Training - pass or fail

I haven't written about T's training for the last couple of weeks - actually, December 3rd was my last post about training with her. At that time we were optimistic that we'd crossed a major hurdle and would be able to finish up rather quickly. This was a good thing, because we've had two new trainee's begin; E, who I wrote about earlier, and L, who is another one of the Kirkwood students who was in the class I TA'd with last semester.

But, for the most part, I'm still going out with T, trying to get her stuff finished up. Sadly, it's become quite the struggle. Once again, she's not getting her draws. She gets down on herself so badly that if she misses a draw, she then misses the next several because she's so angered at her failure. I understand that - but I also know that you have to pretend sometimes that each patient is your very first stick of the day and you can't let the ones you missed affect the rest of your work day.

Last week, I took her to the psych ward to begin training there. Her first patient was difficult for her - and when we left the room, she had a melt down and told me she felt like she should check herself into the psych ward as a patient herself...that she just couldn't go on like this any longer.

So, I let her cry, and I rubbed her back and got her under control again. And, we talked when we got back to the lab. I pushed the issue and demanded that she tell me what's going on. My bosses can't do this, because it's an invasion of her personal life, but since I'm a co-worker, I can do it...and did.

What came out of it was a whole bunch of stuff that was not work related, but has an effect on her work, if that makes sense. The single thing she was doing that was related to the job was her continued study. This screws her up. She is really a "seeing" person, and reading the text messes her up when she tries to combine the reading with the reality. I told her that she was not to do any more reading, but was to just pay attention to what we were doing at work and I thought she'd get along far better. I also suggested that when six months go by, she can re-read the material and it will be far easier to understand.

On her home front, she finally got moved into her mobile home that she bought and remodeled with the help of her father and siblings in law. Problem is, once she moved in, they all bailed on her, and began working on an addition for her sister who runs a day care out of her home. When I asked T what was left to do, I found out that one of the things that didn't get done was the installation of her kitchen sink! So, she's been trying to do dishes in her bathtub. She has no dishwasher. Her relatives say they probably won't be back to finish the work till spring.

When I asked if she had a dishwasher. She said, "No, Dad wouldn't let me get one...he said a dishwasher was for lazy people and he didn't raise me to be lazy." Yet, this same father has made it a point to be right at the forefront of refusal to get her sink installed.

Uh-oh...Kate gets rather militant when things like this happen. I absolutely *despise* it when someone is talked down to, or made to feel like they aren't valuable to those who purport to love them. I asked her if her father was living with her. When she said he wasn't, then I suggested very strongly that if she wanted a dishwasher, then she should get one, since her father didn't seem to be coming over to do her dishes FOR her. And, I also told her that she needs to stand up to them and demand that her stuff get finished. It's only right and fair, and she needs to not have that stress because she won't have a job much longer if things don't turn completely around.

Found out, too, that she still isn't taking her insulin, because her insurance got messed up. And she's not gone to the insurance office to straighten it out, instead, waiting for things to go through channels. She was due to have her insurance begin on Dec. 1.

Not only that, I found out this interesting little thing. She was telling us that until this year she'd never driven in ice and snow...because her mother didn't want her to have an accident. T is the baby of the family, you see. Well, T is also over 40 years old. It's about time she develops a backbone and stands up for herself, and I was cold-hearted enough to tell her exactly that.

So, all these things are weighing heavily on her mind. No wonder she had a melt down. And, it's no wonder she hasn't been able to do her job. But, we are at the point of no return. The powers that be are wondering just why the lab has had someone on trainee status for so many more weeks than normal. It puts my boss and her boss, and even Dean and I at risk for our training methods to be questioned, never mind how many successful phlebotomists we've trained. Of course...one never looks at the positives, only the negatives, right?

So, T gets dumped off training next week over the holidays. She'll have to sink or swim. And she may well lose her job over it. I don't know what to think will happen. I just keep proceeding as forward with the training as I can get. And, I hope that somehow T will pull it all together.