Oral care= brushing teeth, flossing, denture care, mouth swabbing, etc.

Today at work I had to go in for this "training" session. But it was really more like a 5 hour quiz. With occasional little "informative" video clips showing you what an acceptable attitude is interspersed.

There was a manikin set up for us to go through and demonstrate cares complete with a removable wig to reveal old-Ken hair, removable male genitalia to reveal female privates, holes for a colostomy bag, needles, catheters, etc. It's all pretty basic stuff, nothing that any of us should have hesitated on because we've all already been trained on what is and is not acceptable. Just a little refresher course so people don't get in the habit of doing shortcuts and compromising the quality of care our residents recieve. Today they left the manikin as a woman because someone misplaced the man parts.

So at one point she wanted someone to demonstrate the proper procedure for performing oral care on an unconscious resident. And some girl (I won't voice my judgments about her based on her attire) chimes in uncertainly, "Ummm.. you mean on a woman...? Or a man."

Everyone turns to stare vacantly at her, just blinking. A few look at the floor and turn away a bit.

Sigh. Some of my coworkers really suck.