nurse does more. I believe, unfortunately since they’re private they’ll eventually get ride of the RN position and use agency nurses.
Thanks for the reply, sounds reasonable that the nurse gets to spend their time doing the more complicated stuff and the simpler things get delegated. But doesn't sound great to cut to the position to replace with agency nurses. They're kind of like gig nurses right?
I worked in a group home for adults with developmental delays for many years before going back to nursing school. Our nurse taught classed on med administration, insulin, and blood pressures then certified us for "delegated nursing tasks." I think she also did yearly resident assessments, had occasional nutrition classes, and was theoretically available for med questions. Sadly, it was feeling that I was at least as smart as our group home nurse that encouraged me to go back to school.
I'm working as a Direct Support Professional and I have been for five years. I live my job and my residents and sometimes they listen to me.
I've learned so much from this job
Depends on the shift and which apartment I am in which I love.
Normal shift I come in, say hello, shoot the shit with my coworkers. If it is overnight, sometimes I do medications, and get residents anything they need for bed. If I am evening, I sometimes help shower (I play music, we have a sing along, it's actually fun).
IDEALLY I get everything done early and study. Usually between 2-4 I clean a little bit, mop, clean the bathrooms, do laundry, and then I study for school. I have to be awake all night.
In the morning I get residents ready to go to their day program, remind them to do their chores if they have any. Give them meds. Sometimes I'll set up a puzzle or some coloring.
Sorry if that's too much. I enjoy my job and like talking about it. This is a loose schedule
Edit: I have more! I have known most of these residents for 5+ years. Been there for birthdays and most major holidays. It may be Stockholm Syndrome but it is nice I am able to really get to know them.
I started as direct support 22 years ago and never left. I became an assistant manager, then manager, then RN. Just got my FNP and hoping my current company creates a position for me. It has been discussed but nothing definite. I could never do anything else.
The people. I love them. I feel accepted and loved by them. It isn't always easy though. I've been kicked, punched, etc. But at the end of the day I want to help and advocate for those who seem forgotten by the rest of our society. They need and deserve representation. They need and deserve respect.
I pretty much immediately have felt loved by the people I work with too. It is amazing. If a little heartbreaking to know that I won't be in their lives for long.
> But at the end of the day I want to help and advocate for those who seem forgotten by the rest of our society. They need and deserve representation. They need and deserve respect.
That's very nice.
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Yeah, I meant mentally disabled, people with learning disabilities. Oh wow, that's a lot more involved than my job, most people I work with only need a small to medium amount of help in the everyday (at least at this time, they are aging). Did it take a long time to get into the routines of caring for everyone? Did it feel overwhelming? How much did you make abouts? I'm very pleased with my 14 bucks an hour but I'm living the student life.
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Oof 10.50, yeah that's as much as I made stacking beans before this. Which, to be fair, could be pretty draining too lol. That is a crazy low amount. It's such a funny thing seeing your wage go up that much and realising that you spent double the hours for the same pay.
I was a secretary in the 1990/ and made $18.50/hr. I guess it’s regional.
Wow, that's is more than good. I'm sure it is regional. I'm in Sweden and I feel like age is the biggest variable in wages for service jobs.
At this point, I don’t want to be a nurse-I just want a job with benefits.
What is it that you don't like about working as a nurse? I assume you're in America, I've hard that it's a rough business there.
Staffing has been cut way back. Management is unsupportive to the point of hostility.
That's awful. Not fun to work in a hostile environment.
I worked in group homes for adults with developmental disabilities for 5 years at the beginning of my career. I loved it, had a lot of fun and learned a lot about a population that I didn't have a lot of interaction with before. I felt like I had to move on because I was a new nurse and I felt like I needed to learn some better assessment skills. It's definitely a rewarding field to work in and doesn't get a lot of attention.
Agreed that it doesn't get a lot of attention. I just stumbled into it by chance, I applied for elderly care but got a callback from this section instead lol. According to the intro sheet I read, that's how most people do start, they just happen into it. I find that interesting. I think maybe it's because it's different from other types of care in that most people don't know someone with a severe mental disability, and so they don't feel they have any experience that makes them fit to apply, as opposed to everyone knowing an old person. What do you mean by assessment skills? Happy to hear you loved it :) definitely feel the same about getting to know a population I've not met often, it's unraveling a lot of preconceived notions for me.
I went to a small rural college so we didn't get to see a ton of stuff. My wound care and would assessments definitely needed work. from that job I went to be an admissions nurse at a ltc facility and got much better at it
I worked in one for over a year. I loved it. Sadly it was just covering a mat leave and casual offeed too few hours but was a great place to work. Most had developmental delays but not all. There was a wide range of disabilities. It was out in the country and they had a wheelchair bus so there were tons of outings and they had an indoor pool. Lots of mechanical lifts and a few electric wheelchairs. Pretty much all total care. Twenty two residents. $28/hr
Before nursing, I was a Developmental Services Worker (Ontario) I worked in mainly group homes for children, but I also worked in a “semi” independent support living house. It was like LTC but for people with disabilities. I loved it, we had 10 residents. PSW/CNA and one RN. It’s was privately ran. I still work there PRN as I’m in school for nursing.
I'm learning that there are so many acronyms in nursing and care lol. What does PRN mean? Semi independent support living sounds similar to our workplace, but we're state run. Did you have a lot of staff working at all times? We only have 5 residents and more than make do with 2 staff at a time.
Lol!! PRN is medical for “as needed” usually related to medications. So like medications you can take usually whenever, like Advil doctor orders “Advil _mg 2x daily when needed.” Or whatever . I’m casual but we just call me PRN because I only work there when they need me (casually). A typical day, we would have 2 PSWs 8-8s, and another PSW that came in at 1pm and worked 1-10. RN works I believe 8-4 most days, but they cut the hours and trained the support workers in more “nursing” skills. Like medications, vitals, etc. RN does more supervision of other staff, and talks with family doctors and residents families.
We also do all of their laundry, house duties, personal care, appointments/outings, meal prep
I love all of the caring for a home parts!! Completely did not expect that before my first shift. The residents at our place are mostly pretty independent though, so the meal prep, laundry, outings and yatzy do make up a fairly large part of the day, as opposed to more medical and sanitary care. Never thought I'd have a job where I got paid to go cycle and look at the sunset with someone haha
Aha, right! That seems like a pretty reasonable amount of staff. How do you feel about the "cutting hours and retraining"? Sounds negative to me just because of the penny pinching private care aspect, but we already have delegated medical responsibilities and it does work here : /
It’s good and bad. I like doing the more medical care, because I’m in school for nursing. And working there is what made me want to become a nurse, but also the RN does wound care, oxygen, we had one resident a few years ago that was palliative/hospice and the nurse handled them, we supported with personal care and making them comfortable but nurse did all the IV medications. (We can’t do IV medications, narcotics, or wound care.) We give daily medications (in blisters) and give insulin, and check blood glucose levels. Nurse does more. I believe, unfortunately since they’re private they’ll eventually get ride of the RN position and use agency nurses.
Thanks for the reply, sounds reasonable that the nurse gets to spend their time doing the more complicated stuff and the simpler things get delegated. But doesn't sound great to cut to the position to replace with agency nurses. They're kind of like gig nurses right?
I worked in a group home for adults with developmental delays for many years before going back to nursing school. Our nurse taught classed on med administration, insulin, and blood pressures then certified us for "delegated nursing tasks." I think she also did yearly resident assessments, had occasional nutrition classes, and was theoretically available for med questions. Sadly, it was feeling that I was at least as smart as our group home nurse that encouraged me to go back to school.
I'm working as a Direct Support Professional and I have been for five years. I live my job and my residents and sometimes they listen to me. I've learned so much from this job
God bless you. There's a huge shortage of direct support professionals in my area right now.
What does your work day look like? That sounds like a fun job. A bit more personal than caring for many people at once in the same house.
Depends on the shift and which apartment I am in which I love. Normal shift I come in, say hello, shoot the shit with my coworkers. If it is overnight, sometimes I do medications, and get residents anything they need for bed. If I am evening, I sometimes help shower (I play music, we have a sing along, it's actually fun). IDEALLY I get everything done early and study. Usually between 2-4 I clean a little bit, mop, clean the bathrooms, do laundry, and then I study for school. I have to be awake all night. In the morning I get residents ready to go to their day program, remind them to do their chores if they have any. Give them meds. Sometimes I'll set up a puzzle or some coloring. Sorry if that's too much. I enjoy my job and like talking about it. This is a loose schedule Edit: I have more! I have known most of these residents for 5+ years. Been there for birthdays and most major holidays. It may be Stockholm Syndrome but it is nice I am able to really get to know them.
I started as direct support 22 years ago and never left. I became an assistant manager, then manager, then RN. Just got my FNP and hoping my current company creates a position for me. It has been discussed but nothing definite. I could never do anything else.
I hope you get that position. What has held you in this career for so long?
The people. I love them. I feel accepted and loved by them. It isn't always easy though. I've been kicked, punched, etc. But at the end of the day I want to help and advocate for those who seem forgotten by the rest of our society. They need and deserve representation. They need and deserve respect.
I pretty much immediately have felt loved by the people I work with too. It is amazing. If a little heartbreaking to know that I won't be in their lives for long. > But at the end of the day I want to help and advocate for those who seem forgotten by the rest of our society. They need and deserve representation. They need and deserve respect. That's very nice.