Glen Vienneau
Northern News Services

Yellowknife (Oct 06/00) - A little wisdom and comic relief can go a long way during a day's work.

These are things that assistant nurse Sue Beztilny gets no shortage of during her job working with seniors at the Aven Manor long-term care facility.

"Most seniors have a wonderful sense of humour and a lot of wisdom," she said.

"They have a lot of lessons to teach us by enjoying life day by day," she said.

"They don't take life as seriously as what we do. They see humour in things that we might see as kind of serious."

Working with seniors is something that Beztilny has done for the past 10 years, three of those years at the Aven Manor.

Her shift starts with a briefing on what happened during the two previous shifts. This system is in place in order to continue the 24 hour care necessary at the facility.

Beztilny rotates on all the shifts, working each for six days at a time. She then gets three days off before starting a new six-day stretch.

Following the initial shift report, she heads out to attend to the individual needs of the seniors which she admits, can be hectic at times.

"It's very much like running your own home."

When the centre is at full capacity, this could mean upwards of 29 seniors receiving help for everything from making a phone call to helping them have a bath.

Beztilny's job also involves administering medication and serving meals.

The seniors are also taken outside the centre for a change of scenery, including a beach excursion, shopping trip or a visit to the Baker Community Centre.

"We try to have people cared for as they would be cared for in their own homes...where they are as independent as they possibly can be."

That means if seniors want to sleep in or stay up late in the night to sip some tea, Beztilny will be nearby with her beeper on her side, ready to respond to a call.