580 Comments for Margate State School

Why do people equate straps with restraints? If someone has no trunk control and is lying in a prone device such as this and turns over, they can fall out and become severely injured if they are not secured with straps to keep them positioned correctly and safely. Good golly. If I use a seat belt (which is a big strap) in a car, am I restrained? If I use a bar across my lap when I am on a ski lift, am I restrained? If I am in a karate outfit that has a strap around it (like, say, a black belt) does that mean I'm restrained because I have a big strap around me? Jebus, people, take something for this morbid fascination with restraints. =8-o

Dr. "Ok Jimmy get up on the table."
Jimmy "Ok"
Dr. "This won't hurt a bit"
Pulls out some drill thing.
Bizzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzinnggggggg.

That chair looks like it has restriants on it. Notice the big white strap looking thing.

I wish my work allowed unions.

IT LOOKS LIKE A FOLDABLE MORGUE TABLE.

I think you'll find few people these days who don't agree with that. Now, if the states would just cough up the $$$ so's the families can keep their kiddos home longer with the resources they really need . . . .

I think thats a good thing because kids don't belong in places like this, they belong with their parents, who need to learn how to care for and nurture them. Commitment into a place like this should only be as a last resort.

HOW OLD DO YOU THINK THOSE CHAIRS ARE MR. MOTTS?

Wow
what a great shot! I love your staircase shots! This one is really really exceptional. great colors too!

The main reason I chose 3rd shift was there was less supervisory staff breathing down your neck. It got very bad for staff in the closing years. You could not believe the things you could be written up for. Thank god for the union we had . That was the only protection we had.

WAWAWAWAWA!!!!! 8`-)

Yeah, one day we'll have to tell them we really WERE murdering bastards after all, huh? 8`-)

These people scare me, Marcia. They want blood and guts to clear up the guilt they seem to feel for their people not voting to give money to take care of the people you and I actually took physical care of. Funny world, huh?

Makes ya feel kinda like the witches on trial in Salem musta felt. Whatever evidence is brought up they use it against you - same evidence, different interpretation. Throw 'em in the river - if they don't drown, they are witches and need to be burned. If they drown, oops! They musta not been witches after all! Our bad!

Sounds like a routine night that I had at Pennhurst, Lynn. That is when I wasn't beating and maiming my charges.

OK, third shift generally does the "bed checks" I was referring to. They have to check each person on the living every half hour to make sure they are OK (and record that they made this check). It's a difficult task because you want to get in the room quietly without turning on the lights (usually need to use a flashlight or the hall light, which is dimmed), make sure each person is breathing and isn't tangled in clothes or bedding, hasn't fallen out of bed, hasn't eaten anything s/he isn't supposed to eat (bedding, leisure items, etc.), doesn't look like they have a fever, hasn't received an injury of some sort due to seizures, self-injurious behavior, etc., the covers are where they need to be, etc., and if the person has become wet or soiled him/herself you need to assist in getting him/her to the bathroom and changed, while then going back and changing the bedding. Third shift also folds the bags and bags of laundry that come back to the living area and places the folded laundry in each person's bedroom (quietly, without waking them) and the linens and towels in the linen room, cleans the furniture (and in some places does all the mopping and cleaning for the living area), does charting, files all the paperwork that needs filed, escorts anyone to the bathroom who needs to go, and deals with anyone who is up and about because they have sleep problems (which is approximately 1/4 of our folks). They then get everyone dressed before first shift comes in and get breakfast set up.
It is easily one of the most under-appreciated, most unsung, yet most important jobs in the history of healthcare. Yet third shift staff are routinely called "weird" because they work an unusual shift.
Go figure.
Any place where people with severe to profound disabilities live, whether it is a large residential facility, group home, or private home, cannot function without third shift. THESE people are the backbone of the healthcare system.

Lynn- Yes. I worked 3-11PM, and just before the overnight ("third") shift came on, we'd go through each ward, changing any wet bedding, escorting certain people to the bathrooms, etc. We were "tripping"! And sometimes I got to "trip" in a building I had "floated" to.

This picture - this whole place - is just sad. A dumping place for people no-one was too eager to have.