Reena’s Xploration Challenge Rules
PROMPT #333It’s a picture and a word for this week. Maybe you see a connection between the two. Maybe you don’t. Let one or both take you on your creative sojourn.
VULNERABILITY
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Where I live challenges my boundaries of vulnerability. They constantly attack my sense of right and wrong. Rules are made but not followed and there is no culpability for misdeeds or not following the rules that have been set in place.
I constantly wonder why we even have rules. The staff can come in whenever they feel like it, and there is no reprimand or punishment. Rarely do they fire someone for not coming in to do the job they signed up for. We are seniors with disabilities, and we need help. That is why they call it assisted living. If I had missed days every week, especially the weekends, at my job, I would have been fired, but here, you can be late or not show up at all, and there are no repercussions. We are constantly short-handed and don’t get the help we need. Even our medications tend to be late or not given at all, and the nurses give us the wrong medication all the time. Now, I can’t say every nurse is this way. We do have some nurses who actually care about the residents, but more often than not, they are here simply for a paycheck. Instead of working, they are on their phones or sleeping. I am lucky if I get one shower per week, and the normal schedule is only two showers per week. The one on the weekend is almost never given since that is when most people call out. The aides (certified nursing assistants) are the ones who give us the showers.
Weekends around here are like a ghost town. I really feel sorry for the residents who are confined to a wheelchair and can’t get around on their own. They end up missing meals because of that. We have complained to the state about the mistreatment, but even they have failed us. People tell us to just move. Well, unfortunately, every assisted living facility is the same, if not worse. There isn’t anywhere else for us. I try not to complain too much because that can make a bad situation even worse.
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Tessa –
Advocate for mental health and invisible illnesses
New Author’s Website – http://www.tessadeanauthor.com
Author – Old Writing – http://www.finallyawriter.wordpress.com
About my life – http://www.tessacandoit.wordpress.com
Tessa Dean - Author 