With a heavy heart I prepared to write about what happened at the end of this year. I wasn’t ready for it and so I couldn't write about it. Now some time has passed, and it is time to share this story with you. You all know that my husband and I work in the same nursing home. The reason for this was because of my medical condition, and I felt safe because I knew that my husband was always somewhere nearby in case of an attack.
I really did the school for this profession with pleasure, because I wanted this for a long time, and also because the bosses in this home said that if I do school, I get a job. We were also promised that we would be able to work together on the same days, but each on his own floor, because otherwise we would get on each other's nerves. 😂
The boss knew all about my illnesses and that it might happen that my condition would get worse and I would need a sick leave. But I was determined that there would be no sick leave for me. And then came the Covid-19. Of course, no one was counting on it, and no one expected working conditions to get so bad.
We all put a lot of energy into the work to make each other’s work easier but due to the lack of workers it was really exhausting but with joint efforts we somehow managed to get the job done even though you were without energy towards the end of the day. We knew that the same thing awaited us the next day, and that our working hours lasted 12 hours. In the greatest crisis, we have not been able to take a break at all. We worked 12 hours and got paid only 10 hours.
We all did the work with a heart and it really wasn’t easy for us to watch people staying in a room, because of quarantine. Most of these people don't use phones, so they were in contact with relatives only when they came to visit, which, of course, was not possible at that time. It was also forbidden for the residents to socialize with each other, so more solitude for them. Every day I watched how they cried, how they missed their families, and how their bodies were slowly decaying with grief. Of course, we tried to make it all easier and spend more time with them and talk. But how? 2 workers for 30 residents is simply not enough to have time to talk to each one individually. Simply impossible.
All protective clothing had to be replaced for each room. This takes somewhere around 5 minutes of your time, and you definitely go to one room at least 5 times a day, because of care, breakfast, lunch, dinner and of course when they ring, you have to go to them. So how do you explain to a demented person that he is not allowed to leave the room? Impossible. We tried to somehow keep them in the room and somehow distract them with various games and creations, but it didn’t take very long and they started ringing and yelling again because we couldn’t get to them right away. My heart was broken when I saw so much sadness in their eyes. Constantly wondering when they can leave the room, and when they can see their family. Sometimes we called their relatives with private phones ( Zoom) so that they could at least talk and see their faces. Many relatives came to the parking lot so they could talk to them over the balcony. I can’t describe this indescribable joy when they were able to leave their rooms and be able to have contact with other residents.
If they were all together in the dining room, I could somehow entertain them with singing or dancing, to get at least a little smile on their face. We really did our best to make this time at least a little easier for them, even though we had a lot of work to do.
When more than half of the workers became infected, it meant disaster for healthy workers. When you come to work and find out that today you are responsible for 30 residents alone. Tell me how? We barely managed with 2 or 3 workers how can someone do this work all by themselves? We asked the boss to somehow bring workers from other houses because a month earlier we had loaned a lot of workers to other homes where they had infected residents. But she didn't do it. Then one of the nurses said it was enough and that in these conditions we really can’t do our job. So she demanded that our boss also help at least with the morning care. Given that she has an education in this profession, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with helping. In other homes, it is perfectly normal for bosses to help when there are not enough workers. And what happened?
She took care of two residents and then quickly left the floor. 10 minutes later, one of the workers found her outside with a cigarette in her hand. We all knew she hadn’t smoked in over 20 years. Finally, she admitted that this work is really difficult to do and that she simply cannot handle this effort. We didn't even know what to say to that, so we of course expected that she will finally bring in at least a few workers. That didn't happen. She preferred to shut herself in her office for the next few days and did not leave it until her working hours were over. Although we should all be angry we preferred to laugh. What else are you going to do? Somehow we tried to look at everything from a positive side and focus on the work. Sometimes we worked 5 days together. A 12-hour shift and we still somehow survived all that stress.
Unfortunately, my body broke after a few weeks and I landed in the hospital. It was hard for me to watch my husband and co-workers working in abnormal conditions, and I couldn’t help it. Although I was not quite healthy yet and Morbus Crohn was still active, after 3 weeks I decided to go to work. It’s hard to do this job when you have to go to the toilet at least 20 times a day. But I somehow succeeded. My husband and I spent the Christmas holidays there and worked 4 days in a row. My colleagues and I tried at least somehow to create a Christmas atmosphere and I think we succeeded.
I will miss u guys
And then came December 29th. I had a day off and my husband was working. At 10 in the morning, my phone rings, and I see my husband calling me. His words: “Tina, you will not believe. They called me to the office and fired me. ” I can't say what a shock. My husband has worked in this company for 7 years. He was one of the most popular workers and everyone loved him immensely. Our boss was at this company for about 6 months. It was not clear to anyone why him, given that we have so many worse or lazy workers who are rather hiding in a corner and look at their phones than working. Even the boss knew who they were but she fired him anyway. The official reason? Financial problems. There are reportedly too many workers and not enough residents because so many have died in these few months. How is this possible if we are not already able to manage the work?
The co-workers were so angry. We requested an extraordinary meeting with the chief executive. Each of us had something to say. We complained that our hours were not paid properly, none of us got paid overtime, and what affected us all the most was when a co-worker mentioned that we had been working without a break for almost 1 month. We normally work 10 hours and have a 2-hour break in the meantime. We now worked 12 hours with quick breaks for a cigarette and when we had time to eat quickly and go to the toilet. The answer of the chief executive? Didn't you go to the bathroom? Didn't you eat? Didn't you smoke? Didn't you drink? It’s all a break for you. We watched her with our mouths open. As far as we know these are the basic human needs that every human has, regardless of whether you have a break or not. So you took away our basic human needs and counted that time as our break? Shame.
After the meeting, they called me to the office. That was December 30th. They fired me too. The official reason? Financial problems. All I told the boss was how you can have the heart to fire someone 1 day before the new year. How ?! She was quiet and staring at the ground. A little later, another co-worker was fired. A co-worker whose husband hanged himself 1 year ago and she was left alone with two children. Reason? That she has mental problems, even though she was so kind to the residents and has been at this firm for 8 years. After the new year, 2 more workers were fired. We soon found out that they fired all of us who complained about unpaid hours and those of us who were on longer sick leave this year.
The pain was too much. I did this work with my heart, and the residents were always so happy when I came to them and entertained them with my singing and dancing.
I collapsed. I cried. I didn’t and didn’t have to grasp the fact that we were BOTH fired. A husband and wife who have rent and credit and we are both suddenly out of a job. January 4th was our last day of work. I said goodbye to the residents with teary eyes. You could see the sadness in their eyes when I told them that I had been fired. My favorite resident to whom I made fresh coffee every morning to make the room smell, massage her legs and back, dress her and bring her newspaper and breakfast. She didn't want to believe it. She called the office if they were normal to fire me and not those who don’t understand the word German. And that was my last day of work. I cleaned the locker, handed over the keys and we left.
Of course, the situation there has deteriorated. A co-worker calls me a few days later that without his knowledge they emptied his locker and when he came to the firm he was fired.
Certain co-workers could no longer bear this, so they agreed to find a new job and quit. And it happened. In one day, 3 resigned. And now, the boss was in shock. She didn't expect that. She also didn’t expect us to really call the workers ’protection office and ask the inspectorate to review all the documents. Unfortunately, they haven’t arrived yet, but we made a fuss anyway and our bosses were scared.
Thus ended our year. I haven’t seen my family and friends in 5 months, we both lost our jobs, our car is broken and we are currently battling with my illness which is still active.
But let’s look at the positive side. It is time for new beginnings and new challenges. We finally have some time to sort out everything we failed to do before. Our current goal is to edit all images and footage and sell them on the POND5 website. Of course, this is not a quick earning, nor can you survive on it and buy a new car, pay 800 euro rent and credit, but luckily we still have some money saved. This money was intended for my examinations and treatment in Germany, but unfortunately, this will not be possible now. So for a while, I won’t know what exactly provokes my attacks.
This is life.
You do good, you get back bad. But we have already come to terms with the fact that our lives are not peaceful. There is always something going on, there is always something to mess with our lives. It seems that this is the only way we can learn how to deal with the difficult challenges that await us in the future. We will. We always did.
Be nice, I wish you all the best this year and a lot of health. Let's face a new challenge!
“In the middle of every difficulty lies opportunity.” –Albert Einstein
With love,@tinabrezpike
Your post has been voted as a part of Encouragement program. Keep up the good work!
Try https://ecency.com and Earn Points in every action (being online, posting, commenting, reblog, vote and more).
Boost your earnings, double reward, double fun! 😉
Support Ecency, in our mission:
Ecency: https://ecency.com/proposals/141
Hivesigner: Vote for Proposal