Buck free?? How could you? Make your own bucks and bring them in and hand them out to the workers, but only if they are good to you and get to the machine alarms within 30 seconds. The tech gets five bucks if they stick you without hurting you. Five for getting you on quickly. Two bucks for not making you wait. The dietitian can earn bucks from you. One for getting your report to you in a timely manner. Two for a decent conversation adult to adult. The nurses could earn a buck for giving you your meds and taking your vitals. I had to sign the AMA this week because I was at a class for work from 8-4. I told them I would be late. The center was nice about it and ran be three and half hours even though they had to stay late. On the AMA I made them write that my run time was shortened due to my work schedule. I had to be in that curriculum class the entire time, no excuses. A state mandated program for math teachers. At least it was during my break time and not during class. Although five 8 hour days with 50 teachers about drove me mad! I love teachers and I love networking and talking to them but 8 hours for five days about standards and math? I will join you in being buck free as I am ticket free at my center due to my phosphorous being 5.6 instead of 5.5 last week and high last month when they checked. TTHHHBBBTTT! I say!How about if we trade my nonexistent tickets for your nonexistent bucks! OMGosh! I love this!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why are social workers involved with this rubbish? They could pay someone minimum wage to man a cart of "prizes". I suspect the thinking is that this will help to build rapport with patients but it's a silly practice and patients need real support and advocacy from social workers. Just look at all the topics and questions that arise on a board like this, everything from finances to sexuality issues, addiction to travel planning. Look at how much benefit we derive from talking with each other here and gaining support from each other here. And it's not just patient to patient. The caregivers who care know our issues inside out and we find it helpful to "talk" with them about our worries, fears etc. Why isn't the social worker involved in this way? The social worker ought to be learning all he/she can about the life issues that affect people in general (and these are different at every stage of life and different again for each individual) then throw a huge monkey wrench (a serious chronic illness )into the mix and there should be enough to keep one very very busy in a unit. They also have to learn all they can about the meds, the diet, dialysis, the side effects, the countless procedures and on and on. They have to get close as if in our skins and then pull back so as to be objectively helpful and do their job. They should not be learning which dollar store has the best price on back scratchers. That may have a place in a unit along with activities but I don't think it's a SW's role.Sorry for this rant but I do remember the totally useless SWs who annoyed the crap out of me with their silly questions and profound lack of understanding of what was on my mind. And I compare them all to one who was a serious, caring person, equipped with a sense of humour because seriousness can be overrated, who could not make ESRD go away but who could tolerate just being with me as I faced the painfulness and grief of what was happening in my life, who could just sit and listen as I got things out of my mind and into words, who agreed that life was unfair but never got overwhelmed by my chaotic rush of emotions. I was overwhelmed and she helped me to do what I needed to do. She was the eye of my personal hurricane and I learned from her how to do some of that for myself. I wasn't her "friend" nor was she mine. She helped me to learn how to ask questions of my medical team. We'd role play what I'd say to a nurse who had pissed me off for example because I was young and conflicted about how to handle it all. And if all was OK with me she'd be pleasant, ask directly how I was doing and move on to someone else who needed to unload or find resources or just feel understood that day or someone who wanted to make an appointment to meet in her office for a bigger block of time. I remember still how she introduced herself the first time, asked how I was doing, I said fine and she said "No, I mean how are you really doing with this disease and with everything it's brought into your life?" Maybe I should have pretended to be asleep, I hadn't planned on crying so much that day.Leave Twirl alone when she's sleeping. That's really all I had planned to say.!!!