Today at volunteering, it was the first day i was asked to wheel a patient down to the community center the hospital has on the first floor. Its a room where all the fun activities that offer to patients are held at. I was able to have the opportunity to wheel down a few patients which was harder than i expected. You really have to have a lot of strenght and i don't know how the nurses do it every day. You have to push the patient gently but at a fast past and turning is also very difficult because some of the wheel chairs don't have leg rest for the patients so they can semi walk their way around the place. I also had to ask them to release the brakes because i was not suppose to touch it because some of the patients could feel like they had their privicy invaded.

Today i reviewed all the codes and procedures. I had to remember that Yellow ribbon meant the patient had diabetes and wasn't allowed to have sugar. I especially had to look out for patients who had a purple ribbon. That meant to approach with caution because they are probably know to take a swing at someone or are aggressive, not that any of the patients aren't nice or anything. Its just that some patients cant control themselves because keep in mind this is the phych ward. I work with people with memory lost and etc. They are a lot of fun don't get me wrong, and i think they are growing on to me.

Today i met some more patients. I Met Shirley who i now am expected to visit one on one as well. Again meeting new people who i know nothing about is still a hard thing for me to do because i am a very shy person. But she too was very easy to talk to. She told me stories of her granddaughter and other stories of her life. She is one of the sweetest ladies you will ever meet but you also don't want to experience the nasty side of her. I help pass out dinner which are already prepared on trays so all i had to do is figure out which tray belonged to who. Most patients eat in there room but the ones out in the dining room/ activity room which was about 15 people or so, had to receive there food. This gave me an opportunity to meet some more patients.

Today i visited Robert. Robert is his first name but he told me to call him Mr. Roberts. He is a really funny guy. I learned he used to be a motorcycle racer and loved Harley Davidson's. It took me a while but i was able to break the ice and he turned out to be someone easy to talk to. After a while it seem like he was a friend i had know for months. I heard some stories today that he told about his past and how he grew up. He would often blank out and i had to remind him what we were talking about. I think you have to have a lot of patience to work here because all of the conversations were slow and a simple story could take a half an hour but it was really worth the wait because i learned so much intresting stuff from him.

Today i Met my first patient who i was expected to have one on one time with. I was suppose to introduce myself and make friends with this stranger. His name was Robert. It was a challenge for me because i didn't have any knowledge of his background and he also knew nothing about me as well. So it was a challenge to figure out what to say and make sure i don't offend him. I had to keep in mind he is much older than me and the language i use everyday might not work with him. So i had to adjust myself to fit his environment.

Today was my first day at volunteering. I was nervous at first because it was a new environment and i didn't know what to expect. I didn't even know where to go our where my mentor was but eventually a nurse helped me find my way. I then was taken on yet another tour of just my ward. Its also called a community or unit. Its a small section with the same kind of people with the same kind of problems. Most of which were not allowed to leave the area or their alarm would ring. So this made me feel a little better coming to visit them because they don't have much people come down to visit them.

Senior Project
Today i had another appointment with my Director Jan. He helped me pick out where i want to volunteer at and told me about what i am expected to do. I then had to get my picture taken and received a badge that would allow me access into the building. After that i was given another tour inside the new building where i would be working and met one of my mentors. He was funny and made joke about if i was sure i wanted to work there because i had chosen to work at the pychoanalysis ward. It made me rethink twice if i was sure i was up for the challenge

Senior Project
Today i went to orientation for 3 hours to figure out what part of the hospital i wanted to work at. There are so many different wards and different types of patients i didn't know which one to pick. We learned how to assist someone on a wheel chair without hurting them and learned some procedures we must follow.