2023-05-13 07:37:36
But why the hell does a novelist suddenly become a hospital service agent in an Ehpad (accommodation establishment for dependent elderly people)? In You haven’t found a worse job?*, which comes out this Friday in bookstores, Nicolas Rouillé explains the reasons which led him to try the experience between two writing projects, and this in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis. An adventure so strong that it generated his irrepressible desire to tell it.
This personal work differs from the famous book-investigation by Victor Castanet The gravediggers, published in 2022, which revealed the dark secrets of the Orpéa group, the world leader in nursing homes. The picture that Nicolas Rouillé delivers from the Ehpad, without being idyllic, is less gloomy, as evidenced by the interview he gave us.
Why did you decide to work in an nursing home rather than in a field close to your profession as a writer?
At that time, in 2020, I was looking for a food job. And for me, it made sense to work in nursing homes, because I had an interest in the elderly. I had no diploma or experience in the medico-social field, but the sector has such recruitment needs that it was not an obstacle. Initially, I did not intend to write on the subject. But very quickly, I felt the need. I also wanted to show the very human aspect of these professions, of which we should be proud.
The nursing home that employed you was public. Does this explain the difference between your story and the findings of Victor Castanet in The gravediggers ?
I do not have a global vision of Ehpad, but the one in which I was employed was well managed. It was neither faultless nor catastrophic, but average. I think the number one concern of public nursing homes is the well-being of residents, not the pursuit of profit as for some private nursing homes. There was no rationing of food, but on the contrary a certain food waste. No restrictions either on protections for residents, as described by Victor Castanet.
You describe hard, underpaid, tiring jobs…
The teams would like to do their job in good conditions, but very often this is not possible. Because the supervision rates provided for in nursing homes by the health authorities are insufficient. The staff does not have much time to spend with each resident to talk, play a game, go out in the garden, whereas these missions should be at the heart of the job. This would significantly improve the daily lives of residents.
Exercising in an nursing home also means seeing the work being constantly reorganized, according to the number of residents or staff and health instructions. Changes in habits that can become tiring in the long run. The salaries of these trades are too low, they should be upgraded, while better equipping professionals. It is not normal, for example, that in an establishment like the one where I worked, there is only one hoist per floor.
Does team spirit prevail between caregivers, hospital service agents, nurses, etc.?
Yes, overall, despite turnover and the number of temporary workers. We help each other when there are peaks of activity, we laugh to ease the pressure… There is often a good atmosphere.
These trades are undervalued. Yet you demonstrate how much precision they require…
Yes, the technicality of these professions is also relatively unknown. Repositioning a resident in bed without hurting them requires experience. Performing skin care also requires knowledge. Feeding an elderly person requires a lot of precautions to avoid mistakes.
“The tired of life are legion here”, “Many want to get out of here”, you write. Is sadness the common lot of residents?
Not systematically, but for some it is the first time they have lived in a community, hence their difficulty in adapting. Especially since the pace of life is imposed. Some residents never have a visit, either because they no longer have a family or because they have abandoned them. In addition, people arrive in nursing homes increasingly older and with a deteriorated physical condition. They come to end their lives here.
The toilet is a delicate moment. How do the caregivers do it so that it is not too humiliating for the residents?
They pay a lot of attention to it and it can last half an hour. They discuss to make the moment lighter… What is complicated is when a resident refuses to be washed. If we force him, it’s a form of abuse, but if we leave him without a toilet, that’s one too.
You denounce the boredom in Ehpad. Why aren’t there more animations?
In the establishment where I worked, there was one animator for 88 residents. This is very insufficient, it means that the health authorities assume the fact that the elderly are bored. The job description of hospital service agents or nursing assistants should clearly indicate that animation is part of their attributions. Because it is abnormal that some residents never go out or participate in any collective leisure. There is an urgent need for the mental health of residents to be taken into account in nursing homes.
Especially since you show the effect produced by the singing sessions organized in the retirement home where you worked…
This makes it possible to link the generations together, because the staff, often young, mingle with the residents to sing Dalida, for example. The songs often evoke happy memories and they exercise the memory.
Have you created special ties with certain residents?
When you take the time to chat with older people, it’s a world that opens up to the past. They tell their life, the war period… Even with a person who loses his mind, it is possible to forge a bond. By taking her hand, listening to her monologues… Even if the exchange is limited, the very fact of being present with her comforts her.
How did you react to the deaths of residents?
When I worked there, on my floor, there were 10 deaths in a year and a half. Even if we know that residents come to end their days at the nursing home, we are never really prepared for it. And as a hospital service agent, I often had to empty rooms or clean the mortuary room, which is always a painful moment.
You write: “The idea of hanging up almost frightens me”. Why did you find it difficult to leave nursing home to return to your real job?
I got attached to a lot of people. I felt a form of guilt because I felt like I was letting the residents down. I had a hard time cutting the link and besides, I went back to the nursing home. When I informed my colleagues that I had written a book based on this experience, they welcomed the news. Probably because I had a benevolent look at them.
#residents #days #prepared