Friday 18 November 2011

On Friday I was able to see Randy for two hours. He was tired and so we spent most of the time holding hands. The monopoly idea wasn't so great as I couldn't remember how to play monopoly and there were no instructions. I tried to phone Randy's nurse to make sure he was okay, left a message, stayed by the phone all evening, no one returned my call. I didn't phone on the weekend as it would only cause me upset as the scenario would be repeated of staff not talking to me. Although it is in the care plan that I can talk to Randy on the phone the staff does not honour that directive.

However, Friday afternoon presented the occasion that I talk to the union rep for the LPNs (licensed practical nurses). I was told that LPNs earn $25.00 an hour plus benefits making the cost to taxpayers a total of $33.00 an hour. Up to this time I was told that the LPN are the lowest paid nurses on the ward. At $33.00 an hour I would consider them to be more than adequately compensated. I also asked about "continuous training" that the LPNs were exposed to. I was told there was none. They are given $125.00 a year for training but since there are no courses for them they cannot further expand their knowledge even if they wanted to. The union rep felt it was up to VCH to offer these courses. How can you trust nursing staff when they do not even know what is happening in medical advances. Maybe if staff was given "professional development" then they wouldn't have cause to bully. Courses have to be offered so that they feel that they belong to a group beyond their work environment. This would ensure that ethics would be foremost.
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