Robert,

Thanks for your encouraging words. I dropped of an application at a care center near my house this morning. I had taken a tour of the place a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately, the Director of Nursing was out of the office so I didn't get to talk to anybody today. However, I went to an assisted living facility today to just pick up an application. I wound up having an interview this afternoon. It went really well. The Executive Director and the Director of Nursing both interviewed me. Then, the were sitting there talking about hiring me as if I weren't in the room! They were saying things like, "Who should we have train her on evening shift?...Which evenings do we need her to work?" It was kind of funny. They said that they are going to call me tomorrow, but if I don't hear from them for some reason then I should call them tomorrow. It sounds like it's in the bag...and I'm honestly not sure how to feel about it!

There are things that I like about this place and things that I don't. The facility itself is beautiful and very well organized. I like that the residents at this place are more physically able to function. At the place where I trained, most of my residents were extensively dependent and in wheelchairs. I had to do a lot of physical transferring. That was really hard on my stiff back and body. So, I think that I will do better physically at this place. Unfortunately, I don't get to wear scrubs...and I have already bought a closet full! Not being able to wear my scrubs means that I will have to go out and buy some new tan pants...their uniform requirement. Hubby is not too happy about that, but I figure that my scrubs will come in handy in the future. My goal is to eventually hire on at a hospital. Another thing I like about this place is that they provide insurance after three months of employment, Premera Blue Cross 70/30 plan. That will really help us out. The flip side is that the hourly wage is less than I expected...$9.50 an hour. Just to compare, the local hospitals around here start out around $12.00 an hour and have full benefits.

One of the things that was said during the interview process, before wage was mentioned, was that they are looking for somebody that is going to stick around for awhile. Maybe I am a little off in my thinking but in general if these types of facilities paid their staff a little bit better they might have less dissatisfied staff and less staff leaving them to work in hospitals...or the local supermarket where you work in a less stressful environment for just about the same amount of money. Considering the amount of money that the residents in assisted living facilities/care centers pay to live there, I think that they deserve to have some pretty consistent caregivers.

See, I think that this is where I have a problem. I am probably far too idealistic. The ideas that I have about how the world should work just don't match up with reality. I think that the reality is more about the owners of these facilities padding their pocketbooks and less about helping people. It is the same way that I feel about large preschools. They fill them up to capacity and function with the least amount of staff possible. That equals poor quality care. Being a person that actually cares about people and children, I DESPISE that.

All I can say at this point is that I have a lot to think about and pray about. I know that I will not feel good about myself if I wind up in a place where I don't feel like quality of care is valued. I just pray that I am wrong in my assumption and that if this is the place where I am supposed to work it will all turn out to be wonderful. I know...I'm a dreamer.