four of the animals have not gotten the very best of care from us lately. if i look at why this is..there are a couple of issues that we can fix.
first of all..i have got to stop working so many extra shifts. i need to be around here more so i am more in touch with what is going on every day. then i have to look at how we do things...we have to be prepared to immediately increase the care we give as the animals start to change. we can't just keep doing whatever we have been doing if an animal is sliding and needs us to provide more. we also have to improve our communication so everyone knows exactly what is going on in all of the areas. that way we can help each other as needed, have the info that we can easily share and pass on and effectively step in if someone should call in sick or needs a day off. and finally we all need to improve the use of our own eyes and ears and noses and gut feelings...even if we are in someone elses area. sometimes fresh eyes can see what we who are there every day might miss...like subtle changes... someone seems to be losing weight...looks weaker or frailer or suddenly older or unusual in some way.
i am thinking of keeping one of my days off each week as an 'i will not work any extra shifts today' and devote that day to an hour long staff meeting for everyone to report on the animals in their care (and volunteers who are available on those days are most welcome to come and share their perspectives on the animals they care for on the weekends too!). i can be here to help folks pick up the slack because of the hour they lose out of their work day. this won't work as well when i have weekends off but it will work when i do have week days off.
allie and i bathed incontinent ollie and maybelle on my lunch break today..they were gross. so i am adding them to the weekly full body bath/blow dry list so they do not get like this again. AND i should have done this sooner. until this week, i did not realize how gross they were or that their incontinence had gotten so bad that wiping them down with a wet cloth and hibitane daily was not near good enough to keep them reasonably clean. anyway i did get my heads up this week.. four times too many... that we needed to re-adjust some of the care plans and up the level of some of their care.
i am glad i am off now so i can really concentrate on where and how we can be doing things better around here. our job is to continue to get better at how we provide care as the animals continue to age and need more help and support. we have no excuses NOT to learn, step up and try to grow...that is required if we are going to be responsible for the wellbeing and health and happiness of the animals entrusted into our care.
time to pull up my socks cuz this week the buck has stopped here.