Broken TV's and Central Park

I've been in Ashland now for almost 2 weeks. It's gone by kind of slow, which is nice. I feel like this year in general has hurled on by, and it's nice to kind of just have everything slow down a bit. I'm starting to get to know the area pretty well, I no longer require the use of my GPS to get to work, and the local coffee shop is pretty cool. This past Monday and Tuesday I underwent the facility's new employee orientation and new nurse orientation, and there were a lot of new employees! I think I'm starting to get the hang of things...slowly. I'm still trying to develop a pattern that works for me, a "groove" if you wish, all the while still learning the technology and how to navigate it (Pyxis anyone? I'm pretty sure that bar code DID scan...) and still getting to know my co-workers. I am a silly person by nature, and for the time being I've put my silliness aside because I don't want it to create a distraction or rub someone the wrong way (the patients love it). In general the acuity is a lot lower than where I used to work, and I feel like I get a little more time to actually get to know the patients, since you're with them 12 hours a day. I'm still trying to get used to working 12's; it's been challenging but I've been told that once you start you'll start to enjoy them and never want to work anything else. I think for now that's still debatable...

In my off time I've been wrestling with Directv to replace the receiver in my living room TV, which still hasn't been replaced...super frustrating. After spending a few hours on and off yesterday on Facebook and on the phone, I gave up and am going to get in touch with my landlord later and have him deal with it, because they don't want to talk to me...or won't, because I'm not the account holder. I mean, I understand they have policies and processes they have to abide by, but how difficult is it to just swap out the old receiver box and put in the new one, which I have???? But yesterday, after hanging up on another customer service rep, I got to thinking...this is a lot like healthcare, or just working with people in general. We as consumers pay for services, and one of the most fundamental expectations is that our needs are met in a timely manner. I don't believe that is unreasonable. But when someone's needs are met, it seems like the customer service reps tiptoe around the problem, make the scenario much more complicated than it needs to be, all the while the customer just wants a straight answer. Nobody wants to be held responsible....until the customer starts making threats such as "well I'll just cancel my service." I've had conversations with past patients where they want to know the answer to something and I haven't known the answer, or I have known the answer and it isn't good enough for them...so they threaten. "I'll sign myself out." "I'll sue you all." "I'll just leave AMA." "I'll go off." And then....that's when I spring into action. I bend over backwards to meet their demands so that they don't leave AMA, go off on me or God forbid sue me (never happened yet!)

Yes, yes, there is a point to all of this. Handle the problem as best as you are able BEFORE threats of leaving/suing/going off. And when someone is talking to you, really listen. Don't anticipate in your head what you're going to say to them in response; just take the time to listen to them. They're speaking up for a reason! I'm not preaching to the choir; I am so very guilty of this and in light of recent events it's something I'm going to try and be more intentional about. So that's that. On a much happier note, I found a beautiful park about half a mile from where I live. I spent about an hour today, just meandering around and listening to my music and the sounds around me. Yeah...I really do think I'm going to like it here.

Middle of the park

 

 

This was my favorite