Dysfunctional families at work

It's not just the patients at the Hotel who have dysfunctional families, but the employees act like a dysfunctional family, too.

Your boss decides to tell your office mate he/she is a "downer and never has anything good to say". Said nurse is always doing more than expected, unlike a large portion of the staff we work with. Said nurse is also stressed by an HR department that "forgot" his/her promotion (which means no more money on the payroll as promised, which is nice during the holidays or any season) and who is genuinely feeling awful. I finally convinced Neighbor to see the new PCP at the Hotel after failed attempts with one in another system who never returned calls. Neighbor has some scary symptoms that don't warrant a hospital stay, but are concerning nevertheless. Crossing my fingers that a specialist appointment (or two) is on his/her appointment list soon.

I had the distinct pleasure of participating in a facility-wide job fair. It's a good thing they rented out hotel space because we were mobbed. I participated in over a dozen interviews for nursing staff. It was amazing the amount of people we got to show up. I hope the nursing recruiter  has learned: be prepared for CNAs. They seem to always be looking for a job and freebies. A few were exceptional, a couple were good, but only about half were recommended for hire. It would have been nice to have another group to interview these folks, because we had so many people show up, it took FOREVER.

My partner was another nurse from our department who I don't see a lot. She is Ms. Right as in "I'm always right"and is well-known for spending most of our staff meetings fighting with the boss. She has years of experience, but sometimes doesn't act like it. She thinks what she thinks is more important than following policy, procedure or even, evidence-based practice. She came from another high-intensity area and sometimes, she needs to go straight back. She's gotten comfortable, though, in her role, so short of a egregious error of judgment, she'll never leave before she gets her advanced degree. I really wish her graduation date was soon...

The good thing: some of our staff scheduled appointments for me. This meant I had to show up, so I spend the last hours of my day taking care of them, reviewing what happened this week and it was pretty darned good. We had one of the best weeks ever for SU encounters. It was a bright spot to this Supermoon crazy kind of week. I'll take it.

May your weekend be full of joy. Don't let the turkeys (or Ms. Rights) get you down!

'Til next time...

Ah, paradise

Just when I thought the Hotel had some of the most delusional folks in the world, I came upon Amy from Amy's Baking Company (thanks to HuffPost).

Thanking my lucky stars that she doesn't work with me.

We could use  a hospital version of Gordon, though.

Stay tuned...

More signs of dysfunctional workplaces

This is a great article with a list of those infamous traits. The following seemed to jump out at me based on everything going on lately.

Decisions are made at the highest level  possible.
Regardless of what it is, you have to check with your boss before doing it.  She also has to check with her boss. So does anything really get done? No. Not without a lot of stone rolling up the hill.

Delegating means telling somebody to do something, not giving them the power to do it.
The total antithesis of nursing, but reality sometimes.

Management approaches from the latest best-seller are regularly misunderstood to mean what we're doing already is right on the  mark.
"Seven Habits of Highly Effective People," "Good to Great" and "Who Moved My  Cheese?" all seem to boil down to, "quit griping and do more with less."

Or a Lean Six Sigma class...where the resources just don't happen to be allocated to your department.

Stay tuned...more to come

Signs of a dysfunctional workplace #10

Today, I was fired on my second day of work after a year and a half of unemployment. Apparently, my "tendency to solve problems instead of just accepting them made the other workers uneasy". 

Courtesy of FML

I really, really, really think the Hotel is heading this way somedays. (smacks head into desk)

No Sandy but...

When your advisor has to reform a panel so you can take your comps exams this week, since some of the folks are marooned on the East Coast, it makes you think.

1. Thank goodness I decided to go to PublicU, which, is not on the East Coast.

2. Thank goodness I thought ahead to buy plenty of beer right now, since I'm having one to calm my already frayed nerves.

What could fray one's nerves? Oh, showing up at work surely could especially when...

1. You still have mayhem with some others in your group who keep insisting on reliving it no matter what.

2. You get a phone call that a VIP delegation will be coming to Madison and you really have to show them what you do in the SU...and have a patient ready at 0900 for the VIP to talk to about your work.

So much for a relaxing, just get things done before I leave to go to comps Hell at PublicU.

Nothing a nice Kolsch can't solve at the moment...stay tuned.

Teamwork...not!

How's this for teamwork....

1. Boss tells you, "I'll handle that." and proceeds not to do what you ask him (communicate).

2. So, doing the job your boss asked you to do, you send an e-mail to all the affected parties for further feedback and updates on the plan Boss asked you to implement.

3. One of the teams sends a very inappropriate e-mail with feedback, then demands your presence at their next team meeting.

4. Boss also mentions that he/she will go with you to meeting.

5. Since you thought this was a team project all along, you invite some of the other folks who helped you work on the plan.

6. Said team (who wants you at the meeting) says, "Why do they have to come?"

7. You kindly reply that you thought an interdisciplinary team was just that...an interdisciplinary team.

And pray, that your boss will actually show up for said meeting since you think he'll just ditch everyone and leave you out in the cold.

We shall see...so much for team cohesiveness in RehabLand.

Families

We see a lot of families crossing the threshold of Hotel Rehab. You name it...we get it. We get regular Joe and Jill nuclear families with 1.5 kids, and the whole enchilada of all those plus grandma, grandpa, all the aunts, uncles and cousins. 


In addition, we see families in various forms dysfunction often caused by divorce or disagreement. Since I've been at the Hotel, I've seen examples of the cute family with that 1.5 kids break down because, lo and behold, Wifey finds out (while Hubby is with us) that Hubby has another woman, and she's pregnant with his kid and wants to know who's going to support her now Hubby's been injured. Hmm...calling Social Work and Psychology right now for this one! 


But lately, lots of people are coming in who don't really have a family nearby. They've estranged them for one reason or another, have family members with their own significant health, financial or employment issues, or have simply outlived everyone in their families. We become their families, and they get really upset when they realize that they can't stay with us forever. One character mentioned suicide just to buy more time. 

Some others, however, end up going over to another unit, down the way, with the great view of nature and what awaits us all. Yes, we keep getting more and more people with terminal illnesses, and we are becoming a feeder unit for hospice. One of the non-nursing staff did ask a good question recently: if they stay so long that we're like their families, why do we throw them out when they're dying?


If only I had the time to tell him/her that we do it because we love them. We care about them, but sometimes it's a terrible duty for a rehab nurse to have to admit defeat. This patient will never regain function beyond what they have, and most likely, they'll lose it all before they die. We aren't set up to do hospice, and don't have all the comfort things they have readily available. 


Admitting our job is over doesn't mean we don't care. We do. Sometimes, though, we have to know when to say when and let someone else take over. Some of them will always be in our hearts and minds, especially on days when we remember them, as our unit did recently.



To live in hearts we leave behind
Is not to die.
~Thomas Campbell, "Hallowed Ground"

A little dys-functionality

Ah, nothing like a few dysfunctional people in your life. That was the week that was for me at work.

Version 1: Patient gets discharged and finds out how really dysfunctional his/her family is. What a great epiphany for you, just getting out of the hospital! Nothing new for us...we've seen it all along. If the signs were any bigger, they would have been billboards.

Version 2: The Slug, who's been a thorn in my side the last few days, got smacked with some karmic retribution...ah! And did she look like an idiot! The plus side: I didn't have to do a thing...she did it all by herself!

Version 3: The ECU that sets off the call light...all night. I swear I have that routine and the sounds in my nightmares, because this patient refused to have the straw away from his/her mouth at night. "Nurse call, television, turn on, turn off...." over and over as they slept. Said patient finally got the discharge trip back to their neck of the woods and boy, were they excited...and so were we! It was so quiet once they were gone. To think it hasn't been that quiet in months!

And with that, I'm taking my leave for a week or so. It's the first big chunk of time I've had off since I was back in nursing school. I'm so happy I'll be puttering around the homestead and going with Dahey and Bubba wherever the spirit moves us. Staycation sounds so idiotic, but we will be staying around the homestead for this vacation. No new news from the Hotel Rehab, just from Vacationland wherever we are. No alarm clocks, no worries!

Have a great week all...and Happy St. Patrick's Day to all of our Irish (everyday and for a day, too) friends. I'll be raising a glass (or two) in your honor with my corned beef!

Irish Saint Patrick's Day Toasts

Saint Patrick was a gentleman,
Who through strategy and stealth,
Drove all the snakes from Ireland,
Here’s a toasting to his health.
But not too many toastings
Lest you lose yourself and then
Forget the good Saint Patrick
And see all those snakes again.

'Beannachtam na Feile Padraig!'
Happy St. Patrick's Day!