wandering between wards

I had an intresting week at my practical placement last week. Instead of working in my own ward, I visit each day an other ward which is specialised in diffrent problamatics then the ward I normally work. This way, I could get a beter view what the orginisation I have my practical placement has to offer to youngsters. I really looked forward to it and I'm glad I didn't was disappointed in my expatiations.

On Tuesday I visit a ward in transition, they normally have youngsters who are in fostercare there, but they are quitting that and become a ward for emergency placement. The youngsters who are already there, can stay. But if they leave, they don't bring in new youngsters for fostercare there. The ward was much more open then the ward I normally work, there they can't leave the building at all and here they can leave as much and often as they want, as long as they are return before 20:00. The youngsters were very shy to speak English with me, like most Finns. Later a girls starts a conversation with me and translated all for the others. This helped me to get in conversation with the others, because when the personal translated all for me the youngsters where very shy and didn't said much.

Thursday I went to the 'normal' ward. Here are only youngsters who are in fostercare. They also can do whatever they want and they even get pocket money to buy things on there own. Also, the rule here is that they have to be in before 20:00. I didn't see much youngsters because they were outside. But the once I saw, I saw only for a very short time. Because they came back and went to their room, or they leaved the place to hang around outside. The main thought of the ward is that it is as much as home as possilble. So they even have a sauna there. I find this really amazing, because sauna is typical Finnish and most homes have it. They want to be like home as possible so they also have a sauna the youngsters can use when they want. In the Netherlands we don't do this, there is for more institutonalised. But then again, we don't have a saunaculture like in Finland. I find it also suprising that also a nurse works there. She does the same as the social workers, so for the youngster isn't a big diffrences. But she is also in charge that medicines are properly distributed. As suprised I was they have a nurse working in the ward, so suprised she was that we don't have it in the Netherlands. Of course there works someone with a medical background, but he/she is responsible for the whole organisation and not only one ward. Of course if it is big organisation, there work more. But not that much as here in Finland.

Yesterday, on friday, I want to the ward where youngster with an adiction live. I find it always sad and heavy that there are kids below 18 who are already battleing against an adiction. I always wonder how harsh live must be for them that drugs was the awnser to their problems. Because I'm from the Netherlands, a country with a very libral drugspolicy. Some youngsters knew this, so I had a perfect opener to enter conversations with them on drugs, the effects, but also which system is beter in there opinion. Some youngsters had the courage to talk to me directly in English, some needed help from other youngster or the workers. The conversations were very intresting and very open, I really liked that. It impressed me that one guy said, that he liked the Dutch drugs policy. Not because it was then legal and easy for him to get cannabis. But he thinks that he would have a less thrill to aquire heavier drugs and use them. Because he not only likes useing drugs, but he gets it mainly for the kick and thrill to aquire them because all drugs are illegal. It shocked me somewhat that he does it mainly for the thrill to get them, but I admire him that he knows it and that he works very hard to conquer his addiction. Of course I said this to him and I could see it made his day. In the ward, they also try to be as home as possible and try to get the youngsters over their addiction. The amount of free time outside depends on which fase they are in the treatment and how well they are coöperting. They also get pocketmoney, but they also have to bring in recieves in how they spend it each week. No recieves, means no pocketmoney the next week. Unless ofcourse they can proove they didn't used the money at all, but accourding to a worker that never happens and they use all the money they get on stuff. They get the pocketmoney if they are allowed to go outside. This ranges from 30 minutes per week, till two times 30 minutes each day. If they need longer time, because they need to go clothes shopping or argange someting official. Then they can ask for extra time, as long as they can prove that they have to go and that they also were there. This ward was the ward I liked the most in this week, I wished I could stay longer. Unfortunally I had other appointments so I had to go. I liked the working style, the youngsters and the whole system that they can earn freedom, but besides the general rules of the ward, each youngster has special rules for their own. The suggest them theirselfs and they can also request to change some by themselfs, of course their mentor has to agree with it but they have a great influence in there own treatment. Also when the whole ward is behaving well, they can all together to theater, swimming, icehockeymatches etc. The expences are paid from "wardmoney", this is money the youngsters can use as a whole and not individual. This system stimulates that they also help eachother with their addiction and that they correct each other. They also share experiences with each other quite spontaniously, because no other understands a youngster with a drug addiction, then a youngster with a drug addiction