WORK, WORK, WORK

I would bet a few folks may be wondering about how it is going at Presbyterian/St. Luke's and my new job. Orientation is a time of familiarizing ones self with all the nuances of not only a new job and place of work, but newly met people and how they like things done in "their home". I feel like I am a guest - a guest coming in to help out in a time of staffing shortage. I will be there until January 3rd. A decision will need to be made as to what will happen in January. Stay on in Denver or look for another position elsewhere. P/SL uses All About Staffing a lot. I am not familiar with AAS (All About Staffing) too much. It appears to be a pool of nurses (including travel nurses) and a place where hospitals look to find qualified nurses to fill needs. There are nurses who rotate within one hospital system in Denver and other western big cities and are not travel nurses per se. It is interesting. AAS is a term used frequently and seem synonymous with a float pool.
How am I doing?I am a cook, cooking in someone else kitchen. I know the tools (thankfully they use the same scopes and computer system used in Burlington...however the methods are somewhat different.) Job responsibilities are different and tailored to meet the specific needs of the unit. Learning the way is the order of the day. I look forward to the day... and it will come... when I will anticipate the needs of the Md's, Unit and other staff to be more helpful than a burden. I understand orientation is a time of getting up to speed and learning. It is systematic and going well.
The altitude is a major factor, though with each passing day I feel less tired, less dizzy...more stamina. Jack is slowly adjusting as well. We are being very careful not to overdo - it is hard, this is such a beautiful city and we want to explore. One of the people I work with said we should just go up into the mountains - get as high as we can tolerate, stay there for an hour and come back down...then come back to Denver...and we will feel better in Denver. Not so good advice.
All is well with the job. The staff are very nice. Willing to help and teach, willing to be patient with me. Today we had a nice pot luck Mexican themed lunch. It was yummie and fun. The P/SL facility I do not know hardly at all. I DO know where all the strategic bathrooms are to my needs. In the front door. Up the escalator, around the corner, down the hall to the end and I am in Endo. I have tagged along with other staff as they run their various errands and my compass has been put to the test. P/SL is a major transplant hospital and the endo unit does a lot of host/graft reaction procedures. This is something I am going to have to learn.

Off to bed. I find that rest is the order of the day, most days.

Grace and Peace