Please Reassure My Concious

I am so happy to hear that you have such a love for your work & people you care for.
Not sure if your facility allows animals but there is a great group call "Pets For Life" who specialize in bringing well trained & mannered pets to nursing homes & hospitals. Maybe you can research it more to consider setting up a special visit from them or a local Church Youth group that would like to do caroling during your time off. That would bring them some excitement & allow you time with your family.
Good luck and I hope your holidays are wonderful!

I agree with the other ladies...Don't feel guilty. You need time with your family and a break from work to ensure your happiness so that you will be able to provide better care for your "other" family. I also agree with the suggestion of bringing your family to visit your residents on the holidays. My mother was a nurse and brought us to visit her residents and I feel I learned compassion and understanding from our visits. I also know that the residents loved our visits and always asked us to come back.
Allow them a little change of scenery, I'm sure they're getting sick of seeing your mugg every day anyway. :) J/K lol.

Why not take your whole family down for a short visit after your family meal? It will be a good experience for everyone. The residents would know how extra special your love is - that you came back "off shift!" And no doubt they would enjoy seeing your little one. Your family would benefit from seeing your world, and also from doing a good deed of visiting those who don't have families to spend their holidays with.

I love this post - I'm sorry you are conflicted but just seeing the outpouring of love from your heart, and others who answered you, renews my faith in human kindness.

I think that it is important to be with your family. Don't geel guilty about that! Maybe next time you can take a shift that you didn't this time and just balance the time out, but I don't think you should feel guilty at all. Good luck!! Happy Holidays!!!

stop feeling like that what do they want you to be there 24/7???? that is not you responsibility you want to spend time with your family then you deserve that... you fill in as many as you can handle and then say i have a full plate and so be it they will work it out from there!!! DONT FEEL GUILTY!!!!!!!

You need to be with your family.You're already making a difference in their lives by being there in the day.You sound like a wonderful person and I know you mean well but your family needs you too.I know how stressful this can be and how hard it is to see people in that situation but you need to be with your family.I'm a volunteer firefighter and sometimes I have to take a step back especially around the holidays and let other people pull some weight.My husband and children mean the world to me and they don't have anyone else in this world like me and as you see your family don't either,Good luck and I wish the best for you in whatever you decide but balance is key to a healthy life not only for yourself but those around you. :~}

NO it is not selfish to turn down these shifts. you deserve time off. i am sure the will understand. enjoy your holidays

no I dont think that you are being selfish about it. I would work your same shift and hope that everyone else there has a great holiday and maybe after you get done with your time with your family you can go vist them

I know where you are coming from. I worked as a CNA and later as an activity/social service director. Maybe you should concider turning down the shifts but take your family to the nursing home to do a holiday visit. Get a group of residents together and sing christmas carols and drink hot cider. I bet your kids would enjoy it as wel as the residents!

you seem to be committed like I am to South Side Mission. It's a jomeless shelter for women and I volunteer every chance I get. I use to get paid, but that doesn't even matter now. This is a job the Lord gave you from what I'm hearing from you, so follow your heart. Do a part of a day, long enough to touch everyone and go home and touch your family the same ways. Praise God! Someone who cares

queen

I know how you feel I ended up the activities director of a local nursing home at the young age of seventeen through obvious management issues. Anyway I got the job and it was such a blessing to me. I know exactly what you are talking about and I have to say there should be more with your same views. I agree on taking your family up there after your meal. I know how close you get to your residents and there is nothing wrong with that. As far as my job went, it was mine for the entire summer (paperwork and all) but I loved it. However, since I couldn't work full time once school started again I was replaced. My residents sent me a Christmas card that year and they all signed it. That was the best card I've ever recieved.

BEING IN THE FOOD AND BUSINESS AREA WE ARE ALWAYS WORKING ON HOLIDAYS AND NO WAY SHOULD YOU FEEL GUILTY. YOUR FAMILY SHOULD COME FIRST ALWAYS . THAT IS THE WAY GOD WANTS T AND YOUR FAMILY MAKES MEMORIES THAT NO ONE XCAN EVER REPLACE. SPEND HOLIDAYS WITH YOUR FAMILY . YOU LOVE THEM MORE THAN YOUR RESIDENTS.

It sounds like you are blessed with a big heart and a special gift for caring. We need more like you in this world. I think if you can find a balance between work and home, that suits you, your husband and child, then you'll be happy. Take into account how you family feels about your absence and go from there.