First Week of Classes

Tuesday 7:30am in the morning. I am required to watch 10 videos on the basics of nursing care. This translates into watching a semi-porn video of how to correctly wash a man and women's perineum (the private parts). As I am watching this I'm secretly hoping that the man on the video gets a hard on because, well, it would make it that much more interesting. All that is really missing is the awful porn music in the background.

All the while I know just my luck that when I am actually performing this procedure I would of course get the guy who actually has the "elevation". What do you say in that circumstance? "Well done, glad its still working!?" I mean truthfully, I know its very natural and I am not trying to be insensitive about the issue, but truth be told, I would be laughing my ass off if it happened. I know that men are probably saying, "I don't want that fucking girl as my nurse!" And I would have to say to them, "Oh yes you do, because I have fun in life."

Friday: Nursing Home

I'm just going to say it, "I hope I die early!" Fuck being stuck in a nursing home and not being able to take care of yourself. The first four hours I was just in shock and overwhelmed with feeling sorry for all of these individuals. These residents used to function fully and now they lay at the hands of someone else to do one of the simplest acts of getting out of bed. Sometimes waiting 2-3 hours before someone to get them out of bed to go wait for someone to feed them. Which is the central highlight, oh and watching TV. It was depressing. Bless the individuals who are able to do this job day in and day out.

Once I got over my initial shock, I was able to look past the physical limitation and see these individuals spirits. Seeing that, for the most part, these residents spirits are still vibrant, its that they are trapped within their own bodies.

A turning point was taking a woman downstairs and just watching the birds with her. She counted the birds over and over for 45 minutes and was content. I was able to just be with her and look at the birds through her eyes for those few moments. Simply being content watching and counting birds, knowing that this simple act was a highlight for her that day.

Two words: Humbling and Depressing