Training A New HCA

I hate getting a new Health Care Aide, a new home care worker. They don't know the routine. They don't know where things go. They don't know what to use or not. They don't know when I might need help or not. They hurt me when they work with my body. They are not aware of the wheelchair clearance so they break things. It takes time to train them in all of these things, time for them to learn what to watch out for, how to handle my body, what to cook.

Today is an excellent example. I have a new HCA, Yemi. She is a lovely person. All I have to do is train her. This morning, while getting me out of bed, she got distracted when I leaned back in my wheelchair. I can't see behind me so I depend on the HCA to tell me when I might be hitting something. I asked if the chair was okay and she said yes. Then I promptly hit the top of my dresser, scratching it even more, breaking a part off of the wheelchair. She did know what she was looking at, so she couldn't tell me what broke on the wheelchair. I could see the damage on the dresser, yet she was unable to distinguish it at first.

Then there was the dishwasher incident. It was nothing serious; it's just that she doesn't yet know where things go, so she has to guess and read labels and figure things out. The dishwasher was not emptied yesterday because she ran out of time. Today the dishwasher was half emptied, but many of the dishes were on the counter while she waited for my help. That meant she ran late today too, so I have no lunch or breakfast. I'm going to make some Kraft Dinner to tide me over.

With all of this, I am tired. My water jug is full but my mug is in the sink. I've got a cup of coffee, after spilling milk on myself. She was anxious to get finished here and move to her next client; she was 15 minutes late getting to me, and will be 15 minutes late getting to her next client, only because I almost shoved her out the door, leaving several small tasks for me to complete. That means I am, and will be, tired today. So, more naps, more small tasks. Things might get done; they might not.

All in all, I think Yemi will learn and do things so much faster as time goes by. She commented today that she had to do things faster, and I told her to focus on the list I have of most important things. I also said it would go faster as she learned more about my care. I hope so. She is from a culture where speed is often not the most important thing. I think she will learn. I hope she will learn. I can't afford to train another HCA. It's exhausting.