Aides and Techs

Aides and techs usually get the ass end of everything, from the patient themselves to the way they are treated by some doctors and nurses. But without these VERY NECESSARY people, those with the more respected licensure would be having to take care of all the ass end stuff themselves, so it's time to show more respect to the "foot soldiers" of the medical world.

This is a comment I made on a friend's blog regarding my maternal grandmother.

My grandmother had an 8th grade education because she had to go to work early on. She always thought that she was stupid. She wasn't. She worked as an orderly in a mental hospital until she was forced to retire at age 65, and she actually liked working with the patients. She knew more about them than the psychiatrists did. It's sad how society de-values people in essential positions like this.

My grandmother, unfortunately, had a very low self-esteem. Being born a girl in a very large farm family, she learned early on that boys were thought to be more valuable. All of her life she worked very hard. She took some physical abuse from her frustrated mother, who probably had psychological problems. There is a history of psych issues in that family. My grandmother suffered from periods of depression throughout her life and after she was forced to retire, she suffered from alcoholism.

Unfortunately, my grandmother's low self-esteem kept her from making decisions that might have helped her at least feel a bit better about herself. At one point the state of New York was allowing medical aides to take a test to be able to get their LPN license without having to go through training. My grandmother thought that she was "too stupid," so she never took the test. I'm quite certain that with her experience, she could have passed.

Many people who work as aides seem to come from difficult circumstances and to feel that they are a lesser kind of person, not just as far as their rank at work but as far as their rank in life. Costs for schooling are often prohibitive even with financial aid, and many aides are single mothers and finding the time to go to school is nearly if not completely impossible. It's a shame.

Working as an aide is very difficult. It's little wonder that so many become burnt out and frustrated.

I always hate it when people tell me I'm a "special person" for doing this work. Hell, I'm just buying my time looking for an out. I'm not special at all. The ones who are special are the ones who really like doing it and who are really committed to it in spite of the shit pay and the shit treatment they receive. Now those are the folks that deserve our total respect and admiration. Not some silly twat gallavanting around from party to party, forgetting her thong somewhere along the way. *cough*ParisHilton*cough* Nor some overpaid, ill-tempered sports figure or spoiled Hollywood star. No, the folks that deserve the "star treatment" are those who are overlooked at every turn--the people who care for the elderly and infirm, and who are truly devoted to their profession. They are truly a rare breed and the world is better for their having been here.

The people whom my grandmother cared for would say a million thanks if they could, I'm sure. I bet that there were a lot of sad folks at the state hospital the day that she retired. Because she really was an advocate for them. And people in that position have so few in their lives who really care. For some of them, my grandmother may have been the first and only one who did.