Finally working again.
My first day is officially under my belt. Well, it is definitely different than what I am used to. I think that we are EXTREMELY fortunate on 3J to have such a great unit, such great nurses, such great management, and so many resources. I don’t know how a brand new nurse could survive, I am so thankful to have a few years under my belt. I don’t want to say anything bad about my new hospital, it is just different. I have only been there for one day so far so it is not fair to make any judgments.
To my disappointment, I will only get THREE days on each unit as orientation. That’s it and then it is on my own. That is 24 hours on each unit. I think on 3J I got at least 240 hours plus. My heart starts racing each time I think about how little time it really is. There is NO way that I can learn their rules and routine in just three 8 hour shifts. Holy crap! Another difference is that there is no computer charting….EVERYTHING is on paper. No joke. I haven’t paper charted since college. It is total chaos trying to chart, searching through tons of pages to find the doctors notes, trying to find where you chart, trying to find checklists. Holy man is it confusing. I think catching on to the computer systems was way easier than sifting through papers. It is so dangerous. I have not come across any sort of policy manuals so I guess I have to just guess on things then. Again, a bit scary. I never thought I would say this…I miss EPIC and I miss our Policies about EVERYTHING. I had it so good an totally didn’t even realize it.
There was a bit of a dispute at one point between the two units that I work on. Both units are on the same floor (kinda like sharing a bedroom with your sibling), things tend to get complicated sometimes. It totally reminds me of how things used to between my old unit and a “rival” (not really a rival, more of a sibling that you love to get along with and love to disagree with). The only difference was that today was must more confrontational and hostile. YIKES. The worst part is that I am a float between the two so now I am worried I am going to be in the middle or something. I think today was just busy and as any nurse knows, when the floor gets busy things can get tense. It kind of freaked me out a bit though.
Besides that, things went good. I got to hang out with a really nice elderly gentleman today, I really did enjoy it. He was hilarious. Finally a population that has the capacity to appreciate my sense of humor. I met some really nice people today so that is good. I followed around a couple of nurses who were very nice. The only problem is that I hate feeling like I am just following people around, watching over them like I hawk. I tried to be as independent as possible but when you don’t what the hell you are doing it is kind of hard. I was supposed to be oriented by this one lady who didn’t seem super interested in having me tag along, so she kept having me go help another girl. Before long, I wasn’t sure who I was supposed to be following around anymore and just kind of stood in the corner for a bit. What the hell. This was an unorganized effort for sure.
The only down side was accidently going to the airport at 6am. I ran over to the tram stop I had to take to get to the hospital around 6:15, about 5 minutes later than I had wanted to. A tram stops and I jump on. I was surrounded about 50 construction workers staring at me, I was the only female on the tram. I just stared out the window. All of a sudden I realized that my bum was a bit wet. No I didn’t pee my pants (which does happen on occasion), I had sat in a wet spot. God only knows what made the seat wet, I don’t want to know at all. After spending about five minutes worrying about my soiled khaki pants I got a feeling something was wrong. Then I realized, I never looked to see which tram I actually got on, I just jumped on the first one that came by. IDIOT. After watching unfamiliar scenery pass, my intuition kicked in and I just got off the tram the next time it stopped. I had a feeling that I was not going the right direction. I got off before getting to far. Luckily I spent the extra moola to add the internet to my phone so that I could look up a map and figure out where the hell I was. Turns out, I was on my way to the air port. Oopps. So I called in to the hospital to say that I was going to be late. I almost started crying and panicking because it is so horrible to show up late on your first day on a new job. Then I was told, “we weren’t expecting you until 8.” Well, never mind. I wasn’t late anymore, just horribly lost. I just hopped on a tram headed the way I had come from so that I could start all over. On the plus side, I thought I was to be there at seven but seven was actually meant to be eight and I didn’t have to show up late and panicked on my first day. On the down side, I could have slept another hour longer. I hate working first shift.
Despite my idiot attempts to use public transport, it was an okay day.
One more round of this tomorrow then it is time to move in to my new awesome apartment. YAYAYAYAYAYAY.
To my disappointment, I will only get THREE days on each unit as orientation. That’s it and then it is on my own. That is 24 hours on each unit. I think on 3J I got at least 240 hours plus. My heart starts racing each time I think about how little time it really is. There is NO way that I can learn their rules and routine in just three 8 hour shifts. Holy crap! Another difference is that there is no computer charting….EVERYTHING is on paper. No joke. I haven’t paper charted since college. It is total chaos trying to chart, searching through tons of pages to find the doctors notes, trying to find where you chart, trying to find checklists. Holy man is it confusing. I think catching on to the computer systems was way easier than sifting through papers. It is so dangerous. I have not come across any sort of policy manuals so I guess I have to just guess on things then. Again, a bit scary. I never thought I would say this…I miss EPIC and I miss our Policies about EVERYTHING. I had it so good an totally didn’t even realize it.
There was a bit of a dispute at one point between the two units that I work on. Both units are on the same floor (kinda like sharing a bedroom with your sibling), things tend to get complicated sometimes. It totally reminds me of how things used to between my old unit and a “rival” (not really a rival, more of a sibling that you love to get along with and love to disagree with). The only difference was that today was must more confrontational and hostile. YIKES. The worst part is that I am a float between the two so now I am worried I am going to be in the middle or something. I think today was just busy and as any nurse knows, when the floor gets busy things can get tense. It kind of freaked me out a bit though.
Besides that, things went good. I got to hang out with a really nice elderly gentleman today, I really did enjoy it. He was hilarious. Finally a population that has the capacity to appreciate my sense of humor. I met some really nice people today so that is good. I followed around a couple of nurses who were very nice. The only problem is that I hate feeling like I am just following people around, watching over them like I hawk. I tried to be as independent as possible but when you don’t what the hell you are doing it is kind of hard. I was supposed to be oriented by this one lady who didn’t seem super interested in having me tag along, so she kept having me go help another girl. Before long, I wasn’t sure who I was supposed to be following around anymore and just kind of stood in the corner for a bit. What the hell. This was an unorganized effort for sure.
The only down side was accidently going to the airport at 6am. I ran over to the tram stop I had to take to get to the hospital around 6:15, about 5 minutes later than I had wanted to. A tram stops and I jump on. I was surrounded about 50 construction workers staring at me, I was the only female on the tram. I just stared out the window. All of a sudden I realized that my bum was a bit wet. No I didn’t pee my pants (which does happen on occasion), I had sat in a wet spot. God only knows what made the seat wet, I don’t want to know at all. After spending about five minutes worrying about my soiled khaki pants I got a feeling something was wrong. Then I realized, I never looked to see which tram I actually got on, I just jumped on the first one that came by. IDIOT. After watching unfamiliar scenery pass, my intuition kicked in and I just got off the tram the next time it stopped. I had a feeling that I was not going the right direction. I got off before getting to far. Luckily I spent the extra moola to add the internet to my phone so that I could look up a map and figure out where the hell I was. Turns out, I was on my way to the air port. Oopps. So I called in to the hospital to say that I was going to be late. I almost started crying and panicking because it is so horrible to show up late on your first day on a new job. Then I was told, “we weren’t expecting you until 8.” Well, never mind. I wasn’t late anymore, just horribly lost. I just hopped on a tram headed the way I had come from so that I could start all over. On the plus side, I thought I was to be there at seven but seven was actually meant to be eight and I didn’t have to show up late and panicked on my first day. On the down side, I could have slept another hour longer. I hate working first shift.
Despite my idiot attempts to use public transport, it was an okay day.
One more round of this tomorrow then it is time to move in to my new awesome apartment. YAYAYAYAYAYAY.
Thats my hospital in the background. Its tiny compared to what I am used to, at least I don't get quite as lost.
