The Continuing Adventures of Just a Waiter - more training

As much as I love my job, I have come to the realization that I need more training and education if I wish to continue in senior services.  I care a lot about my residents.  I won't say that I care more about them than my coworkers, but I'm pretty far up at the top of this chain.  That I know.  But lately, I have not always been able to handle situations with the ease that I would have liked to.  I know that further training and more opportunities for me to learn will help me in this journey.

If you've read any of this series of blog entries, you will know that I work in independent living.  I don't work in assisted living or memory care.  I am always happy to help out in those buildings when I am needed, but the primary focus of my job revolves around independent living.  The problem is that not everyone who lives in IL is capable of living independently.  That's just a fact, not a judgment.

The issue arises within me, not those residents.  I don't always know how to handle situations involving residents who have memory issues or psych issues or physical issues. That's not what I've been trained to do.  And yet many of my interactions with residents involve people who have one or more of those issues.  Most of the time, those interactions are benign and easily dealt with, but not always.

I had a resident come at me with an wooden ax handle several months ago over a cancelled trip to Walmart.  Several people were able to come to my rescue and if it had not been for plexiglass, I could have been seriously injured.  Luckily I was not.  Our Wellness Director, God bless her, was able to talk the resident into a calm state.  He no longer resides there and is getting the care that he needs, which is truly important.  But I didn't really know how to handle the situation.  I've never had to deal with something like that or ever expected to deal with something like that in IL.

So, I am looking at some programs that can give me more tools to make me better equipped for things like this. If I want to continue in senior services, which I do, I think I must increase my knowledge.  Here's hoping!