It's been a looooong few weeks, having started school again (Comp/Lit, LOVE it, but it's a ton of work. Is there any call for an aging BSN with a minor in English?). I have also started a new job as an admissions coordinator. On the plus side, it is a lot more days, or at least until 8 PM some nights. No weekends or holidays. I have been orienting to this job for about a month now, and am getting the hang of it, at least the mechanics of where to put the admissions. For example, it has been 30 years since I have worked on a surgical floor. In those days, patients for an elective cholecystectomy were admitted the night before, had enemas until clear, were shaved from "nipples to knees", and stayed in the hospital for about a week. Now it's day surgery. Goes to show you what-all I don't know, but hey, I ask a lot of questions and generally trust that the floor nurses aren't going to 1).Make fun of me, 2)JAFE me on admissions (Just Another Fucking Excuse) 3). Throw me under the bus or 4). Try to lead me down the garden path. So far, everyone has been great, really helpful. And I'm reasonable; to use the SeaBee motto, "if it's difficult, we might do it; if it's impossible, fuck it".
It is also good to see how the other half lives. I am responsible, in part, for getting the ER admits out of the ER, in addition to floor to floor transfers and direct admissions. I have identified quite a few items which will impact my own practice when I work shifts in the ER. It puts a face on the nurses who get my faxed report. It puts more human in the interaction process, if you know what I mean. I have a better "global picture" of the hospital and it's workings, which is good since I've only been there for about a year. The only bad ("only" ha!) is the micromanageing bean counters and their Ambush Debriefings. Talk about being thrown under the bus. I will have to relate that tale in Part Two.
