Author: Jon Hunter
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My journey into mental health started many years ago, it must have been when I was about 22 years of age. I knew nothing of mental health and what it was all about. The one thing I wanted to do was to find out and from that day I have never looked back until now. Don’t get me wrong I love my job and have never wanted to be a qualified nurse. I quickly worked out it is the health care assistants that are the eyes and ears of the ward.
I had previously worked in a general hospital and had not had much interaction with people that had mental health issues either in the community or in hospital. All I grew up with from friends is people with mental health issues are to be given a wide birth. At this point I didn’t know why. But on one particular day it was about to change my whole outlook on mental health and give me an understanding and insight on the vast subject.
At this point in my life I worked in a general hospital in the midlands area as an A&E porter alongside security work. This was an exciting job and did open your eyes to many sights and situations within the hospital. All porters/ security workers carried bleeps and radios for emergencies within the hospital. The radios were for general jobs and the bleeps were for emergencies around the hospital; when the bleep went off, if you weren’t with a patient you ran and ran fast. It could have been medical emergency and we had to run with a defibrillator, alarms in maturity went off or people need security for other problems.
As I was saying, this one particular day I was asked to go to A&E and babysit a patient that had become verbally threatening to the nursing staff. When I got there the Charge nurse had told me that the ambulance had brought this man in for assessment and possible admission to the psychiatric ward. All I was to do was keeping an eye on him and persuade him to wait for the doctor to speak to him. I thought to myself that this is going to bed boring plus all I grew up with was give people a wide birth who are ‘mental’. While I was in the side room the man looked in his early twenties, dirty face but clean tidy hands, a yellow plain t-shirt with stains down it. To me it looked like he had just had something to eat and spilt it down himself. His hair looked messy but had clumps missing so he had a number of bold patches all over his head. He wore black jeans that were also a little stained around the knees and lower legs. He did wear any shoes or trainers just a pair of socks that looked like they hadn’t been changed in a long time. So if you were to go off looks you maybe would think he was homeless.
As I entered I did smiled at him and introduced myself and reached out my hand to greet him in a friendly handshake keeping my smile. The man looked at my stretched out hand then as I watched his eyes they followed my arm up my shoulder to my smiley face. As our eyes met I said to him it’s ok and all I want to do is shake your hand, nothing else. So the man’s uneasily reached out his hand and shook mine in return. To be fair he shook my hand with a very tight grip and I could see his facial expression change a little; like a naughty little boy being naughty. Then he looked back at me and as he saw me looking he changed his expression back to someone who looked frightened and worried. Unusual I thought to myself but thought nothing else of it. I sat on the hospital trolley in the room and put my feet up on a chair that was placed in front of him. It must have been used by the nurse that was in here before. While doing this it kind of blocked his exit to leave the room but he didn’t seem to care much. I introduced myself and asked him his name. He told me his name was Darren and then clammed up again. I told him
‘Nice to meet you Darren’.
But Darren just looked up and nodded in acknowledgment. I had a suspicion that he didn’t want to be there. I mention to Darren that I was only here to keep an eye on him, nothing else; we just had to wait for Dr Jay who was going to talk to Darren. He looked up at me looking a little worried and asked
‘why is he coming to talk to me’.
‘I don’t know, sorry’ I replied to him.
I explained that Dr Jay was a great doctor and he was the sort of doctor that everyone liked. Dr Jay always made time for people and patients no matter what the issue was. He also didn’t dress like a consultant; he dressed mostly in jeans and t-shirts but rarely wore a suit. His excuse was it made him more approachable to people. Which it did to be fair!
As I sat there I occasionally looked over at Darren and I could just barely see his lips moving, just like he was talking to someone; just like he was talking but didn’t want anyone to notice. Every now and again he would make a little grunt noise like he was being pushed or knocked by someone. At this point I didn’t know what to think or say as I have never had much interaction with people with mental health problems. I did eventually open my mouth and asked Darren if he was ok. He turned and looked at me with a scornful look of disgust as if I had just disturbed an important meeting. When Darren had looked at me he turned his head back facing away from me and continued talking to whoever was there with him.
It had been at least 30 minutes and the door opened and a middle aged face appears and smiles while saying to me
‘Can I talk to you please’?
‘Of cores’ I replied.
‘Darren I’m just going to speak to this gentleman, I’ll just be outside the door’
Darren continued to talk to his imaginary friend and I stepped out the room. Outside the room was Dr Jay, who was the one who popped his head round the door and a nurse who was a female about in her mid-thirties. She was about 5ft 6, short brown hair a little bit spikes. She was dressed in black trousers, blue shirt with a t-shirt underneath the shit with black flat shoes. Looks smart, more like an office worker. She introduced herself as clinical nurse lead Ford. Dr Jay asked me what he has been like while I had been sitting with him. I told him about his appearance as in how he was dressed and unwashed. I told Dr Jay that Darren appeared frightened and worried when he was spoken too. Dr Jay said that could of been paranoia but he couldn’t be sure until he spoke to him. I also mentioned that he was sitting in a chair facing the wall slightly and I could see him talking but trying to be discreet about it. Also that his facial expressions were always changing, like he was responding to something with the odd verbal noise now and again.
Dr Jay says ok let’s go and see him. But he asked if I minded coming in as I was the first person Darren had met and spoken too. I walked in and said to Darren
‘Darren, Dr Jay is here to talk to you’
Darren looked round at me and looked frightened, then Dr Jay walked in and suddenly Darren jumped up like a frightened animal caught in a corner. Staring at Dr Jay Darren in a frightened little boys voice said
‘keep him away from me,
I reply ‘ Darren it’s ok he’s a friend, he just wants to talk to you that’s all’.
I do this with my hands out in front of me and my palms facing Darren waving them side to side. While doing this I slowly walk towards Darren letting him know that no one is going to hurt him. I tell Darren to keep his eyes on my still walking slowly towards him reassuring him that he was safe. Darren looks at me and as I reach him he slowly sits back in the chair muttering to his self. Couldn’t make out what he was saying as he was speaking very quietly. Now Darren is seated I let him know that everything is going to be ok and Dr Jay is a good man and he is here to help him, that’s all, make him feel better. Dr Jay thanks me and asks if I could wait outside the room but not to go anywhere just in case.
After about one hour of me standing outside the side room like a palace guard; Dr Jay pops out and says to me that I did great work earlier keeping Darren here and calming him down. I thought to myself that I don’t know how to take that. Don’t hear many compliments. Dr Jay says to me that Darren is a troubled man and he has agreed to come to the ward so we can assess him more. But there is one condition; I have to walk Darren there as he feels safe with me.
‘Ok not a problem’ I tell Dr Jay.
The Doctor goes back into the room and brings Darren out with the nurse. As I look at Darren he looks at me with a smile of embarrassment, tilting his head to the side. To be fair it looks like he had been crying in that room. Maybe reality had hit him after speaking to the doctor or he was upset he was being admitted to the ward. Myself and Darren start to walk off to the ward with the other two walking closely behind with Darren looking back occasionally at them. Was this because he felt safer knowing that they were there or was it because he was feeling paranoid with them behind him?. I ask him if he is ok as he keeps looking back and Darren just bites his bottom lip and nods while looking at the floor. As we get to the ward Darren stops and hesitates and hearing his breathing getting rapid I reassure Darren that everything from here on will only get better. Turning and facing me he asked me if I would come and see him later as I was the only person he knew. I let him know that if he went in with the nurse and Dr Jay I’d try and pop back to see how he was doing. But I couldn’t promise anything. I step back and let the other two walk onto the ward with Darren and watch as the doors close behind them. I notice Darren look back and smile as I start to walk off back to work.
This was the first dealing with a person that had mental health problems and I had never known how interesting it would be. Darren was the first person that would start my journey off in working as a health care assistant. About a week later I asked for a transfer from porter/ security to working in a psychiatric ward. Best job I have ever had.
A link from Instagram on eating disorder by Lilly Collins
If there was something you wanted to know about mental illness what would it be? Remember I’m not a professional I am a health care work with over 18 years of experience. If there is something you want to know I will write about it and put it on here, Blogit and Tumblr. Under the same name writer1710. Message me back on anything.
Many thanks
I have been looking into starting a session for inpatients who have aggressive outbursts whether it is deliberate or psychological issue. I would bring in a pair of boxing gloves and a kick shield.
What the patient has to do is ASK for the pads, then two staff and the patient go off into a side room. The nurse explains the rules of the session:
1- aggression is not to be focused on a person.
2- do not act silly or play fight with gloves on.
3- follow nurses guidance at all times.
4- staff are not to teach patient how to punch or use combinations.
5-patient is to talk and write down how they felt before session, during and after.
These are just a few of the rules for the session. When staff hold the kick shield up the patient is to focus on the thing that is making them angry and for 30 seconds punch the hell out the shield. After 30 seconds the patient is to stop punching and sit on the floor and breathe deeply for a minute or so. Then repeat this action for about 7-8 times or until patient is out burnt their anger. After patient has burnt their aggression get them to write about it and write why they were angry. How they felt during the session and at the end of the session and say if it helped and how.
I have tried this on two patients and it worked within 5-8 minutes and had positive outcomes. But people thought it would promote violence, not showing a positive outlet for aggression. Surely what I tried was better than a patient beating on other people.
Two cracked mirrors,
when faced,
reflect each other
as whole.
What is broken remains broken.
But we are restored
by all that
connects us:
the cracks,
the edges,
the shame,
and the fear.
In the recognition of ourselves
in the other,
we transform them
and make them
beautiful again.
A question for anyone out there. Does anyone know where I can advertise or how to promote my blog page ? ? ?
This is a fashion article I wrote and now the link below have published it on their web site. Please have a read and comment.
I have just got myself a journal to write in. I am going to fill it up with possible experiences within my line of work. It has been over 20 years of experience so I should have enough to go on with for now.
I might put some of it up on here as well as looking at how to publish it in the future and sell it as a book.
It’s a possibility
writer1710
This little article will try and make people see what it is like working as a health care assistant within a mental health hospital. There are many different names a healthcare worker will be known as, such names as Nursing assistant, Health care assistant, Nursing Assistant or Nursing Auxiliary just to name a few. To work as a health care worker there is at the minute but it is looking like the health authority may change that in the future. One of the main things you need is a good understanding of people, a caring side no matter what happens and to be none judgemental attitude towards people no matter why they are there.
People (patients) will be in hospital for all sorts of reasons; I have come across people that have been admitted due to developing mental health problems due to the stress of being in prison. Patients come in for reasons of being abused by people known to them, Witnessing traumatic events such as war crimes to them or others. Eating disorders, Schizophrenia, self harm due to abuse or trauma. Depression and bipolar are just to name a few. Yes they are or can be big issues for newly diagnosed patients but with the right medication treatment and therapy to deal with problems they can be managed well on the ward and in the community.
Just because some one has this diagnosis it does not mean that you have to cross the street when you see them or that they are dangerous. The best and most supportive thing you can do for someone with a mental health problem is say HELLO or just ask HOW ARE YOU? Then be there for them, listen to them and treat them like a friend or an individual. Don’t judge them because of an illness. Be an ear for them, a person to talk to or just sit with them and spend time with them. Don’t get me wrong it can be difficult at times and you will hear stories of a horrific nature whether its something they have done or they have had done to them. All you need to do is listen and not show expressions of shock or horror in your face. Listen, give guidance if they need it and be supportive no matter what. Some patients may have urges to hurt themselves at times and all you need to do is be supportive and try and guide them away from wanting to hurt themselves. This can be difficult and mentally stressful on you. So no matter how mentally strong you think you are you will need to unload on your mentor or a colleague just so the stress of the information does not well and build up and stress you out.
With what I have written the job role is extremely rewarding and mentally fulfilling and when you have had input with a patient and you see them doing well and then they move on to a better placement or even back home. You must think that you have had a massive input on that persons life and made it better. Doing this job is definitely not for the money but the emotional rewards is massive. I work in a very stressful job as a health care assistant and have been doing for over 19 years. The place I work is very demanding and can be physically demanding at times due to the nature of the patients and their problems but no matter what happens I can’t see myself working anywhere else. If you decide to become a health care assistant you will come across people (staff) that are good at de-escalation, dealing with confrontation, and one or two staff will be good all round no matter what is going on on the ward.
Myself, without trying to sound big headed, I can deal with most situations such as aggression, confrontation, self harm or just a shoulder to cry on. I always pass over to the nurse in charge what has been disgust and enter everything in the patients notes whether it be hand written or electronic patient notes. At the end of every week or day depending how stressful it has been I sit in a room with someone I feel I can talk to and unload onto them. What you need to remember is when you speak to the colleague is not to be afraid to show your emotions when chatting, this helps you release the stress.
In this article I will try to explain what is self-harm and the reasons for this; from the views of a health care assistant with at least 20 years’ experience in mental health. There are people in hospital who self-harm and also people in the community that self-harm but to different extents. Everybody has their own personal reasons why they do this and if you meet someone that does this please do not judge them. They are in turmoil, mental pain or they used to be and now they have learnt to control it to an acceptable level. What needs to happen is the health service and the private companies need to make awareness and knowledge more acceptable to the community to understand. I hope that what I have written here will help even if it is just a small amount. Any information that helps is better than nothing at all.
There was a horrible story in the papers a few months back about a young lady who had scares on her arms from self-harm and she went into a big super market chain, I will not name them as I don’t want to get in trouble, she went to the cashier with a bottle of alcohol and the cashier told her that they cannot serve her the alcohol because she had scares on her armWhat The young lady was told it was company policy not to serve alcohol with anyone that self-harms. To me this is disgusting as alcohol is not the reasons why people self-harm and if she was out in the community she has a big control over these urges to hurt herself. You cannot judge a person just because they have scares. I have a few scares on my person but that does not mean I self-harm, I’m just clumsy.
Next I will try to explain some of the possible reasons why they self-harm and the ways people self-harm. It is mostly a female thing but it is on the rise of male’s self-harm and coming to light.
Visual and Auditory Hallucinations
Some patients within a hospital setting who suffer from hearing and seeing things like past abusers, demons or a coping friend due to stress or past events known as hallucinations usually not a friendly voice or vision. With a patient that has this condition, the voices are usually a kind of friend in a difficult time and is there only way of coping while it is a stressful time. The voices are usually a coping skill for the person but when someone who cares comes into their life the voices get louder as well as the visual problems get worse. At times of stress the hallucinations tell the person that they are worthless and they need to end their life because no one loves them or cares. This is why some patients find it hard to cope with when they find a staff member that actually cares. The voices get louder when the patient finds someone who actually shows a caring side. The patient will end up listening to the hallucinations as they will be as convincing to the patient as they are the only friend they have during the whole time. The patient may end up ripping their clothes tying a ligature around their necks or another limb. Maybe finding something sharp like a razor, metal, hard plastic and cut themselves to make themselves bleed. Some patients may also use the plastic from pens, metal from clothing, braking glass items. Some start to head bang and what I mean by this is that the patient usually sitting or crouching will bang their head off a wall or a door. This is all due to the voices or hallucinations they experience.
Abuse
What you may come across is mainly females but some males that have been abused from either family members or friends that know the family or it could be a random stranger which is rare. The abuse can come in all shapes when it comes to the subject of abuse, patients could start cutting, have sight dysmorphia, where they see something bigger or horrible when they look in the mirror. People could come across physical abuse, where the person will witness people being beaten, tortured or mentally abused just to name a few. It will come to a point where their coping strategy is to hurt them self to cope with the mental pain. They could start to withhold their food and fluid intake, start in to insert things whether it be through an open hole, mouth, rectum, virginal, or open wound. I know it is not nice to read but this is the facts I’m afraid. But this could also link in with hallucinations as well due to the past abuse.
Learnt Behaviour
It is an unfortunate thing but people that do go into care due to past problems will also pick up things while in care. There are some patients will see other patients do things like self-harm and find out that it can lead to maybe positive outcomes. Some patients will learn that from other patients that self-harming will bring in staff and also give the attention they need. But what you need to realise is that some patients don’t know how to ask for help in times of stress and this is the only way they know how to ask. So some patients that don’t know how to ask for help may self-harm just to get the staff member in close.
Eating
There are some patients that will either restrict or over eat on their food. This is a difficult situation to deal with as it could be life threatening in some cases. Some people will reduce food and fluid intake due to the stupid fashion industry. It is portrayed that the model should be skinny and beautiful, so the young mainly females will stop eating and try to up their cardio to lose the weight. The fashion industry needs to change their ways on this. Some patients in their previous lives may have been bullied at school, work or college and called fat, chunky just to name a few.
It is not just restricting food it can also be over eating for a number of days, then eating nothing. It could also be a problem where they will over eat and then self-induce vomiting as they usually think it will help them reduce weight.
These are just to name a few items problems to do with self-harm. If you want to look deeper there will be a number of triggers to influence self-harm.
I hope you have found this small amount of information useful helpful even if it was just a little.
Please feel free to leave a comment but remember this is just an opinion and not total fact .
I’ve spent the day at Christine Padesky’s conference in London. An expert in her field, Aaron Becks Californian-based prodigy pretty much wrote the book on CBT.
Listening to her today reminded me of what always fails to surprise me about CBT; the almost complete denial of past events and how they may be contributing to someone’s symptoms. CBT will work with what it calls core beliefs in longer term therapy, however as CBT is generally offered short term (especially in the NHS) the majority of the work is based on intervening at the level of the presenting symptoms, such as lack of activity, negative thoughts, etc.
I have written about the efficacy of CBT elsewhere. It is sufficient to say that there is no one size fits all approach to distress and a lot of people have greatly benefited from a practical skills based approach to therapy.
Attempting to answer…
View original post 116 more words
What you going to do?
Let the voices in your head scream louder than you or are you going to Scream back. The voices are scared that one day soon you will not need them in your life so they keep showing their scary faces/voices.
They are not in control! You are and let them know that.
What does this picture say to you.
To me it’s the demons we can face everyday. Are you going to let it be your boss, no matter how but it is or fight back.
There are a few jobs that are hard on your own mental state, physical being and sanity but yet still rewarding at the same time. That is working as a health care assistant in mental health in a hospital setting. I have done it for about 20 years and still doing it today (for now).
The job can be very stressful on you and you can end up thinking why the hell do I do this job? Surely there are better jobs out there? Answer because you are made for this job and there is no better job out there. It takes a certain type of person to work in mental health. I mean some one that is not judgemental, not self opinionated, a great listener and actually gives a shit about people no matter what.
In my job I have been told things by patients that would horrify the everyday public; we have to keep level headed and not judge.
People think it has lots of perks;NO it doesn’t. Don’t get me wrong helping others, bringing people out of a bad place in their own mind or world gives you a kind of wellbeing and achievements. Hearing those two words, Thank you, just makes it all worth it. It’s an amazing feeling when you see a patient change from when they were admitted to being discharged to either home or a new placement. Yet sometimes there are low times when the treatment doesn’t seem to have any affect on them.
For the health care assistance out there it is a great rewarding job. Stressful, painful, yet rewarding career to be in but it also could be a dead end job in the wrong place. There will be chances for lots of training to deal with patients, aggression, emergencies and many more situations. If you want to learn about different kinds of people, life, bad upbringings, the kind of nasty people that are out there, how to read potential risk situations then go into health care in mental health.
I have learnt so much in my job as a health care worker with in a hospital and have so much information and teaching to pass on. I think something like blogging is the only way I could do it now. Don’t let anyone in your job talk down to you. People don’t realise that the health care assistance are the front line troops in a ward setting. The patient will usually trust and form therapeutic relationships with health care assistance before anyone else. The patients will open up to you first and disclose things to you before qualified nurses or doctors. You are the eyes and ears of the ward and if people want to know something about the patients, you can guarantee the information would of come from a health care assistant first. Health Care Assistants are the backbone of the hospitals and wards; it needs to be recognised throughout the services whether it be NHS or private charity hospitals.
You are circling, circling High above us In partial slivers of light. You have lost your chariot And are so silent. Sing to me Selene, though The music doesn’t sound the same. It doesn’t rev…
Source: Fauna Lost Her Ears
I am looking for ideas on a different article involving fashion, celebrities, or high street fashion. Message me for ideas you may want to see.
Night’s out
I am going to talk about people who go for a night out into town but end up with things getting messy or things that we cannot remember after a night out. People go into town with friends and have a few drinks and have one to many or friends that don’t know when to slow down or stop. Don’t get me wrong we have all been there at some point but some more than others. Then you wake up in the morning thinking what happened, did I drunk text, wake up in pain due to fighting, or your kidneys hurting due to the alcohol intake. Then the next day or two days you are feeling like the world is ending.
I occasionally work in town on some pub doors and have seen a few funny things and a few not so good things. It does make you think about the meaning of friendship and what family means when out.
Friends in my mind means that whoever you go out with you look after them and make sure that they do not go over the limit and get to a point where they don’t know what they are doing. I saw one night a group of friends out on a night out celebrating one of the lad’s birthdays. When they came to the pub I was working the birthday boy was getting to the point where he would be unable to talk properly and walk safely. As he stood there he was swaying like a tree in a gale and could not look at me without closing his eyes while talking. To be honest I thought he was going to fall asleep while talking to me.
I was in a pub the other day with a few friends and I went to the bar to get another drink, I had only had one drink previously. While waiting to be served I saw one bloke with one of his friends who was being served. He was talking to his friend and to be honest he was being an obnoxious prat. The bar man came back to them and he got their drinks, but previously I heard the idiot say ‘watch this’. As soon as the bar man came back the idiot started to argue with the barman saying you got the wrong drink. The barman apologised and said what did you order then, looking confused. The idiot who was getting to the point of annoying said a different drink. As the bar man went to get his other drink I piped up and said ‘excuse me barman, but you did get the right drinks, he just said he was going to pull a fast one and make you look stupid’. With a look of disgust the idiot looked round and said to me what the hell? I mentioned to him that I was standing here listening to his loud voice saying what he was going to do. He turned to me as if he was going to start something and at this point I noticed the bar man talking in his ear piece and suddenly three door supervisors turn up. Feeling confident I say to the idiot ‘Do you really want to do this’? Without him noticing the door staff, he in a drunken state said you’re going to get it if you don’t fuck off. Then the door staff step in and I back away and they escort him out of the pub. The drunk idiot looks surprised but scared and not so tuff.
People go out for a nice time and relax with drinks with friends and return home hopefully not interacting with stupid drunks. So why is it that no matter when we go out we will mostly always meet a drunken idiot whether it be male or female and they can in a few words or action ruin your night out? What happened to the times of when people could go out for a few drinks and come home with no troubles? Personally I think that door staff should be allowed to use breathalysers on punters, people out for drinks and if they are beyond a certain limit they should not be allowed in to a pub. I know it could run your night out to a short ending but then it may also cut down on problems with drunks.
I have seen people so drunk that they have fallen asleep in their own vomit or acted in ways that they would not normally act in a social setting. I know that pubs are out in competition with other pubs but surely there should come a limit to where bar staff whether it be servers, door staff or managers should say no more. It is a shame that staff have to call on the police a lot of the time to try and control people that do get out of hand, as they have enough stuff to deal with.
As well as the drunks you see sitting in the parks and on the corner of streets drinking strong cans of strong bow or strong ciders. Most of them men or women would not say boo to a goose and would not harm anyone. But unfortunately you will get one or two drunks that will course a few problems, but realise that they are mostly harmless.T
PARKING
As you can see from the title I have written this article is going to be about the way people in our society park their vehicles in today’s life. As you walk around shopping parking lots and high street parking you can see people parking in ridiculous ways. This is just an insight and my own personal views on the matter. I will try and write about things I have seen and what people have told me and things put on social media sites.
I myself live in a terrace street with two way traffic, so this means that traffic come up and down the street and we have parking on both sides of the street. I have just come down my street and it is 08:10 in the morning and the amount of cars that I see parked stupidly and selfishly in the streets. I notice that there is two cars that are double parked at the top of my street, why? But to be fair when I was walking down the street last night after returning from kickboxing, there was a lot of cars parked down the street. I saw that in one place, there was enough space for two standard cars but some selfish person was parked in the centre of this space leaving no room for another car. I suppose that is due to the driver has to park right outside their own place and not walk too far. Why do people have to try and park so close to their house? Does it matter if you have to walk an extra twenty or thirty feet to your house? I can guarantee that if I walk up and down any of the terrace streets in my area I could find people parked side by side in the street, just leaving barely enough room for another car to pass by. Plus there will be cars parked taking up room in spaces for parking for two cars. I have also seen cars parked in an angle that clearly is not big enough but the front end or back end of the car sticking right out and even parking it sticking out while parking it on the pavement. One of the worst things that really annoys me is the small smart cars. I know they are small and can park in most places but DAM, why park in a tight place and park the car facing in towards the house with the end sticking out. Don’t get me wrong, genius idea on the parking but annoying.
What do you think of people parking on double yellow lines? It’s not as bad as double parking and selfish parking. But think people the double yellow lines means do not park there! I know how annoying it is as at the end of my street where I live there is a corner shop and in the morning there are always people parking there right next to the junction. As you pull up to the junction to pull out, it is difficult to see vehicles coming from the left and judgement is needed to pull out. The worst thing about this is that there is never any traffic wardens around when this happens, surely it doesn’t matter if they are just popping into the shop, and double yellow means no parking. I understand if you have a blue badge that’s ok in my eyes.
Parking in drop off points is an annoying problem, especially in my town. I have dropped of friends in a drop off point at my local bus and train station and you can guarantee that there will be cars parked in there. I have pulled up to the drop off point and seen cars in there for more than ten minutes and banged on my horn but nothing from the driver and they just carry on with playing on their phone. What is the security doing in their job? If I pull up there I cannot pull off out of the way I have to park alongside and park double for about thirty seconds or so. Or drive round and go and park in the twenty minute park zone. Don’t like to say but Taxi drivers are just as bed for this.
As you drive round in parking lots or multi storey parking lots you can see but not too often people parking at an angle or parked in two spaces over the white or yellow lines. They park their cars and lock up and just walk off as if the world owes them a living. Why are they any different to myself or you? I have been driving round in an open parking lot for a number of shops of the main road and saw parking that really got me angry. One car was parked over a blue line for disabled parking, it was a big expensive BMW and a guy got out, locked his car and walked to the cash point. I saw one woman confront him in a non-aggressive way and question his parking. This guy, I can’t call him a gentleman, got verbally aggressive towards her. He soon stopped as a few including myself stepped forward in support of this woman. One guy, who was built like a house and ripped told him to shut up and move on. I noticed a week ago a woman parking in a child parking space but had no children in the car or child seats. To be fare she was questioned by security and had to move her vehicle. Good on the security person.
All I am trying to do is to point out a few personal facts I have witnessed and experienced while living here in the town I live in. I just want people to think next time they park their vehicle and think what if? So next time you park your car, van, lorry or 4X4 just think about the person who may or will park next to you and have you left them enough room? Can they park next to you with enough room?
It’s 05:50 and I’m laying here listening to the pitter patter of the cooling rain out side my bedroom window. The window is wide open to cool me down as it was a muggy night last night. Now it sounds like a lot going on outside, people must be going off to work. I can here someone unlocking his car and having trouble. I guess he is having trouble from the swearing coming from him. People are popping into the local corner shop as I can just hear the beeping as the door opens. Plus the cars passing splashing puddles as they carelessly drive through then, hopefully not splashing any passers by. The rain has just eased off a little more now. So I peer out the window just to be nosey and see a few lazy people double parked in the street. Selfish parking going on as well. What I mean by selfish parking is someone parking in a space for two cars and parking in the middle. Now is there any need for this style of stupid selfishness? No. Sound beautiful and peaceful just listening to the rain as it starts to get heavier splashing nicely on the wide open window. Let’s not forget the cooling gentle breeze that flows slowly through the window. The breeze feels wonderful against my face and shoulders. Cooling me down.
I have thinking of trying to earn a wage from blogging or writing and be able to occasionally work from home, that would be heaven. I have already written two articles which have been published on a modelling website and yes I am over the moon about it. I have started writing a third article on a male model.I am just starting to get into writing and have found that I really do enjoy writing, I am mainly writing about fashion related topics but honestly I would like to open my eyes and try other topics. But as I have already stated I would really like to make a side living or just publish now and again. Seeing you own work being published does give you a kind of rush and a little ego boost……ok a huge ego boost, but not letting it go to my head yet. So I am struggling to find out where are the best places to go for writing or blogging jobs and to get paid for my work too.
Just to change the subject a lot. I worked last night and thought how interesting would it be to write about working within mental health and issues relating to mental health as well. I have a long career in mental health to so I do know a bit. I have an interest in writing about fashion related news and want to be able to interview people and write up about them from the interviews. These could be people in fashion, mental health work, celebrities of the film industry or athletes of any type.
Well I have ranted on enough for now and I am going back to the garden to finish of my beer and Kebab and hopefully enjoy the rest of the evening in the sun. So I’ll bid you good day
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This is the second article I have written and had published. Please take a look.
Thinking I would like a job blogging or writing. That would be heaven.
In my life things have started to pick up, I have been asked to write some articles for a modelling agency and I have picked up my game in doing English GCSE and have been put forward for the higher paper. It seems I have a knack for writing and writing in descriptive terms. Only if I had known this sooner I could have done something about this sooner and blogged sooner.
I enjoy writing as it lets me publicise my thoughts and feelings in a positive way and want people to know about it and it’s never a negative way. I work in a very stressful job working in mental health and working security in pubs in my local town. In these jobs I often come across conflict and aggression on a daily basis. I feel that I am good in both jobs and I am good at protecting people with the skills I have on a daily basis.
The passion I really have is for writing. This has been more visible since I started watching the well know American TV show Castle. I have just started blogging about thoughts and what I see on a daily basis but only writing on a weekly basis. In both my jobs I have to be careful what I write so I don’t breach confidentiality in my jobs. If I want to explain anything I have to change names and some circumstances so not too many people know what is what.
Knower days I keep fit by attending kickboxing classes with Pathfinder Martial Arts and going to the gym at Virgin Active. In this time I feel like a more positive person and feel a lot younger. Now I am feeling a lot better and fitter and also a lot more positive in myself and am a stronger person. People think I am a tough person with in my job roles but to be honest I am just a regular guy. I get worried every time I am confronted with aggression or someone that is feeling suicidal on a daily basis.
I want to be someone that is to be well known in writing whether it is in blogging or writing a book on mental health or dealing with situations. Which is what I deal with on a daily basis. I have become a stronger person in my jobs and love helping people in becoming a stronger person in dealing with conflict whether it be aggression in physical or verbal. I know I can deal with this if I have the right team behind me. Having the right team behind you makes all the difference in any situation. It makes me look at what I am capable of and looking around on the news today I think I would love training and the ability to train with the people that deal with terrorist conflict or riot training on a daily basis. I think I have the ability to fit in and take the banter from the men and women that deal and train in this.
But to be realistic I am now concentrating on writing or blogging. Some of the things I am given to write is about Fashion but most of the things I do write about is what I think about and have the ability at the time of writing. I am not at the top of my game in the fashion industry but do like to have some feedback or guidance in writing on these projects. But what you need to realise is that fate will catch us in some time or other will catch us up. So no matter what you keep having put in front of you relax and confirm and think relax. Things will get better if you want them to be.
So if you are a company that can maybe pay or give bursaries in writing maybe get in touch and let me know what you want writing about. In time I would like to become well known in writing or blogging for a company or internet company. I don’t mind what it is about and if the pay is decent I will write about anything the public wants.
Written by HUNTER
It amazes my in today’s society how rude and selfish people can be today. We all need to live together in society and just be nice to each other but this doesn’t happen does it? People think it is perfectly acceptable to be rude to people and either give looks of disgust to anyone that dares stands up to them.One example was the other day. I was coming home from a flight from Europe and as I was walking from the plane to passport check in there were people rushing and even running past knocking into people. One incident happened, a woman was walking with her child holding her hand close to the wall. I passed her by and I could see a man in a hurry behind me in the Windows reflection. He tried to pass me but then he changed direction and walked the other side of the woman with her child. He barged past them both just barely squeezing past the child and just about knocked the child over with his suitcase. The mother must of said something and the child was about to cry. I stopped to see if they was ok. I snapped at the man and just asked him to be careful. Hi stopped and gave us all a dirty look. My immediate thought was to give him what he gave out. I looked at the man if you can call him that and snapped ‘WHAT?’ The lady said to me don’t worry about it it’s not worth it. Then the man walked off with no word of a sorry. Total rudeness and nasty person.
Another example is that I was in a coffee shop and a young lad serving got an order wrong and the person who’s order was wrong started verbally abusing the person serving. Mistakes happen, why be like that? How nice it must be to be so perfect in his little own fantasy world. Luckily the manager heard what was going on and asked so politely for the customer to leave. Saying there is no need to be rude to the staff. The customer refused at first until the manager came out from behind the counter and asked politely for him to leave again. The manager stepped up to him and you could see the customer looking nervous. So the customer back down swearing at staff as he left. I suppose there is a time to stand fast and a time not too.
The act of being rude is showing a small mind of social upbringing and in my mind a small educational back ground. Agree or disagree that’s your choice. This is just one persons opinion. If someone is being rude or selfish then a good way but difficult way for some to deal with it is to just be NICE and smile at the person. People always will be rude or selfish to someone in the world. Which to me is a dam shame because the world world be a lot better place if most people tried just that little bit harder. Don’t get me wrong it’s not always going to work. There are some people out there that go on in life just being horrible people and feel a need not to be nice.
Why not try next time you feel you need to be rude or selfish, think first and imagine how would you feel? In time you may find yourself changing your ways towards people and incidents that are happening around you. Don’t misunderstand me I’m not perfect at doing this but I’m getting there.
In one of my other jobs I work in town at night and often come across obnoxious people. I find that if I take a breath and then smile and be polite, they either shut up or walk away but from the words of Dolton from Roadhouse ‘be nice’. Don’t misunderstand me there is going to be a time when it’s not time to be nice but they are few and far between.
Rudeness and selfishness does not need to happen but unfortunately it does and that is a dam shame. We are high up in the food chain but some of us act like primates or animals and it doesn’t need to happen. Just remember these words and try to implement them BE NICE and SMILE the next time someone is rude or selfish or just plain right nasty
I have just arrived at Stansted airport in the meet and great car park. As we enter inside the airport there are lots of people rushing around, like little ants scurrying around. Some people are walking slowly then suddenly stopping, some are walking briskly and reading signs as they go about the airport, some are running to the check ins or to the security stands. I really don’t understand why people are so late to their flights? Why can’t people just leave that little bit earlier? If you travel to the airport only takes an hour give yourself that extra 30-40 minutes. I have just arrived at the security check ins and ‘Oh my gosh it’s packed in both sides and they only have about six isles open. Don’t understand why if it is this busy, oh yer money lol. I reach the belts where at security where you have to put your personal items like watches, jewellery, belts and computers in those trays and then they got through the x-Ray machine. I walk through the metal detector saying to myself ‘Please don’t go off, please don’t go off’. Nothing happens, no annoying buzzing, so I walk round to wait for my tray to come through. My try comes after 3-4 minutes and I start to put my things back on like my watch and belt, what annoys me the most is that the impatience of others trying to push my tray away as I am getting my things. I just look at the bloke next to me and say ‘Problem’?One man is arguing with security staff because they took liquids out of his bag and told him they have to be in a plastic bag and it’s one bag per person. If he doesn’t wind his neck in he will find himself either missing his flight due to refusal or in hand cuffs. Some people will never learn and think the rules should be different for them. Once I walk round to the duty free shops I buy some whiskey and a bottle of white wine for presents for when we arrive, can’t turn up empty handed now. I check my flight time and realise the gates for my flight don’t open for another two hours.
Sitting here I can see people doing shopping, maybe for family or a loved one. Some people are rushing about like little ants, maybe they are late. But one thing I can see a lot of is people bumping into others and people being rude as in looks and not apologising. We don’t need to keep being like this to one another, just smile at one another as if to acknowledge the mistake. Just gone and brought a coffee from a bar that’s known for Japanese food, dam it was sharp and strong but bloody good. As I walked there I must of got shoved and barged at least 3-4 times and no apologising from any of them, of course it’s not my fault I think to myself and smirk. Only another 14 minutes until the screens let us know what gate I have to go to, then the stampeded starts again. To be fair this time walking up to the gates, I think it was gate 40 there was no stampede. I was the first one at the gate, priority of course. There are lots of people on this flight, looks like a full one, I hope I don’t get some smelly or annoying passenger next to me, I want to chill for the next two hours.
Arrived in Slovakia now, and the time is 23:43 local time and it actually quite warm tonight. At the airport I manage to get through security check in with in five minutes, I’m impressed. Once through this I head straight out as I have no luggage to pick up and I see a man holding up a card with my name on. This is the nice young man from the car company, I have rented out a Skoda fabia and man with all the gadgets it looks like a space ship, very happy with this. Right all formalities and now it is a two hour drive to my destination, but it’s like 00:12 so there shouldn’t be a lot of tragic about.
As I thought the motor way is really clear and I’m driving between 80 km and 125 km and the car feels smooth and comfortable to drive. I finally hit my destination at about 02:30 after a small stop just for a coffee to wake me up. Finally place to sleep. I’ll bid you good night and now it’s time to collapse on my bed and sleep
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I was wondering how you go about getting paid to Blog or write about anything. I mean on WordPress or Tumblr or get advertising on here. If anyone knows please message me. Much appreciated.
Good morning all you writers and readers, how are you all? I’m sitting in another coffee shop this brisk cold but sunny morning, drinking a flat white and it’s 07:30. Why am I up and out already and no shops open yet?
Soon I am going on a trip for five days to Europe. It’s going to be fun. Plus I will Blog about it when I come back.
There is not a lot of people about yet. Just a few looking like they are off to work, some dressed smart some not so. On my way here I must of passed about 8-10 people sleeping rough in door ways to shops and buildings. All fast asleep covered in sleeping bags and thick weather proof coats. It makes me think, there are lots of empty buildings and houses around this town. So why can’t the government and local companies do something about this and try and invest in this? Then maybe a few people will have a permanent address which willgive help to get time to look for work, just a thought.
I have not got work tonight as I got a rare thing called a day off, so this is probably why I’m awake and up already. I need to go buy a shirt for a job interview in a few days. Thinking a cream slim fit or regular and with that I’ll be wearing a two tone blue and brown tie and a dark blue suit with brown shoes. I actually managed to find wide fitting shoes for a change from Next. Happy days.
Right now there doesn’t seem to be a lot of people passing by. One or two coming into the coffee shop. The odd customer glancing over giving a nod and a uneasy smile, as I’m sitting right opposite the door. Some just going about their business not taking in who or what’s going on. Listening to what I presume is music on their phones or mp3’s. Some look like they have had a rough night or have not woken up properly yet. Bless them. People walking buy drinking coffee, big cans of energy drinks and one or two drinking what looks like water. Some walking along talking on the phone smiling and look happy. I have even seen one person that is either texting or playing a game on their phone and they walked into a post. This makes me cringe and that person looks around looking embarrassed. They notice me looking at them and they smile with an embarrassing grin on their face. But they continue on their phone walking on, nearly walking into someone else. Pay attention please I think.
I have just finished my coffee now so I’ll bid you good day and go off shopping for my shirt. Coffee was good and strong. So I’m kind of with it now, we’ll sort of.
People have a great day and I’ll be back soon.
Good morning readers how are you all? good I hope. I have had a bit of a rough week at work, I have had people complaining about me for being to stern in my job, I can’t go into it. It amazes me that people can’t get on in the work place, in the community. In my job it is very demanding and can be stressful as well. Team work to me is people try their best to get along in work, or friends, if there is a problem you should speak to that person with a neutral witness, surely. People should not go running to big management but just try and solve it in house and if it can not be solved then go to management. I am a caring, understanding and loyal to the end and I feel that I am approachable but hey I may be wrong. It does not matter what you look like, what your believes are or where you are from we are all human at the end of the day. So why is it that we as humans treat people with hatred and disgust when they are a little different to us. Myself I don’t care what another person believes in or how they look whether it be sexuality, religious believes, fashion sense or workability we are all HUMAN.
The way I feel right now is I want another job, maybe something in modelling, believe me I’m no Brad Pit or George Clooney but I would give it my all. I often think about doing a job in writing, such as writing stories, writing about countries I visit, or Blogging about anything just as long as the pay is decent I would love to try this and either work in an office or from home meeting deadlines. It would be stressful but I think it would be a good stress and keep me on my toes and constantly thinking. I enjoy writing like I am doing now and would like to get paid for it. It is a little boring I know as I am no one famous, I’m not putting myself down, But surely some people may like what I right and to be recognised for my writing would be amazing.
At the minute I am obviously writing this but I am also watching Hawaii Five-0 and this team work is amazing and exciting, dangerous too. The team tell each other as it is but have the respect they deserve, as they are close as work colleagues and friends. this is how friendship and team work is supposed to be. I know it is a program but it brings into light how team work should be.
So please let me know what else you would like me to write about. I will give it a go and please feel free to follow me or to leave me a comment. I will try and do another session today. If you are interested in hiring me to write get in touch. L.O.L.
I wake up in my bed after a working the previous day on a ward in mental health for adults and what a busy day that was. I get up and get showered then head off for breakfast, which is porridge with blueberries, I know sounds boring but when you put the berries in and let them warm up so they soften and then burst the berries in the porridge the flavour hits you and it’s amazing. With that I have a rich but strong coffee with a little milk, no sugar just to wake me up and get me going for the day. I am supposed to be working with adolescents today that suffer from all types of mental illnesses from self-harm, visual and auditory hallucinations, eating disorders and personality disorders, I mean emerging disorders as they under 18 years of age so they cannot be diagnosed fully yet. So as I am working with adolescents I can wear jeans, t-shirt and trainers for a change instead of trousers, shirt and shoes. Don’t get me wrong I love to dress smart but it is always nice to dress down but smart as well. As I start to head out the door my phone rings and it is the hospital I am going to work at, they ask me if I could go to the local general hospital as they have a patient that has been admitted due to a virus. I think to myself but ask who is it and what is the virus that they have? They tell me it may just be a flu virus but she has just been admitted and I can meet them in emergency admissions. I have worked with them before and I know the patient and luckily we, I hope have a good therapeutic relationship. But who is to know this now as the patient is ill. We all feel crappy when we are ill and have little tolerance well, so a lot of understanding and empathy will be needed for this.
As it’s a long walk to the local hospital I’ll cut that bit out as I only went to a coffee shop for another coffee and nothing much happened. I walk another ten minutes and get to the hospital, this place is a big hospital and the emergency admissions is the other side to where I am, typical. I reach the ward after looking around and a walk that seems to be lasting twenty minutes. I walk in and great everyone,
‘Morning, how are you all?’
People look at me and to be fair they look like they have just woke up and just smile and say in general,
‘At last, we can go’
‘Someone is having to wait until another staff member gets hear’. I tell them.
Two of them say ‘I’m not waiting’ and walk off.
This just leave one woman behind and she tells me ‘I’ll wait with you’
I thank her for waiting, but she has no choice and look at the other two that just walk off and say to them ‘Oh gee thanks’
They look back as if to say ‘What?’
I look at them as if to dismiss them and don’t bother. I look at the patient and she is asleep by the look of it but who is to know if she is listening. After five minutes another staff member turns up and greets us both with a nice smile. She introduces herself and she apparently is a regular member of staff for the patient and her name is Kelly. The staff member that stayed behind says goodbye and picks up her things and leaves. I let her know that I will let the manager know you stayed later even though it was only about five to ten minutes but I’ll tell them it was more on the thirty minutes as we had an issue, wrong I know but I could let them know it was staffing issues. Myself and Kelly sit down and relax, I know Kelly from old she does not recognise me, I get that a lot. We don’t see much of the hospital staff as they don’t seem to like deal with mental health patients or maybe it is because they know that the patient has staff with her and all they need to do is dish up the medication.
It turns to 10:00 and the patient starts to move and squirm awake, moaning and groaning, she turns and sees us both and smiles saying,
‘Hi have I got you two?’
‘Unfortunately, Yes’ I respond.
‘Good’ she says with a smile.
She continues to lay there not sitting up but just lying there, occasionally opening her eyes and looking so tired I actually feel sorry for her feeling this ill. She must of fallen back to sleep as her breathing has got heavy again. I look at Kelly and just smile as in boring. Kelly gets a book out and starts to read, to my surprise it’s a Chris Ryan book Hunter Killer, which is a very good read as I have read it. I sit there looking around the room as the patient is in a side room. I get up and ask Kelly if she would like a coffee but she just replies that she has just had one so she is ok for now. I walk out the side room and head down the ward. I get hit with a pungent smell of stale smell of stale urine and sweat wafting around the ward. I think to myself that this is awful and they should do something about it. But to be fair this is an adult ward and most of the patients are elderly and it will waff a little. I head to the end of the ward where the coffee machine is. I walk past the nursing station is and smile at the nurses as if to say hi, but they look and then look away as if to say I can’t be bothered or to say hi but don’t speak to me. Don’t get me wrong I admire general nurses as they have a lot of stressful work and a lot more physical work to do than mental health workers.
Sitting back in the side room I think to myself that I wish I had brought a book with me to read, but luckily Kelly reaches into her bag and pulls out another book which is about body language and how to read it, so I read this but still looking over at the patient that still appears to sleep. Suddenly she turns round and says that she needs the toilet, we get up and walk round to the toilet with her but Kelly has to stay with her as the patient is supervised due to the risk of self-harm. Kelly returns out of the toilet with the patient and we walk back. Suddenly the patient loses balance and we both reach out to catch her and help her, Linked arms we walk back to her room together and get the patient back into bed and get her to chill and relax. We get her to drink a coffee and two sugars just to give her a caffeine fix for energy but it has no effect. This patient has to be ill as usually she picks right up when she has a coffee, we both look at each other as if to say oh dear. After ten minutes of chilling but worry a nurse and a house doctor comes in the room, the doctor introduces himself and the nurse and hands over the results from the blood tests. The patient has the flu and all she needs is lots of fluids and food to build her energy back up and we could go when we are ready but if things change please bring her back. We both thank the doctor and nurse for their help and I say to Kelly,
‘I’ll ring the ward and let them know what is going on’
‘OK’ replies Kelly.
As I phone the ward and explain what is going on and ask for transport back to the hospital, it will be about twenty minutes until they arrive. So we both try and wake the patient and she is a bit sluggish but she wakes and we tell her that we can go and could she please get dressed. We help her get her stuff together and start to head off out the ward, the nurse in charge asks,
‘Where are you going?’
‘We been told that we can go by the doctor’ I reply.
‘OK’ replies the nurse, then replies ‘I will need to get the tablets to take out’.
‘I’ll pick them up later in the afternoon’.
We head off to the exit in the hospital and there waiting is the hospital transport to take us back to the hospital and back to the ward. As we walk to the vehicle the patients makes a half-hearted effort to make a runner. I reach out and grab her on her clothing by her shoulder and pull her back.
‘Get in and stop being silly’ I say to her.
Once in the vehicle we head back to the hospital and end up outside the building we need and hold the patient’s wrists to walk her in the building. Once in the building and get our keys we let go of the patients wrists and open the doors to the ward. We enter the ward and the patient has a search by Kelly and as we thought she has nothing on her that she should not have. She walks onto the ward and as usual lots of patients want to know where she has been and what was wrong with her. We stay in the office and make a long entry in her notes of what the doctor and the nurse has said. We both sit there but I am getting bored while she types and head off onto the ward. Some of the patients ask me where you been and what is wrong with the patient, of course I don’t tell them as it would be a breach of confidentiality on the patient.
I know this is short but this is the most exciting thing that has happened this day, as the rest of the day I have been sitting watching TV on the ward, playing cards and escorting patients to educations or just sitting in the day area. It is nice to have a quiet relaxing afternoon on the adolescent ward. We will see what happens over the next few days until I what happens next.
I’m sitting here in another coffee shop and thinking what do I have to do to get a good job? At the minute I’m having a rough time at work. Maybe it’s time to move on. Don’t get me wrong I love my job but I think it’s time for a change. I would love a full time, decent paid job, maybe modelling but I haven’t got the godly like body yet for that. What would be nice is to be paid to go to an office or work from home and write for a living. I know that these jobs are hard to come by, but how nice it would be to do this. The coffee shop is quite busy at the minute and the staff work fast and hard in the morning rush. The smell of the coffee in here smells amazing and the flat white I’m drinking is amazing. I watch the people walking by and wonder where they are going? Men and women in suits, couples walking by looking happy holding hands looking like they are in love. Others just strolling along window shopping as shops are not open yet as it’s only 08:30. I see some homeless people coming out of the shop doorways moving on or being moved on. People going for runs, maybe to work or to the gym.
I’m not going to the gym today as I have been for the past four days and also been kickboxing on Wednesday night. That was a killer session for me and some of the other senior students. Think grading must be coming up soon. That will be an immense session when it happens. But you got to love the burn after a hard session.
I need to go and buy some new shoes soon for an event I got to go to in a European country. I’ll write about that after it has happened. I think I will go and get some style of light brown shoe, it’s going to be difficult as I have a wide foot and a lot of shoes are slim line. Now I’m frowning at the thought. Plus I need a light brown shirt and tie. Think I need my wife to help me chose these as she has a good eye for these things.
Back to modelling, I would love to have a contract for an agency to model watches, suits, smart dress wear or jewellery. Then maybe I would be happy in my job, ha ha ha. But to be fair I know that it’s a hard job and maybe shot term but it would be fun. Plus even if I could be paid to do writing that be fun too. I could sit in coffee shops like now and get inspiration from sitting here watching my surroundings.
Well it’s coming to 09:00 soon so I’ll bid you good day readers and I’ll go buy my shoes. You know that they will hurt my feet for a while and maybe a blister or two. So I hope everyone has a good day and I’ll be back here soon. Take care.
Once Carl was secluded and the paper work for the seclusion was filled out Tim had been taken by the paramedics which had to attend and the ward manage went with him, they took him off to A&E. I was asked to do the incident report on what had happened. I went into the office and there must have been about five staff in the office and asked the other nurse in charge,
‘If you want me to do this report you will have to get the staff in the office to come into the day area while I do this’
She looked around and confidently got three staff to go into the day area for the next ten to fifteen minutes. As some of them walked out you could see the looks on their faces as if they had just been asked to do something terrible. As they walk off into the day area I notice that I get a few funny looks as I sit down at the desk to do the report.
‘Really, What’
I mouth to the staff staring in my direction. As soon as they see me mouthing they look away as if they had just been shamed. I spend the next ten minutes typing away on the computer what had happened, to who, when and where everything had happened and the threats to life made by Carl during the incident. After this was done I had to inform Carl’s social worker and the lead consultant for Carl and of course the local police officer as a serious assault had just happened. Once all this was done I took a look in the diary to see what was happening today, such as patients going into the community, cinema trip or family visits. There was something in the diary for a patient called Mark, he was going into town to buy some clothes if he wanted to buy anything but he just needed a little bit of support. I asked the nurse in charge if it was ok for me to take Mark into town for a change.
‘I don’t get to go out that much with the guys, so could I go?’
‘I don’t see why not I’ll mark you down to go’ said the nurse in charge.
I go back into the day area and see that one member of staff was serving breakfast to the patients and Mark was sitting smiling, just like he did most mornings, Now let me tell you Mark is one of those rare patients you think to yourself why is he here?, he did not disturb anything or anyone on the ward for at least four weeks. Then one day a patient tried to take some of his property and as a result of this Mark beat up the patient but luckily only manged to hit him twice before staff intervened and stopped him. Mark had a bit of a temper from here on in and he had told staff that he was trying his best to hold it together but the voices had got the better of him. This must have been the worst incident that Mark had since he was with us, he usually kept it together well but occasionally came to staff for some support. So for someone who had been with us for about six to seven months and only ever had two or three big incidents, not bad going I say.
Mark had finished his breakfast and taken his stuff back to the kitchen for the staff to clean and asked for another coffee,
‘Strong coffee no sugar milk please’
In his rough gravel pit voice, he got this through years of smoking and when he went into hospital years ago he had a health scare of possible cancer but it was caught in time. I went over to him and sat with him.
‘You want a coffee too?’ said Mark
‘Please, same as you’ I replied.
We went and sat together at the dining table and Mark had ask if I was ok after seeing that incident earlier. This was always a great thing to hear especially from a patient, it kind of made the job feel more worthwhile to me. I let him know that I was ok and that it was unfortunately part and parcel of the job at times. But never mind and quickly changed the topic of conversation.
‘I’m taking you into town today, so you can maybe buy some new clothes’
‘Cool that’s going to be great, when we going?’ asked Mark.
I let him know that we would be leaving in about an hour which would make it around 10:45 am, once breakfast was finished and I would have done the paper work for him to leave the building to go into the community. The hour soon past getting everything done such as section 17 for leave and checking in Marks notes that it was up to date and if there was any restrictions on his section17. I got the nurse in charge to ring the reception to let them know that Mark was going out with staff for a few hours into town. Once Mark was ready and paper work filled out Mark and myself walked off towards the reception area through three lots of locked doors and then one more set of doors to enter reception. Once the receptionist pressed a button on her desk which was behind a thick glass window, just like her own little office. Once the button was pressed a light above the door turned green and that meant we could go through the door. Mark swung the door open with it crashing against the wall and making us both laugh as it made the receptionist jump. I shut the door behind us both and handed to the receptionist Marks hospital I.D card which she kept until he returned and I handed in my keys and personal alarm, which every member of staff had to have on them. The receptionist pressed another button and held it and this turned another light above the outside door green so we could go through this door to the outside of the building.
‘I’LL open the door this time Mark’ giving him a cocky smile.
Mark looked at me with a smirk and walked out of the air lock and turned left out of the building. We headed for five minutes’ walk up the road until we reach Clare Street, once we got there we turned down Clare Street and walked for another ten minutes, this was the main road into town from the hospital. Once we both got to town Mark suggested we go to Costa or another coffee shop. We walk down the main street to the first coffee shop and walk in, it only has one or two customers sitting down drinking whatever coffee they have ordered. Mark confidently walks up to the counter and then with a quiet voice orders his coffee and turns and asks,
‘What you want?’
‘Oh thanks, I’ll have a flat white, cheers’
‘One flat white with an extra shot please’ Mark says to the person making the coffee.
With his smile on his face Mark takes both coffees and sits by the window. Mark asks
‘Do you mind sitting here by the window to drink the coffee?’
‘Not at all I reply’ and smile to make him at ease.
We sit down and Mark is not much of a talker he often likes to sit there with his coffee and just watch people pass by. Sounds familiar, just like me. We sit there drinking our coffees and Mark looks over at me and tries to pull off a smile and says this is nice just sitting and chilling, to be fair Mark is right it is nice just to sit and chill like this. After about ten to fifteen minutes we finish the coffees and Mark takes the cups back up to the counter and says thank you to the person working behind the counter. I thank Mark for the coffee and we head out of the coffee shop and turn right out the shop and slowly walk up the high street looking in shop windows. Mark walks a few feet in front of me, as sometimes he does, just to make himself feel more confident and independent. Once Mark comes to a clothes shop he turns into it but quickly looking back to make sure I know where he is going and I give him a gentle nod and a smile to acknowledge this. Mark wonders slowly around the shop picking up T-shirts and folding them back up neatly, then looks at some trousers and picks out some combat trousers that are a dark blue but nearly look black. Mark wraps them over his arm and heads back to the T-shirts, after looking at the T-shirts for a while Mark picks out at least three polo shirts, white, grey and green and puts them over his arm with the trousers. I turn back to the door and pick up a basket for Mark and hand it to him. Mark smiles and says,
‘Cheers’
Then continues shopping for clothes. Mark wonders off to the jackets and takes his time browsing while I just look and think about what I would buy, but I’m not here for myself it’s Marks time. Mark decides on a black jacket which is about waist length and has two pockets on the waist and two pockets on the chest area. It appears to be made from a denim material, but looks smart but casual as well. We head off to the cash desk and Mark is looking a little nervous, he sometimes struggles in confidence when it comes to paying for things. I let him know that I’ll walk up to the cash desk with him if he likes and place my hand on his shoulder for that reassurance feeling I think he needs. At this moment we walk up the young lady behind the desk smiles at Mark and greats him and Mark sighs as he places his clothes on the desk.
‘Would you like the hangers with these?’ she asks Mark.
‘No thanks’ is Marks reply.
Mark stairs down at the floor while the cashier puts everything through the till. The young lady lets Mark know that the total cost is £65.55 and Mark hands over £80as he only has twenty pound notes. Mark waits for his change and then we walk off together and off out the shop. Mark turns and says to me,
‘Dam that was difficult’
‘Why?’ I ask.
‘Don’t know, just was’ says Mark
‘Well you managed it with no problem, be pleased’
‘I am I suppose’ and Mark smiles.
Whilst walking slowly down the street looking in shop windows, Mark decides that he wants to go to a book shop and get a couple of books to read for when he has nothing to do or at bed time. So we head off to the local book shop that everyone seems to go to as it is cheap and cheerful. Once in the shop I ask to hold Marks bags so it would free his hands to look at books. Mark hands over the book and says
‘Thanks matey, glad you came’ said with a smirk.
Mark is looking in the self-help books and how to control your anger. He picks a thin book out and it’s by some doctor and Mark reads the back of it then reads one or two pages and decides this book seems to be ok. Then we head over to the fictional section and I stand there watching Mark gaze through the books and after about ten minutes Mark picks a thick book out and it is about some alien coming to earth and taking a woman to his planet where she becomes his queen, Some Sci-fi story. Marks heads of to the cash desk and puts the two books down on the counter and says to the cashier
‘I’ll take just these two please’
‘That will be £13 pound altogether please’ says the cashier’
Mark hands over a £20 note and waits for the change, then Mark turns and walks to my direction. We must have been shopping for about an hour and Mark says
‘Let’s get another coffee to walk back with’
‘Ok, my treat this time ok’ I say
‘Yer right’ says Mark and walks back to the coffee shop.
Once in the coffee shop I order a skinny flat white and Mark asks for a regular flat white with an extra shot in it. Once we have the coffees I manage to pay this time just before Mark gets his money out. It took Mark longer as his hands are full with his shopping bags. We head out of the coffee shop and slowly walk back to the hospital and it must take us about 20 minutes to half an hour this time round as we are not in any hurry to get back. Once we are nearly back I chuck my coffee cup in a bin but Mark wants to keep his so he has his own cup on the ward for a while. I don’t know why he didn’t buy himself one when he was out in town. Coming back to the hospital we stand at the airlock door and wait for the light to turn green. Once green I push the door open and we both walk into the airlock and let the door shut. Once the receptionist hands over my keys and alarm and I attach them to my belt she presses the button to turn the light green and unlocks the door. Mark and I walk back to the ward. Once on the ward Mark hands over the two bags with the clothes and books as they have to be written down on his property list. I give Mark a search as per policy when anyone goes out they have to be searched and then let him into the day area. Once Mark is in the day area he heads off to the toilet. I sit in the office and look for the property sheets to write the things Mark has brought. For a change there is only the nurse in charge sitting in the office. Once I have written everything down I take the things out of the bags and throw away the bags and hand over the clothes and book back to Mark. Marks comes over and takes them from me and says,
‘Thanks for taking me I enjoyed it’
‘Me too’ I replied.
I head back into the office and enter a detailed entry in Marks notes about his visit into town, how his behaviour was, his interaction and whether there was any risk behaviours while out. This took me about 45 minutes to write the whole thing down on the computer. Once this was done I signed off the computer and then the nurse in charge says
‘It’s not far from 1 o’clock why don’t you go home now, I’ll log you out on the system for 13:45’
‘I’m on a long day’ I reply
‘You ask need to take some of the time owing so we decided you could take some of it today’
‘OK’ I happily replied.
I get my stuff and head off back out of the building and walk home.
I know the ending is different from part one but you can pick which ending it could have. I just thought I’d try something different and have two endings for the day.
I’m sitting here in a coffee shop with my skinny flat white, not very adventurous coffee I know but I like simple coffee, none of this fancy flavoured coffee. But one thing I don’t mind is simple coffee with cinnamon in it, just to take the sharpness of the coffee away. I have decided to sit by one of the big panel windows in the coffee shop which is close to the entrance, so I can observe people passing me by but not actually seeing me. To be fair about 90% of us people watch but how many of us take things in and wonder ‘why?’ You can observe a lot of things if you just only take the time to do so and it can be very entertaining. I mean that you can watch people and imagine what they do for a living, what they do for fun or what type of person they could be.
Outside the shop the sun is trying to break through the clouds and you can see it is just a little bit breezy outside as well. Some of the people outside with long hair appear to have their hair blowing in the breeze. At certain points you can see the sun breaking out through the clouds and hitting the shop windows making it a bit dazzling in the reflection. But to be honest how nice is it to have the sun out and to enjoy it after such a bad winter and autumn.
Whilst I sit here looking outside I start to take note of the different people walking past the shop where I am sitting with my coffee. I see a young lad dressed in what appears to be dark grey track bottoms, white Nike high tops and a baggy black Adidas T-shirt, this appears to have a few stains on it. I think to myself he must have been hungry when he ate and spilt his food down him. He is walking down the street with a few friends and he walks as if he is very cock sure of himself, you know, confident. As he walks he talks very loud and constantly swearing and shoving his friends, the only thing I find wrong with this picture is that he walking down the street with his left hand down the front of his track bottoms. There is about three of them walking like this, what is this all about? Surely if their hands are cold put them in your pockets, just a thought. As I sit there looking one of the lads points over to what I think is my direction. They turn and head towards the coffee shop and stare in my general direction. I look down at my coffee and take a sip or two and think to myself, here comes trouble. But as they approach the coffee shop they then change direction and walk past. I put my coffee back down but still have hold of it whilst I continue to watch people.
I notice a man and a woman walking by and they appear to be in their late twenties to early thirties holding hands, both smiling at each other while they talk to each other. To me this makes me think Love does exist but you don’t see it that often, I mean true happiness and love together. The young woman must be about 5ft 5, medium build and long brown curly hair and quite pretty and he is about 5ft10 muscular build and very close cut hair and appears to be happy in her company. They walk close together holding hands and arms looking as if they are nearly intertwining. They appear to of been clothes shopping as she is carrying River Island bags and he is carrying a Burtons bag. As they walk along he bends over a little and kisses her straight on the lips and mutters something to her which makes her smile, my thought is that he must of kissed her and said something on the lines of ‘I love you’ but that’s just a guess. As they carry on walking the head off round the corner down another street and out of view. But as they disappear a woman comes storming round the corner like she is on a mission and she has no time for anything or anyone. As she comes round the corner holding her handbag inn her left hand and holding he mobile to her ear in the other hand and not watching where she is going. She walks straight into a young woman who probably in her early twenties. You can see that the woman in a rush drops her phone but just manages to catch it before it hits the floor. You can see that the two women must have exchanged a few words as both of them are pointing and shouting but to be fair the elder lady that was in a rush should have been paying attention to where she was rushing to. The younger lady that was walked into was looking in a shop window minding her own business. This just shows that if you are in a hurry just pay attention to how and where you are going to get there.
I must have been sitting in the coffee shop for about forty minutes now and decide to order another coffee, same as before, skinny flat white. I continue watching people pass by and wonder about them, where are they going, some in a rush and some appear to be taking their time. Some people look like that they are not in a hurry to get anywhere. Some people are dressed smart in a suit or a dress suit, some with briefcases and some with shoulder bags. There are a few people standing outside the coffee shop smoking and some sitting at tables for the shop smoking and drinking coffee. Some people look like they are late for work and some look like they are not going to work but just on a day out. There are one or two groups of people sitting in the coffee shop and having what appears to be a meetings, in these small groups one or two people have computers out working and typing when the people are talking in the small groups. As I look back out into the street I observe a very scruffy man that appears to be in his fifties but it is hard to tell as he appears to be dirty scruffy and not shaven in about four months or so. He appears to be drinking something out of a brown paper bag to which I can only thing is a whisky bottle as it is a smallish bottle. He appears to be a little unsteady on his feet but not too bad, that could be that he has had time to build up a tolerance for the alcohol but that’s just a guess really. As people are passing him by one or two appear to give him some money after he has said something them.
I have just picked up my second coffee and drank the last little bit off and took it back to the counter and thanked them for the coffee. I smile at the shop workers and head for the door, as I walk through the door a woman wearing sunglasses and a woolly beany hat barges through the door and nocks into me as I am already walking through. The lady tuts as she barges past and I respond to her,
‘I think the word is excuse me’
And with that she turns and says in reply,
‘Excuse me, what did you say?’
‘You heard’
And then just turn around and head out the door with a bit of a cocky smile on my face and head up the street. To be fair that lady did barge past as if she had the right of way. Some people are just rude in manors thinking the world owes them. Some people are funny in the way they act in public and some just want to get on with life and not worry about others. So next time you have some free time just sit in a coffee shop and sit by the window and watch people pass by and turn their lives into something from your imagination.
Motivational things 
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