Assessments

I had lunch with a coworker today whom I normally don't see. He/she works in another part of the same building.

We were talking about the working environment because he/she is newer in our area. It was not a surprise that we noticed many of the same things.

1. Many folks on our team are territorial to the point of being hostile to others. Our boss thinks things don't need to be addressed by leadership, but they do.

It's nice to know that I wasn't the only one with that thought.

2. While the team says "Yeah team" and acts friendly, they are often not very friendly, especially if you encroach on the item in #1. I found this out when I asked a coworker about something the boss brought to me.

3. The team, besides being so territorial and in some cases, mercurial, is always competitive.

While reading this week, I found an article on befriending competition. It's not exactly my situation, but I feel like many things ring true in my dealings with my coworkers.

We both agreed, that while our jobs have their minuses, they definitely have their advantages. It would not make sense to let the mean girls (and boys) win.

Stay tuned...

On call oldie but goodie

FYI I have never taken call. It's not a common thing in rehab (especially in our neck of the woods), but I was intrigued by this article because of the some the recent arguments amongst our medical staff.

I discussed this with Dahey, since his dad was a physician a long time ago. He liked to go on rounds with him (in those halcyon days before HIPAA) and he always said Dahey should be the pediatrician.

However, I often wonder what my father-in-law would think of today's environment for physicians. It's a completely different world out there.

Stay tuned!

We salute you

All of the front line health care personnel putting it on the line every day in today's environment.

This quote from a recent article about hazardous waste generated by Ebola patients was telling:

“It’s totally shocking,” Ms. Sharpe said. “It would take me anywhere from four to six weeks to train an employee to work in a high containment lab in a safe manner. It’s ludicrous to expect doctors and nurses to figure that out with a day’s worth of training.

Thank you, Ms. Sharpe. Hopefully, someone will listen and take care of the folks on the front lines, including all the staff who help take away all the remainders.

More to come.

Counting down

I really am torn. I am counting down the number of days until my return to the Hotel. I like certain aspects of working in the SU, but despise others. It is cleaner in a clinic environment, and relatively quieter. I like having an office, even if it's passed through constantly because the office printer, much of the supplies as well and microwave and refrigerator are in there. Frankly, if my cohort needs a vacation when the doc is not going, I'd be happy to come back.

A few of my Hotel cohorts were at S's retirement party the other day. "We're ready for you to come back," the charge nurse said. "We're just spread thin, and we need you. So many new people are getting oriented and they're just not there yet." It's nice to feel wanted, even if the return will not be welcomed by all.

In between all of this, I found a great article about writing poetry. I have been collecting snippets of thoughts here and there. Maybe one of these days I can put them all together and publish some.

More later...