Wednesday, October 3, 2012

an internship in three parts

Second week at my internship and I'm still loving it.

Since I'm going by bike again, I was able to bike in to the first time (pictured above). They have two bike rooms on the first floor of the building and more bike parking in the basement parking garage as well as several sets of racks out front. The commute was pretty much a straight shot from my house although I don't like biking over the Morrison Bridge that much due to the incline(s).

At my internship, I had three distinctly different contacts with three different clients of my supervisors. One lives in a nursing home and has been diagnosed with "Failure to Thrive." She's 90, unresponsive and only weighs 82lbs. It's jarring to hear the nursing home staff talk about her impending death.

The second person that we saw was a young woman with profound DD that lives in a group home. We were there mostly to check in on the group home and talk to the manager. We looked at the facilities and I realized that I knew one of the other residents there from my real job.

The third person was a client in her 60s who lived independently. She has some mental health issues so we bring her medication to her to take. I guess that will be one of my responsibilities soon which is cool by me.

It really interesting seeing all the variety that this job encompasses. I have to admit that I was out of my element with the nursing home situation but I think I can learn to be okay with it. It'll just take some more time and experience.

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