Jeff's first "week" at work

Last week I went to work at Kadlec Medical Center in Richland. It was two days of "here is where the fire extinguisher's are" and "this is how to reach the front desk" and "here is where you can park, and where you can't", etc.

Then new employees hired in nursing had another three days in orientation to specifics of Kadlec. Much of it was review of nursing school, but I imagine that it is tailored to help make sure that nurses who have worked other places, but may not be completely up-to-date might get some of the newest policies.

Anyway, it also covered some Kadlec specific policies, how to use the IV pumps that are used at Kadlec, although it was only about 1/2 hour, and we only got about 5 minute each, hands on, and lots of infection control, emergency procedures, etc.

It was a long week, sitting for some much. I have a stack of binders and paper about 6-8 tall now, most of which I won't probably never have a need to look at again.

Then on Monday I started my orientation on the medical floor. I'll do that for, I think, about 8 weeks. My preceptor is really, really good. It's not like school, for a number of reasons. One of the most obvious is that a) I don't have any homework, but also b) instead of paying to do it, they pay me.

My first week was from Monday to Wednesday. It sounds like a short week, but 12 hour shifts are long. But I had Sunday off, and I have another 3 day break before starting next week, so I'm hoping to find myself rejeuvenated by then.