The joys of parenting

Tonight was our first "free-for-all" parent/teacher conference in the RehabLand school district.

What does this mean? Take all the classroom teachers for a particular grade and stick them in the cafeteria. Leave the tables exactly as they are so no one can tell who is standing in what line. Put all the major subject teachers together, so the traffic jams are even more acute around their area.

Do this for three hours. Thankfully, Bubba took me over early and pointed out all the important teachers to talk to while we were there. And no, they weren't just the ones who gave him A's in their classes (although surprisingly, he loves school this year).

I hated it, but I cannot imagine what the teachers think of this.

Just like running the gauntlet...more to come.

The waiting game continues...

Still waiting to see what exactly made Bubba (and Dahey later) sick this week.

Once I know, then Bubba can be ready to play the waiting game for sleepover camp, which is coming soon.

Yes, you got it, I'm stuck waiting, too.

TGIF folks!

The waiting game

Is Bubba still sick or not? Will I be rudely awakened again tonight by diarrhea and vomiting?

Will I finally get the stool samples I've been waiting for all day?

Should be interesting to see what happens when Dahey does kid watch duty tomorrow. He couldn't even handle me showing him the 10 language instruction sheet ("I just ate dinner" he said indignantly). He'd never make it as a nurse.

Let's have a show of hands who hasn't discussed a stool sample over a meal. (I thought so...)

At least, I got some other doctors' appointments made and files sorted and filed that I needed to do for months.

Crossing fingers and playing the waiting game...the RehabLand camp out will be here before we know it!

Enduring manglement

Yes, that's the game we've been playing at the Hotel.

Bigwigs come and go, but power struggles last forever.

This week: the Manglement tried to suspend our boss, because he/she was one calendar day late on producing a document to his/her boss. It didn't matter that he/she couldn't take the class the day it was due because they had him/her doing something else "important" (as if 7 hours a week minimum of meetings isn't enough). 

His/her PHB, our feckless chief nurse, got HR to send a letter of reprimand over, with requirements they figured he/she'd never fulfill.

At the behest of the Hotel MD chief, he/she sent over the missive to the hospital director and his second in command. It was lengthy, and told a story of an LPN who became an RN, who now as a nurse manager, took over the position at the Hotel after several other people said it would never work.

He/she knows us. He/she was one of us on the floor, and us old timers remember that. The nurse who never said, "I'm too busy to wash Mr. Z's hair," or "I don't want to do x, y , or z." This is the nurse who got certified in rehab, worked hard to keep patients and their rooms immaculate, to really CARE about what happened to them. The nurse who is proud to be a nurse .

So now we endure as he/she awaits the results of the appeal.  Here's hoping they see the light before they screw up something else. The dim view of the Hotel could very well get worse.

More later...

Now, time for a PSA*

*Public Service Announcement

I found a really good infographic that discusses organ transplantation recently.

It's become a bigger deal around our house, because one of Dahey's relatives is now on the transplant list. He/she fits the profile noted on this infographic.

One thing I learned: maybe the US needs to go to an opt-out system versus opt-in, if it will increase the numbers of organ donors.

Transplantation waiting and aftercare is not always the easiest, but neither are the alternatives.

Please consider organ donation. It really is the gift of life for someone.

More to come...

One of these days...

That expense report will come on into my bank account. Meanwhile, I wait for Captain Obvious to fly over Accounting or these people will finally retire/quit/get fired..

Stay tuned!

Boarding

While I was waiting with a relative in the ER recently, I learned about this term. He/she was lucky enough to get a room with a door and some privacy. The others in the ER were in the hallway on stretchers.

He/she needed some help, so I stuck around and provided it. I don't bug staff, especially, when this was a level one trauma center and they were calling out the incoming customers with much frequency. After that, it was noisy, since there's some construction on the edge of the unit. The sounds of drills were right outside his/her room in the morning.

I was so happy when he/she got a bed. We just missed being there 24 hours.

Very, very...

Tired.
Why on earth does graduate school just suck the life out of you?

Thankful.
That my boss let me have vacation next week.

Lucky.
That after a struggle of over a year, HR finally admitted someone was indeed sabotaging my promotion by losing the paperwork. Not once, not twice, but three times.

The promotion will happen retroactively. Retroactive ain't soon enough, especially since the perpetrator will get little more than a reprimand for his/her "work".

Happy.
Nevertheless, I am happy. I took care of a patient who waited forty years for one of these and the recognition that goes with it.

I guess good things really do come to those who wait...if you can endure! Stay tuned.

While I wait

It only seems as if you are doing something when you're worrying.  ~Lucy Maud Montgomery

So consequently, I'm going to do nothing while waiting for my new position, even if I'm asked a million times about it. According to the boss, the chief of nursing will be instituting a staffing freeze.

No one gets in, out or moved around in any nursing areas until further notice. Nice.