Sunday, July 29, 2012

Week 5: And It Continues...

      This past week was strangely similar to the week before with most of my time spent in the clinic in Mill Valley. A huge international AIDS conference in Washington D.C. left just Poliana and myself in the office. The personnel I've been reporting to at the Forensic AIDS Project in the city were also at the conference.       
      I attempted to trudge forward with my video. My interview with Joan Cairns, director of Jail Psychiatric Services (JPS), took place on Monday and was incredibly informative. I learned a great deal about their services as well as an introduction of Jail Aftercare Services (JAS), a subset of JPS. I was able to make contact with another nurse practitioner and the director of JAS for future meetings. I'm really happy with all of the information and opinions I've been able to gather, but I'm still not sure of the most efficient and effective way to organize it all. I also can't just go into the jails and start filming so I've been really limited with my lack of supervision. Hopefully at the start of this next week once everyone returns, I'll get some assistance.
      I also toyed around with the idea of contacting a professional video production company to film the video. I spent a lot of this week developing a pretty sound script of what I think should be covered. I'm excited to pass it on to others to be proofread. I contacted a few local companies just to inquire their thoughts on the project and if they ever do similar projects for very little or no cost. I received a few responses, and people seem curious. Again, I can't really move forward with any of this without talking to my superiors first. It may be more complicated than it's worth. Everyone doing the filming would have to get clearance to be inside the jail and so forth. Next week will be the true tell-all of what's going to happen next. I just wish the end of my time here wasn't breathing down my neck.
      In the office all week, I alternated working on the JHS video and organizing the contacts the Tom Steel Clinic is going to make for donations for the annual fundraiser. In order to make the planning process a breeze in the future, Poliana and I have gone ahead and created a "directory" of sorts of the local businesses we plan to contact. I've drafted up letters for the various caterers, bakeries, grocery stories, wineries, and party rental companies we'll be contacting. Poliana and I are visited a number of the establishments closest to the venue of the event (Room Gallery in Mill Valley) yesterday. People were so appreciative of us making this contact so early. All of the places we went to were willing to contribute. It was really nice to see more of the area. We're setting aside of whole day to visit the wineries. That should be a lot of fun! 
      Friday afternoon I went into the city to meet with Melissa Gore, NP in county jail 2. She had very similar opinions and stories of her work in the jails. She focused a great deal on what she would like to see in the video, and I appreciated that. Melissa took me into the medical clinic again and introduced me to a few more individuals I should get in contact with. 
      I'm really anxious for what this week will hold. I hope to definitely have my superiors accompany me into the jails and do some major filming. Can't wait! 

No comments:

Post a Comment