So as the course continued people's personalities came to the fore. Some were louder than others and surprisingly aggressive in their approach towards others. I had thought this was the type of career that would attract more tolerant people but I was definitely mistaken!
On the second day we were discussing continence and catheters - obviously that involved talking about personal care and male and female 'bits'. Whilst I expected the odd laugh and a joke - how else can you cope with this sort of thing? - I was shocked at the disgust registered by some of the girls. Didn't they realise it was part of the job description?
I happened to mention that dealing with a male client's genitals wouldn't bother me - I'd be far more squeamish about clearing up after someone had been sick - and was subjected to a torrent of abuse from one of our so called trainee carers! I'm not going to go into detail but safe to say I kept my mouth shut and let it go despite the fact she prattled on for five minutes muttering derogatory comments under her breath.
At the time I was so taken aback by her reaction to a comment that wasn't even directed at her that I hadn't even thought about retaliating. In hindsight I'm very glad I didn't. After all surely that sort of behaviour isn't what this type of industry is looking for?
Surprisingly her outburst was ignored by our training guy and I started to worry that perhaps I had said something out of turn to provoke her. Only later as we filed out to make coffee did I appreciate from everyone else's comments to me that I was far from in the wrong. Good to know anyway.
The next day she did something similar to another girl so I felt satisfied that it hadn't been what I'd said, it was her problem not mine.
My whole point about this was that when it came down to it - whether we liked it or not - we were all heading out into the homes of vulnerable people who were probably as uncomfortable (if not more) as we were about having their bodies manhandled by a total stranger. Whilst some were saying they absolutely couldn't do it, others they'd be sick at the sight of it etc. I couldn't help but think that the poor person in the bed would feel far more uncomfortable if we were to make our feelings known.
A friend of a friend had a colostomy bag fitted only to have a district nurse come in to change it who announced that "This is the worst job in the world - I hate it - I can't stand the smell!" I'm going to hold onto that thought when I go about my business in months to come. I can't imagine how uncomfortable and humiliated that poor woman was made to feel. It's something I'm determined not to do to anyone I visit.
Ray, our trainer, made a good point. He said to treat everyone as you would want your own mum or dad to be cared for. That's another thought I'm going to hang on to.
Basically, put simply, it's just not about me.
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