Friday, June 20, 2014

…and then there were three.

Jobs.  I have 3 jobs.  I was hired back at Pseudo City, a job with plenty of action.  And help.  Lots of help.  I had forgotten what it was like to have transport techs, LNA's, and paramedics to work with.  Not to mention lab techs, EKG techs and, joy of joys, an actual pharmacist to do the med reconciliation on the admissions.  Bliss.  Busy, of course, being 3 times the size of BWOM Hospital and 6 times more beds than Scary Hospital's Bait Shoppe when it was an ER.

I was welcomed back by my old nemesis, Dr. Dewshe Bagghe.  He lifted an eyebrow and patted me on the shoulder.  "You're back?"he said wryly.

"I missed you terribly Dr. Bagghe" I said sweetly.

"Well, (he grumbled). Welcome back".

Of course, each new job requires an excruciating orientation.  Oh, the pain.

And because I am a glutton for punishment I was also hired back at the Bait Shoppe turned urgent care.  My severance ran out sometime in February or March, but my former co-worker who is wearing the boss hat  is now on-site supervisor and begged me to reapply so I could do some per-diem.  I really just wanted to tell them to stuff it and that was, in fact, my plan.  I figured they would low-ball me on the money but was shocked out of my clogs when my offer letter was for money than I was making, plus the raise I would have gotten had I remained another 25 days.  At $10 more an hour than BWOM I couldn't say no.  I did make it clear that I would not be working 12 hour shifts.  It's right around the corner from my house, easy money.

Except for the excruciating one day orientation even though I had only been gone for a few months.  I have had co-workers who were out on medical leave for longer than that.  So I had to spend a day sitting through useless shite.  The upside was that we were given a pass for the entire day to both the cafeteria and coffee shop to get whatever we wanted for our MANY breaks, as well as a $5 gift certificate to spend at the gift shop, which I rapidly used.  I did have to coach the poor little elderly volunteer how to make change as she seemed completely flustered.  Thankfully that is a skill I was taught by my father ("always count it back!") and I managed to make her feel confident for next time.

So, yeah, three jobs.  It's been awhile since I have had to juggle like that, but since I am not a tremendous fan of BWOM, I am doing very little there.  I probably will not last the summer, but feel kind of bad since they are in the process of a staffing crisis.  Clearly, where there is a staffing crisis, there exists unhappy staff.  Almost everyone there works at least 2 jobs, so maybe they should look into increasing the pay.  Just saying.




8 comments:

Orfyn said...

I have always found that it does not pay in $ or in sanity to stay on at places where the staff is in free fall. Loyalty to an employer is rarely appreciated beyond lip service. The three big lies from hospitals to nurses: We value you as a professional; Loyalty is rewarded; We have lots of opportunities for career advancement.

EDNurseasauras said...

So true. I now only book my time no more than 2 weeks in advance; I can afford to work less and be more selective. I am planning work around my life instead of the other way around. Works for me.

Susan said...

So,I'm curious...how many hours total do you work now? Not questioning the quality or the fatigue that comes with the type of work you do, just never did per diem work and always wondered how hard it is to negotiate your schedule.

EDNurseasauras said...

Between the three, I work between 16 and 40 hrs per week. Some weeks are light, but as long as I work at least 24 hrs average at the best paying job , I'm doing better than I was a year ago by a lot. I do not book more than 2 weeks in advance so I'm available to coworkers who need last minute coverage or just a few hours off. It took a few months for people to catch on, but it's working very well. I don't have a set weekend commitment so it gives me flexibility. But I give up benefits for that freedom, fortunately I don't need health coverage

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Cool, thanks!

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