June 9, 2012
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drawn in…
Work has been hectic. The days have been long, called in early, staying over late. I’ve taken assignments that others refused. I’m comfortable now, part of the team. Accepted. It’s nice to be respected for the experience I have. So different from the last job I held, where the faculty were treated like idiots by supervisors who were inept and unable to lead. I still think that this job feels like ‘home’.
Half of the week I’m sent to work on the ‘moneymaking’ side. The surgeon who works in that section of Surgical Services is very demanding and arrogant. He’s changing lives with the surgery that he does, and people come from all over the world to have him work on them. He’s training associates and surgeons from other countries so that they can learn his techniques. It IS amazing to think that I’m witnessing something that few get to see. He’s only one of three surgeons doing these types of procedures worldwide. Privacy prevents me from discussing it in too much detail. I’m an unusually quiet and competent part of the team for the most part. Anesthesia providers and regular staff know the dry and sarcastically funny side of me, though. A little humor injected into a staid and formal work environment is a welcome change. Even if I wanted to be nothing more than a generic staff member, that was not to be. The associates, the visiting surgeons, and PA-Cs warmed up to me quickly. They call to me down the hallway, “Are you in my room?” The King doesn’t know my name, and that’s fine with me. I’m the quiet professional, polite and helpful. At the request of the associates I’m approached to ask if I’ll join their team.
I decline to be part of their team full time, but I tell the charge nurse that I’ll help out when I’m needed. One of their team members is out with an injury. I’m needed 4 days a week. My supervisor appears in the Kingdom, his jaw set in a grim line, “I need to talk to you.” I nod, realizing that I will be working on the King’s team for a long time. We walk back to the ‘Main’, “You know I’m not going to refuse an assignment. I’ll go where I’m needed for as long as I’m needed.” He waved the notion away, “You are not going to be part of their team. They want to take my best nurses. They need to solve their own problems and not take good people from me.” He’s pretty upset that one of the ‘rehires’ was accepted. She was hired to work in the Kingdom, but they rejected her. Now the Main is saddled with a nurse who has already declared that the computer charting is too difficult to learn at her age, and who isn’t interested in ‘scrubbing’. I shrug, although it’s clear to me that she’ll not last through orientation. All of us have to chart on the computer. My supervisor is adamant, “You belong in the Main.”
We part ways with him heading to HR and me continuing my journey to the Main. I arrive to applause and cheers and laughter. Some of the surgeons had plenty to say about my reassignment, even if it was temporary. The old guard was upset as well. One of the charge nurses pulls me aside to fill me in, “Management was very angry that you were sent over to the Kingdom two days in a row. To make matters worse, there were trauma cases here. G got suspended again as well, so we’re short staffed. In short, it’s been hell.” Sounds like their days have been as shitty as mine. I nod, even if I can’t sympathize.
…..to be continued….
