Getting fired. Those words don’t sound very good. Bad connotation. Probably a pretty scary thing for most people. But actually, that has been my goal for awhile now. Not to lose my whole job- for I love what I do- being a maternity nurse. That is exactly why I don’t relish the evenings when I have to be charge nurse for the whole unit. I don’t get to do a good job at what I like best- taking care of the moms and babies. So getting fired from being “in charge” would really be a good thing from my point of view. Then I would have the time I need to listen to the patients, reassure them and teach them how to take care of themselves and their new babies. But instead, I’m stuck with tons of paperwork. Oh wait- we’re supposed to be paperless now. So I really don’t know why the printer keeps spitting out those forms. I have to make assignments for the other nurses, distribute new admits, delegate and keep track of coworker’s breaks (did they take too long or not even get to go to dinner yet?). And of course, every patient, visitor and staff complaint is the charge nurse’s responsibility. Make everyone happy at all costs is what it’s all about. But what about me? All I get are grumbles all evening long. How happy can I be in such a situation? And my least favorite part- keeping track of the staff/patient ratio that we need to be productive budget-wise. Like I care how much money the unit is taking in and putting out. As long as I get my paycheck, that is good enough!
Most of the other nurses told the managers that they didn’t ever want to be in charge. I said the same thing, but nobody listened to me. So I had a strategy. I thought, “what if I just do such a bad job that they want to fire me from this position!” But so far it hasn’t worked. With my bad luck, most of the shifts I work are crazy and very hectic. It seems like there should always be a full moon. (And everyone in the hospital dreads full moon nights!) I said that it was my fault that the unit was full to capacity with so many medically challenged patients and not enough staff. Maybe they would see that I was jinxed and put someone with better luck in charge. But I was just told that I could handle chaos in a calm manner. So I tried looking more frantic and frazzled, but since everthing got done, I was still told, “Good job.” On the rare evenings when it would calm down slightly, I didn’t send any extra staff home early and our budget numbers came out looking really bad. I thought that would do it for sure!! But I was just told, “That’s OK. You guys deserve a break once in a while.” Arrrgh!
Meanwhile, I’m stuck telling all the dads, whose wives are in double rooms, why we can’t rebuild the maternity unit right at this very moment and give everyone a private room. Where did the secretary go and why are all the call bells going off and all the phones are ringing off the hook? How many more patients can we take from Labor and Delivery and what is that doctor so upset about? What to do about the visitors who won’t leave after visiting hours are over and the kids that are running up and down the halls screeching? And HELP- someone just wandered onto our unit, despite the locked doors and is cursing, threatening and clearly on drugs. SECURITY!
Oh- can someone please tell me what I have to do to get fired from this job?!?
Prompt: Getting Fired 9/15/07
No comments:
Post a Comment