wolf Goes to Rehab (WAS: Tales from the New Nuthouse)
Not much in the way of stories to tell, as yet ...
Today was orientation day.
AKA I sat in a conference room with a bunch of other new hires and about a dozen people from different disciplines came in and explained all of the important policies and procedures that there are compliance issues attached to.
They served muffins and coffee and OJ, and we got lunch.
I didn't know about lunch, so I had packed my nice, new, HelloKitty bento. Which, incidentaly, I ordered from a company in Japan BEFORE I knew that I had a job for which I would need a nice, new HelloKitty bento. I left it in the car, in an insulated bag, with a really big blue ice thingy. The ice was still mostly frozen when I got home, so I considered it safe to eat for dinner. I had some carrot sticks, hummus, cottage cheese and jam (I can't abide plain cottage cheese, and it's cheaper to put my own spoonful of jam in rather than buy the ones that come prepacked with a spoonful of jam next to a scoop of cottage cheese), and two of my chicken onigiri.
I will take the same thing tomorrow, since I don't think they'll feed me again. There is a cafeteria on the property, and employees can buy really cheap meal tickets to eat in it. I don't know if my breaks will match-up with meal times or not.
So anyway, in addition to hours upon hours of learning (again) how to use a fire extinguisher, and learning about the computer policies, and confidentiality policies, and documentation policies, and reporting policies, and cell phone policies, we did take a walk around the campus and had various buildings that I don't remember the name of pointed out.
There were folks from many different departments in the training, mainly nursing, but my department had a couple people as well. One of their names is one letter different from mine, which could get interesting.
At the end of the day we walked over to our new office. The others hadn't been in the department before ... they had had their interviews in the HR offices, and weren't given a second interview with tour like I had.
I start my department-specific training tomorrow. I'll likely be working days for a while before I get put on my regular shift. Depends on how much there is to learn and how long before the boss thinks I'm okay to fly solo.
Overall, I like it. A lot of the staff were very welcoming toward our little gaggle of goslings.
Oh, and it was really cute. When I got in this morning, I signed the visitor book, and the receptionist said, "You're here for orientation, you cross your name off of that!"
She also high-fived me.
We had chatted a bit while I was nervously waiting the two times I went in for the interviews.
I'm looking forward to tomorrow.
Sawweeeeet! Good for you, Wolf! And thanks for starting up this thread. I can't wait to hear about the new nuthouse.
:: selfishly hoping it's at least as nutty as the last -and yes, I'm talking cow orkers... ::
Looking forward to the stories ...
Good on ya! I too am selfishly hoping to hear some good nutty
crunchy crazy stories!
Great sitcom: The New Nuthouse.
Oh, Wolf.
Jam. Cottage Cheese. No.
She's American. They do really weird stuff with cc here. No banana or peanuts, though -yet.....
Sounds like a great start!
Training continues, and my schedule is getting switched around day to day ... nothing big, just switching an evening for a day because there are three trainees in the department right now, and the boss doesn't want to overwhelm the evening staff.
Even though I'm trying to pay strict attention, I'm still all like, "okay, when do I make copies of stuff, and when don't I? And where do I put them?"
I'll get it, though.
Today I was chit-chatting a little with the receptionist, and she waved and said Hi to a psychiatrist who was behind me. I recognized the name, turned around and ... you know that scene in the movie where the people who have been separated for a long time see each other and everything goes into slow motion, and they come together and hug? Well, it was like that, but without the romantic overtones. I'd worked with this guy, and we get along really well.
How cool is that.
I later ran into a nurse I know who was giving folks from my orientation class a tour and going into procedures. He said a lot of nice things about me. To my boss, no less.
Woot.
small world. should make things smooth though!
Good for you, wolf. That should help with the transition too.
Always nice to already know some peeps.
WOOT
that is good!! very nice.
I saw something extraordinarily cool on the campus today. I will try to get a picture tomorrow, but I won't be able to post it until I establish whether it represents public or protected information ... I'm guessing that it's public, as it is all over the internet. Hmmm. I wonder if anyone else has posted a picture of this thing? I'll have to check that. If I post someone else's picture that's already on the internet ...
Weekends aren't bad, incidentally. Well, usually. I really seem to be figuring out what I'm doing. The experienced staff member was actually asking ME questions about some mental health law stuff.
Congrats, Wolf! Looking forward to more stories!
And so, the blessing having been given (Okay, actually the boss thinks I'm a nut for even asking, he just kind of deadpanned, "It's on a bench.") ...
This is why, after I got home the night I saw this, it was a totally freaky coincidence that Gia was on TV.
There is also a plaque in one of the patient units for Gia.
What I'm not clear on is how they both ended up on the same bench.
One thing that was kind of interesting ... when I was talking to some cow orkers about the bench ... if they were over 45, they knew exactly what I was talking about. Under, they said, "who?"
I even got a "who?" when I explained the circumstances of each of their deaths. One of them had never heard of the Sex Pistols. What are they teaching kids these days?
One of them had never heard of the Sex Pistols. What are they teaching kids these days?
I don't know, but I certainly hope it doesn't involve sex pistols. That sounds really dangerous.
I don't know, but I certainly hope it doesn't involve sex pistols. That sounds really dangerous.
eh. Never mind the bollocks.
Huh. that's actually really cool.
Last night a female cow orker was dealing with an exceptionally drunk man.
She got a proposal of marriage.
I am really working in a different place.
I am more accustomed to patients offering that I engage in a physically impossible act of parthogenisis.
Also, the old nuthouse sent someone over last night. They have a totally new vehicle, and totally new people driving it. I didn't know either of the ambulance guys, so I just smiled, and didn't say anything. I also found out that there is someone working in my old department that just boggled my mind. I can't believe that person is in that job. Things are really different. I need to find out what's being going on over the last year.
I met the CEO today. She apparently follows the In Search of Excellence philosophy of Management by Wandering Around.
She wandered into my department, was meeting here and there with people, and made a point of seeking me out, mentioning that she'd heard about me (hoo boy, the big boss lady knows about me already?! but at least it's in a good way).
I and another new hire in my department had search training yesterday. Basically, the head of security told me how to do what I already know how to do, and then offered a bag of clothing that had stuff hidden in it. Cleverly hidden.
The upside, I did very well, found all but one teensy little thing in the clothing, but made up for it by finding something missed by the other lady, who only found about half of her hidden objects.
The downside, I'm now cleared to do searches, which, since I'm the scut-monkey, means I'm going to be doing a lot of them.
What they really need is both a female and a male search tech on each shift, but I don't know if that's going to ever happen. Won't stop me from asking the boss-dude about it, though.
She apparently follows the In Search of Excellence philosophy of Management by Wandering Around.
I think on very rare occasions, this can be good.
Mostly, it is bad, and in general, it is a bad sign. I've known (suffered) managers who are so narcissistic they assume that whatever happens in their presence is a perfect sample of reality, and whatever happens in their absence is irrelevant.
Dicks.
She seemed to be doing the wandering around the right way ... not the let's catch people screwing up way that most CEOs do it. I suspect that she was particularly aware of me because the boss-man had to pitch my position to the higher ups to release the money into the budget, and he must have spoken of me in rather glowing terms to do that. But she didn't just come into the office to banter. She spent actual time talking and listening to concerns.
Now I've done it.
boss-dude called me into his office yesterday.
"I understand you met the CEO."
"Yes, I did."
"You impressed her. She has 'ideas' involving you."
"Oh. Sorry, I'll try to do worse next time. She doesn't show up randomly like that a lot, does she?"
"No, she doesn't. But if she does, there is something important to remember."
"What is that, boss-dude?"
"Make sure that you say something complimentary about ME."
"You betcha."
Now, how to avoid the implementation of "ideas?"
She seemed to be doing the wandering around the right way ... not the let's catch people screwing up way that most CEOs do it.
She may also be trying to make herself available to the staff. Someone may have an idea or a gripe, that they wouldn't go to her office to mention.
On many occasions you've mentioned your fondness for Honey Mead. I happened to be a place in Lancaster they were selling it, (The Queen's Cup, Mount Hope Estate), so I grabbed a few bottles. I'd planned on sending most of it home to Cape Cod with my guest.
A taste and texture to encourage large, frequent, swallows, and 22 Proof.
I locked it all up in the big safe, and told her it was all gone.
I hate you, you've ruined my life, I can't drive, I'll probably run out of food and die... [SIZE="1"]happy.[/SIZE] :lol2:
Wha-ha-ha .... Check out Cardinal Hollow Winery. They are in North Wales and have a store in Skippack.
Outstanding Mead and really good wines.
So, I worked the weekend with my trainer, hyperguy.
He was complaining about short staffing (a common complaint on weekday nights when you can see 20 patients in 8 hours). Now I have been there for two weeks at this point.
I made my usual comment and said, "Well, I'm the trainee and I really only count as half a person as far as staffing is concerned."
His reply? "You're not really a trainee."
"okay, so I count as three-quarters of a person." (i did not add "excepting Indians not Taxed, and yes, I know that's three-fifths, but this is how my brain works)
Further evidence ... last week one of the prns (as needed part timers) was also training. I was banging out paperwork, entering people in the computer, taking phone calls, and she was trying to read the manual about the computer system (which is, incidentally, just barely helpful in terms of learning the computer system), and because everybody else was busy with something ... I was teaching her how to do stuff.
I am still doing things wrong, but apparently I am doing fewer things wrong.
I would like to draw Anonymous's attention to the fact that what Wolf is describing here is "faking it". She feels a little uncertain in her role at her new job "I'm the trainee and I really only count as half a person as far as staffing is concerned." and "I am still doing things wrong, but apparently I am doing fewer things wrong.", but to others around her she seems to be The Dog's Bo11ocks "You're not really a trainee." and "I was teaching her how to do stuff."
An excellent example of faking it in everyday use!
Yesterday I received an email from boss-dude.
"How do you feel about working your weekends alone in May?"
reply: "Terrified, but I'm sure I would rise to the occasion."
The negotiated settlement ... I get one more weekend with a partner, after that, I'm on my own.
Oh, and that other part-timer, the one who was asking me how to do stuff? Yeah, she's gone. The other night she just announced "I can't do this," and left. I have never seen anything like it. I'm used to people working through their shift and then contacting the boss the next day ... seen that more than once. Still don't know what happened to the third lady.
Last night we were quite busy. Paperwork was flying around the office, patients being brought in and out, I had to watch women pee and search them, since I was the only search certified female working. So ... there we were, during one of the rare lulls, talking about breaks and how we don't really get a chance to have them and all the other stuff we end up doing that's not directly our responsibility, trying to calculate the number of actual man-hours lost that would represent (it comes out close to an entire shift). So hyperguy says, "and what would that do?"
"It would give overnightchick something else to complain about."
There was a good five seconds of silence before hyperguy said to the other worker, "wolf has been here for less than a month and lookit what she has figured out."
"I, sir, am a highly skilled mental health professional."
I have never seen anything like it.
A long time ago, in a galaxy and a job far, far away, a new employee left in the middle of her first day. Her stated reason? "I can't stand students."
The job was in the Registrar's Office at a college.
I have seen people leave at lunch and never come back without a word ... the more conscientious ones mail back their keys and ID. She was just so abrupt about it. One minute doing the job (and doing okay, as it happens), the next, announcing to a cow orker, not a supervisor, her decision to leave. She had boss-dude's phone number (he gave it to us on our first day), why not call him directly? That's where the disconnect is for me.
I forget if I told this over in So, Like i got Hired.
In case I didn't or even if I did, because it deserves being enshrined in this thread ... mentioning that boss-dude gave us his phone number on the first day reminded me of this.
My second day. I was still confused about a lot of what goes on in the department. Had a couple conversations with boss-dude about mental health law, so he knows I know my stuff.
Anyway, I was at a friend's house that night and my IM ringtone goes off ... boss-dude. What could he want? To ask a question about the law and procedures. Second day and I was an indispensable resource.
When I was an office-rat we had a new starter who left at lunchtime.
She was 15-20 minutes late back from her scheduled break when our Team Leader received a call to say she was in A&E. No mobile phones in those days, she was on a payphone.
She's got caught in the automatic doors in Sainsburys and had broken her arm.
We never saw or heard from her again.
Just reminded me of this guy who got his finger stuck in a staple remover here years ago. He didn't quit right away, but he went on to become a judge in Ohio.
OMG that was funny.
At my old, old, old job...
We used to bet lunch on whether people would last till lunch. WAY TOO MANY did not.
Spending 4 hours with the [strike]boss[/strike]asshole was more than most people could handle. Especially when one had nothing to look forward to but 4 more hours of the same after lunch.
We had a teacher quit at my kids' school during the/their first day a few years ago. Just walked out. it was a good call, it was evident they weren't a good match. But unusual to throw it all away quite like that. It's a public school, they were transfered from another school. They might have got transferred back out if they hadn't just walked away....
Wolf, you have an Infinite Monkey Ringtone? I want one of those!
Last night I had occasion to call the old nuthouse. I needed a phone number that I was pretty sure they had, and so, I ended up talking to my old cow orker.
He is just as disgruntled as ever.
I, on the other hand, made sure to tell him that I was happy, yes, even dealing with the junkies, because they don't act like jerks like they are at the old nuthouse. And my new cow orkers are awesome, and that I get feedback from boss-dude, and I am valued for my abilities and experience. Oh, and I have a desk and a window and everything is all bright and well-ventilated.
In short, I told the absolute truth and in doing so, I rubbed it in. Hard.
He apparently tried to defend me during "the incident," pointing out to crankyboss that I hadn't done what I was accused of. He was told to speak of this no further.
I told him that while it all still hurt like hell, I'd found my peace with it, especially because of the opportunity it gave me to be with crazynuyrse nearly every single day.
And besides, I'm happy.
I didn't tell him they'd created a title and position just to bring me in to the rehab, though. I would have, but I didn't want the new cow orkers to hear me bragging.
Oh, yeah. I changed the thread title.
I'm in rehab, now. Not the asylum.
Oh, yeah. I changed the thread title.
I'm in rehab, now. Not the asylum.
one day at a time, eh?
I'm working the program.
I recently became a part of someone's searching and fearless moral inventory. I got an unsolicited apology for something I didn't realize was happening, but was significant to the individual.
:) Noted.
I have had that experience too. The such apologies are most often more for the benefit of the apologizer than the apologizee.
I got my first compliment from a family member. The other night I took a call from a lady while husband was hospitalized for psych, but had some addictions going on as well. I explained a lot to her about suicide and addictions, information her husband's treatment team hadn't been taking the time to go over, according to her report. She asked if she could speak to my supervisor about our conversation, and I told her that would be fine. When I came in today, boss-dude said, "a lady called about you, told me you were really helpful. Good work."
Yes, I am awesome.
We always knew.
:notworthy
Nice job, wolf. Good on you for helping her and good on you for getting caught doing so.
The first of many I'm sure.
You are very good. Nice to be at a place that acknowledges it, eh?
Almost don't know what to do!
I just told hyperguy and another cow orker tonight, "just wait until I clear my probation, then you'll find out what I'm really like."
I survived my first night alone in admissions. And by alone I mean me and my friends myself and I. Phones were ringing, I had patients in the lobby waiting for a doc who was dealing with medical emergencies elsewhere on the campus, other hospitals wanting to send me patients with little information offered, and little experience on how the rehab does some of this stuff. I only texted the boss-dude a little bit for advice and the nicest thing ... Hyperguy called me to make sure I was doing okay.
And I'm doing it all again tomorrow. :eek:
There is a TV in the patient waiting room, to keep them entertained. One of them asked for the channel to be switched to AMC because he didn't want to watch an NCIS marathon on USA.
Total score. Watched Jeremiah Johnson, Earthquake, and Backdraft.
Backdraft is one of my top ten favorite movies. Saw it a dozen times in the theater, can't remember how many times since. Made it an especially good night, in that respect. Oh, and it happens to be St. Florian's Day. How's that for a coincidence? And to top it off, I was wearing my Baltimore Fire Dept. polo shirt. Yes, Backdraft is Chicago Fire, but it is still Fire. I didn't know about the St. Florian thing until after I got dressed.
Congratulations Wolf. It sounds like a great place.
BTW, I also love Jeremiah Johnson. I recently saw
The Mountain Men with Charleton Heston and Brian Keith for the first time and it was pretty good. Jeremiah Johnson is still one of the best pioneer movies.
Speaking of pioneers, it's great to hear that you're moving forward in your career and have found a place that appreciates you. Good luck.
Well... We'll see how much they appreciate me tomorrow. Tonight was out of control, I was alone, and I still had a pile up of patients in the lobby at shift change.
"You impressed her. She has 'ideas' involving you."
Make her take you to dinner first.;)
I rubbed it in. Hard.
There is no joy greater than outliving your opponents, whether literally or metaphorically. Congratulations!!
In the grand scheme of things, my performance on the awful, horrible really bad night was rated "pretty good." I got a good one month eval from boss-dude, too.
And some additional chaos management tips.
I just woke up from having worked an unexpected double last night. By "unexpected," I mean that the night shift person called off an hour before her shift. I had just gotten into that mode of "all right, only an hour to go and I'm home in bed!"
Not quite.
There were still a bunch of patients in the lobby waiting for beds at 2300, and hyperguy and I were getting things under control and then ... another patient walks in. Not a walk in, this guy was expected, but he should have been to us LONG before he arrived. Technically, he showed up after his bed was released, but thank FSM, we hadn't put anybody else in it.
So, I had a whole admission to do on top of the "leftovers," which included several discussions with insurance companies. Hyperguy stayed for a little bit, until around 0130 or 0200 or so, I don't really remember anymore.
The one thing that was kind of crucial to my getting out of there before 0700 when the next person would be in was ... being able to forward the phones to another department. Sounds simple, right? I even had some instructions. They were for an older phone, and so were nigh useless.
Hyperguy was so hyper he couldn't remember how to do it.
The nurse manager who sits in the office down the hall didn't know either.
The unit the calls forward to didn't even know that calls forwarded to them.
When I finally finished the last insurance call, I tried every single darn button on the phone.
And found it.
I tested it by calling the main number and the unit that didn't know it answered the phones answered the phone.
Awesome.
I got home around 0600. I think I may have had five hours of sleep.
You're doing a great job.
Sometimes things are out of control.
Learning when they are SNAFU is the trick. Because then you don't worry about not coping. You relax and deal with what you can.
Of course I say this is an LSA, not in your job :)
But who's to say you could deal with 31 5-7 year olds?
Who am I kidding?
You could walk through my job asleep.
You'd captivate them all by stripping down and reassembling you weapon.
Sundae, just curious, are you left in charge of the class for long periods? And if you are for any length of time, what first aid certification/training do you have and did the school pay for it?
Sundae, I could NOT manage a room full of ruly 5-7 year olds, much less unruly ones. Give me a room full of nuts or junkies, and I'm in my element.
Most of what I do, even here, is really just a matter of rising above the chaos and not trying to force order onto it, but rather finding it's rhythm and flowing with it without getting caught up in it.
Kind of like swimming out of an undertow, but with people. ;)
Last night I sent an email to IT about a fairly minor issue I've been having. I figured they'd look into it and get back to me ... it's the one that the help desk said they couldn't help me with before. There are workarounds (like walking to the actual fax machine down the hall from my office), but I'd rather be able to fax stuff from my computer. Helps me be lazier.
Darndest thing happened. After 2300 hrs. I was packing up to leave, had cleared out of my desk, and ... phone rings. Nightlady says, "It's for you."
Me? I didn't call anyone.
It was IT. They saw the helpdesk request and were responding to it, to ask some more questions beyond what I'd already included in my email. They are actually going to work on it.
This is so weird to me. My last IT guy was a legacy (his dad had been medical director) with a degree in journalism who didn't own a home computer. What IT guy doesn't own a home computer? That's like a plumber who doesn't own a toilet!
wow. you have IT on duty around the clock? wow. I guess it's a big operation and that working computers are "mission critical".
Typically IT is only available at night when something that actually prevents you from doing your job, like logging in to the medical records charting system. "Little" issues, like I thought mine was (there are physical fax machines available in the department, the only thing it's doing is making me walk down a hallway). That's why I emailed the helpdesk rather than calling the IT emergency line. I'm not having an emergency, I'm having an inconvenience.
I'm not having an emergency, I'm having an inconvenience.
Your ability to distinguish the two, nay, your very recognition that there exists the possibility of a difference between the two, is greatly appreciated by all of us IT drones.
The IT lady remembered me from orientation, when I confessed to knowing computer stuff.
Your ability to distinguish the two, nay, your very recognition that there exists the possibility of a difference between the two, is greatly appreciated by all of us IT drones.
Preach it, brother!
"I used to work with computers and play with people. Now I do the opposite."
I prefer medium-rare wolf, myself.
Well, I can at least say I'm always fresh!
Congrats, Wolf. Sounds like you've landed nicely. You deserve it.
Worked the weekend, wasn't insanely busy, but wasn't totally quiet and boring.
Got to spend some quality time with hyperguy, actually getting a chance to talk. He's pretty cool. He spent some time showing me around parts of the department I hadn't really seen. There is an actual lab, with centrifuges, a biohazard fridge, a big-ass eyewash fountain, and everything.
I still want to be able to wander around the campus a bit. There are a lot of buildings and I'd like to have a better idea of what I'm sending people into.
I am seriously tired out.
I worked my regular shift last night (left at 2300) and had agreed to an OT shift in honor of the holiday weekend ... bossdude wanted double coverage on today.
Now I know why. The assistant to bossdude was in stupid early this morning and called everyone on the waiting list to come in to fill the place up.
I love the overtime, don't get me wrong, but the ass-busting work I had to do in order to earn it? Not so much. I was looking forward to a day of a couple of phone calls and setting things up for the evening people.
I ended up with a lot of phone calls, and a lobby full of junkies wondering why everything was taking so long.
Well, my cow orkers are starting to figure out that I know _everybody_.
One of them kindly offered to take me on a tour around the campus, show me what the units looked like, and so on. As we walked up to this one building, there were police cars out front. "Well that can't be good," she said.
As we walked up to the cop he said, "Hey what are you doing here?"
"I'm not there anymore, I'm here!"
Lots of smiling and handshaking.
As we walked away, she said, "That cop knows you?"
"yeah, I know all of them."
So, a couple of days ago, there's an incident in my department, cops are there again, and the sergeant is in the office taking a statement from somebody or another ... he interrupts his business to give me a big hug. I thought hyperguy's eyeballs would fall out he was bugging so much.
It's not just cops.
I had presented a case to one of the attendings, and was telling the other folks what was going on in case they got any calls about that patient coming in. I referred to the shrink the way I've always referred to him ... by his first name.
One of them said, wait, who is (firstnameredacted)?
The attending. That's his first name.
Oh, you call doctors by their first names? (Dr. Firstnameredacted is notoriously straightlaced, apparently. He's the one I was hugging in the hallway my second day there)
The one's that I have known for 15 years, yes.
I also know the majority of local people that refer to us, and, of course, everybody at the old nuthouse.
bossdude called me into his office yesterday, pointing out that my 90 day eval was coming up, and he wanted to talk with me a little bit.
He mentioned some areas where I had shown improvement, and was asking where I was having issues, usual boss stuff.
Then he mentioned that whole thing about my title being different from all the others (They are Admissions Officers, I am the Clinical Admissions Specialist) ... and how I'm going to be finding out what that entails, now that I know how to do the base job. I'm going to have responsibility for screening cases that are being presented by outside agencies.
He kept saying, "you're a master's level clinician." There were overtones of awe attached there.
You know, at the old nuthouse, nobody ever regarded me that way.
That's awesome! Way to go!
Respect. There is NO substitute!
Way to go, Wolf!
Most uncomfortable moment to date ... We had a TG male come in (f>m) who needed to be body searched and also monitored for a urine.
Everybody else in the office was in a tizzy over how do do the search. As low woman on the totem pole, it got handed to me. Hyperguy was all "how do you do with that?"
By not making it a big deal.
Went in with the young transman, explained the process, and started by saying, "So, are you wearing a binder or have you had top surgery already?"
Nothing like breaking the ice by cutting to the chase, and letting him know that I was cool with the deal, didn't really mind, and just wanted to get to business.
Awesome! Do I need to call you Ms. Master's Level Clinician now? ;)
Wolf it is sSO good to know you've landed where you're appreciated.
You RAWQK and we always knew it!
Went in with the young transman, explained the process, and started by saying, "So, are you wearing a binder or have you had top surgery already?"
Nothing like breaking the ice by cutting to the chase, and letting him know that I was cool with the deal, didn't really mind, and just wanted to get to business.
:thumb:
This pleases me, the respect shown here.
He kept saying, "you're a master's level clinician." There were overtones of awe attached there.
This makes me happy too (not that it wasn't said before, but that you're getting what you deserve now).
You know, at the old nuthouse, nobody ever regarded me that way.
He kept saying, "you're a master's level clinician."
Is that like a Level 50 Clinician with +20 charisma and unlimited healing potions? Because that's how I'm imagining it. With a tasteful brown robe.
Well played, Wolf. That was the correct response.
<applause>
Awesome! Do I need to call you Ms. Master's Level Clinician now? ;)
Mistress will do. Just like always.
More kudos, and from an unsolicited source ...
There are a couple of insurance companies that we deal with a lot, know the care managers by name, and often their personality quirks. So, anyway, I was doing a review to get our payment started, and this fellow says, "I recognize your voice, weren't you wolf from the nuthouse before you were wolf from the rehab?"
Yup.
"We were wondering what happened, all of a sudden you weren't calling any more."
yeah, well, it's a long story, but now I'm here and I'm not there.
"We're glad your back. I saw your name on the level of care evals and I was excited for you. You are highly regarded by us."
Damn. I'm just basking in this.
Oh, and I talked to a buddy from the nuthouse. He's a good guy, and totally not a political animal, even though he plays the game pretty well. He confirmed that the shrink's protected category trumped my protected category, and that the order came from on high for my summary execution.
This is doing wonders for my self esteem, I tell you.
Is that like a Level 50 Clinician with +20 charisma and unlimited healing potions? Because that's how I'm imagining it. With a tasteful brown robe.
I was thinking something more flowy, in jet black, but with that iridescent coating, you know? And a hood with purple and gold trim. I am an Olden Ram.
Mistress will do. Just like always.
Yes mistress Wolf. :notworthy
And so, being low wolf on the totem pole, I worked Independence Day.
Now, having nearly 20 years of mental health experience, I know what holidays are supposed to be like. Kick back, answer a couple of phones, maybe see a drunken walk-in or two.
I was wrong.
An "enthusiastic" cow orker worked Tuesday and scheduled seven freaking people!
When I got in the day shift person was pulling her hair out, because most of them had shown up, and some guy walked in shortly after I arrived.
No problem. We worked through the overlap, had mostly everybody ready to see the doctor, and she left.
Yikers.
Me and a room full of mainly junkies.
Just kind of coasted through it, at least I was ahead of the doctor as far as having things ready to just bang into the computer and call the unit.
Then later, this dude shows up, and he's so unconscious he can't fill out the paperwork. Tried to get the doctor to see him, but he wouldn't see people out of order, and every time I got the doc up front to at least eyeball the dude to maybe send him to the ER ... he would rouse just enough to show he wasn't dead yet.
Doc, come on here, I learned medicine by watching ER ... I couldn't wake him up without a ton of yelling and shaking ...
So I texted boss-dude for guidance.
What happens? boss-dude texts back ... "I'll be in shortly."
I wasn't drowning or panicking, just wanting some leverage with the doc, boss-dude.
Oh, and to top it all off, the CEO called me ... she was on grounds?! What CEO comes in on a holiday???? She asked me a couple of questions on the phone, stuff that she probably had, not sure if she was testing me or what.
So, boss-dude did come in, made a couple of insurance company phone calls, and noted that I wasn't overwhelmed by the activity. He told me to clean up what I was working on, and then I could go (so I got overtime on my holiday time).
He also asked me if i could work Friday.
I was supposed to be off on Friday and Saturday, I already agreed to work on Sunday, which was also supposed to be an off day. So I told him, "Well, I'm still waiting for you to complete my 90-day probation review, so suck-up mode is still in effect. I was going to go camping, but if you really need me ..."
He said he'd figure something else out, because I deserved to go camping.
Now, he doesn't know how I feel about camping. And bugs. And the wilderness. So I MAY go in there today and tell him how I've seen the weather report, and if I HAVE to work, that could provide a graceful out for me. I especially don't like camping in over 100 degree temperatures. It's not like I can just go down to the hotel-on-wheels and stay in the air conditioning. I would actually have to tend fire and be out in the heat and everything.
So, I get the last guy out of the lobby, and I'm all ready to leave, and ... seriously drunk chick and boyfriend stumble in.
Seriously drunk chick has a bottle of beer, which I took from her. She spent the rest of our time together saying, "You took my beer."
yes, I did.
"Can i have my beer back?"
No, nice try, though.
It never got old for her. We must have done that same routine another six or seven times before I got her far enough along in the process to be able to hand her off to the nursing supervisor. I then beat feet out of there.
Doc, come on here, I learned medicine by watching ER ...
Maybe you need to make Doc a night's reservation at the nearest Holiday Inn.
.
Damn. I'm just basking in this.
This is doing wonders for my self esteem, I tell you.
Not too many things in life feel better than vindication.
Seriously drunk chick has a bottle of beer, which I took from her. She spent the rest of our time together saying, "You took my beer."
yes, I did.
"Can i have my beer back?"
No, nice try, though.
It never got old for her. We must have done that same routine another six or seven times before I got her far enough along in the process to be able to hand her off to the nursing supervisor. I then beat feet out of there.
I can totally see the fun in doing that dialog multiple times.
I might've been tempted to switch it up, though, and start responding in nonsense from time to time.
I promised to use my superpowers only for the forces of goodness.
Oh, hell. You can tell a drunk anything and 5 minutes later they've forgotten it. When I was still at the Bates a drunk would come in and I'd tell him, "Sorry, we don't rent out rooms to anyone who is intoxicated." 15 minutes later he'd be back hoping I'd changed my mind or that someone else would be out front. Or he just forgot that he tried there already.
I couldn't do your job in a million years, Wolf. I'd go postal by time I'd encountered the 10th or 11th drunk. Having been one myself, I have no patience with active drinkers.
The drunks, unless they are angry drunks, are always better than the junkies.
You can leave a drunk alone at your desk for thirty seconds.
So, I went into boss-dude's office yesterday evening, and said, "So, about my 90 day eval ... you see, I really need new eyeglasses and I haven't gotten an email from HR about filling out all the forms for the insurance coverage and stuff, and, well, i was worried ..."
Boss-dude laughed and said, "You're off probation. I just haven't gotten around to the eval. You don't have to worry. I'm not firing you."
"Phew."
He immediately sent an email to HR to ask about by benefits stuff, and I had an answer back in less than ten minutes. How about that?
You can't blame me for being gun-shy here. I did my last job perfectly for 19 years and got shit-canned for something I didn't do, after all.
relax.
that just means you have 18.75 years to go, right?
I have promised to teach quietgirl how I work my magick with insurance companies. I don't actually know how I manage to get them to agree to pay for some of the most awfully poor clinically supported admissions, but I usually do. I know at least some of it has to do with what I call "the shmooze."
I rarely get full-out denials of care. Sometimes, you can't help it, because most care managers won't or aren't allowed to see past the criteria they work with, but some of them become more willing to do so if they like you. Most of the time if I can get a giggle out of them, I can get money out of them.
I shall teach the young padawan-learner, if I can figure out how I do it.
She was also talking about her embarrassment related to the usual insurance company question of "and what are your creditials?" She has a high school diploma, and, despite being very good at her job, gets thrown by this question because she hasn't got an advanced degree.
I am making her a certificate. It is very fancy, and declares that she is to be entitled to and accorded all of the rights and privileges of having conferred upon her the status of "NOOAI."
A presenter at a conference I went to had this after his name on his title card of his powerpoint. He was a cop. A good cop, but a cop. Academy graduate, but not a college guy.
He clued us in to the meaning near the end of the conference ... "No One Of Any Importance." Everybody else presenting was a PhD or LCSW or MD, and he wanted to have some letters too.
I hope that this does not backfire and hit her right in her self-esteem issues. She does have a pretty good sense of humor, though. She carries a Spongebob messenger bag and on dress-down days has been known to wear Spongebob flannel jammie pants and UGG-like slippers, because they are comfy.
I shall teach the young padawan-learner, if I can figure out how I do it.
Risky. The act of analysing your technique might make you start overthinking it and ruin your effectiveness. Happened to a golf player once, decades ago. Best golfer in the world, tried to write a book about it, thought about it so much he lost his game and never got it back.
Oh and you'd be less indispensable. You want that?
duuuuuude.
No one is indispensble. That's an unhelpful myth.
duuuuuude.
No one is indispensble. That's an unhelpful myth.
He didn't say she was. He just said she's become less so.....
To be truly indispensible, you need to be unique in your entire field. Create your own job that no-one else could do. Because if there are two of you, s/he could take your job. Sure, maybe you'd get theirs. Or maybe they'd train someone before they jumped. But if it's just you... and just one job ....where would you go if you left? They don't need to treat you well, they know you are stuck.
/twosidestoeverycoin
If you are indispensable, you can never take a vacation.
He didn't say she was. He just said she's become less so.....
Well, fine.
then it's a dumb remark, like "more unique". You can't put such a limiting qualifier on a absolute like "indispensable".
...
on top of that, he even got it upside down (maybe it's a southern hemisphere thing.) If indispensable is good, wouldn't you want to be more of it and not less of it?
The Rehab is part of this fitness thing, it's sponsored through the American Cancer Society.
I signed up for it.
I am stupid.
Okay, I'm not stupid.
My purpose was to suck up to the boss-dude.
See, he's a team captain.
So I signed up and get an email back ... Too many people on boss-dude's team, so I get assigned elsewhere.
Crap.
Now I'm committed and I'm in direct competition with boss-dude and most of my cow orkers.
So yeah, I guess I am stupid.
But anyway, I told HR that was fine, and it would be a good way to meet more people. Sucking up to HR can't hurt, right?
In an odd twist of fate, my team captain is the former director of my department.
They wanted to name our team "Boss-Dude's Worst Enemy." This did not win in the voting. We are "The Avengers."
So, here I am, day two. I committed to 29 minute per day (that's considered "Bronze" level).
Both yesterday and today I did manage to go walking, each time for at least 45 minutes. Starting at the Rehab kind of got me out of doing this, because back when I first got shitcanned, and before crazynurse got sick, I was walking nearly every day.
On the upside, I'm getting back to listening to The Making of the Atomic Bomb. I'm getting near the end.
I have to figure out what to listen to next.
So the security guard, the one who bows to me and calls me his goddess ... he comes into the office last night, with a carefully wrapped package in his hands. He says, "Goddess wolf, don't touch this without gloves, but we got to put this away."
"What is it?"
"It's a cell phone. it's wrapped in plastic, and I have two pairs of gloves around it too."
"Why?"
"One of the patients had it on the unit. She was hiding it."
"So, why is it ... oh. was she hiding it in a special place?"
"Yes." (I think he was grateful that I caught on so quickly)
"Did she have it on vibrate?"
The man laughs just like Jeffrey Holder.
The rest of the night he would come by and say ... "Call me."
Are you SUUURE he really works there??? LOL
This is not my story, but it deserves to be told.
One of my nurses, back when she was a young nurse, worked in a dementia unit somewhere.
For reasons that are unclear, the unit had an open nurses station, which means there is not a locked door between the nurses and the patients.
So anyway, this young nurse is also a young mother. She had just started back to work after giving birth, and had to pump her breast milk several times a day. She put it in a container and put that container into the refrigerator.
Well, one day, she sees one of the demented old ladies walking down the hall with her special tupperware container. And a milk mustache.
She lost it. Put her right over the edge into post partum depression. Her nurse manager had to send her home.
and people have been milking that story ever since.
So the security guard, the one who bows to me . . .
The rest of the night he would come by and say ... "Call me."
A bit of a workplace crush then? That's about like finding a Hello Kitty lunchbox -- that's ticking. Kinda cute, but probably dangerous.
...but probably dangerous.
OR, they could turn out to be the love of each other's lives.:eyebrow:
The other night was busy. Kind of average busy. At the beginning of the shift we were all present and accounted for, but after a while, somebody noticed that hyperguy was missing. He has this tendency to wander, so we didn't think much of it. No sign of him by the end of the shift ... which is when the night coverage came in. Night coverage was bossdude's assistant ... after she settles in she says, "hyperdude is no longer employed by this facility. I can't say anything more than that."
On the upside, I now have a desk of my own.
Oh, and bossdude is on vacation. I am unused to anything like this happening when the boss is on vacation.
I am curious as to what hyperguy did ... both out of basic curiosity and in wanting to know what one shouldn't do if one is wanting to remain employed.
I have my suspicions, which if true, means I am absolutely no danger of being escorted out under similar circumstances.
If you find, out, let us know. I'm curious too, and don't even know the guy.
A couple of months ago I had made some comment about people who work in mental health go shit-crazy when they break under the stress.
hyperguy asked me, "What happens to us? What happens to people who work in rehab?"
"Relapse."
Were this a novel or movie, that would be called "foreshadowing."
One of the things about working in a rehab is that a lot of people working in rehabs are "graduates."
Just sayin.
There will be no official confirmation, because that is how such things work.
"I used to work with computers and play with people. Now I do the opposite."
I totally busted up a shrink the other day by saying this. The dude never laughs, rarely reacts to anything ... but this really tickled him.
I'd been having some trouble connecting with him. I think the ice is broken. Especially because of this other thing that happened.
I was having a snack and as he came down the hallway, I held out the bag and said, "Doctor, care for a Jelly Baby?"
He stopped dead and said, "You've been watching too much old Doctor Who ..."
That is so.
Well, it turns out that we were both members of the Philadelphia Doctor Who Fan Club, the Unearthly Children.
Small world.
Well, looks like I'm not getting a desk.
I have also learned more about how the rumor mill functions. It is swift and deadly. The entire facility knows what happened. Even the pissboy knows (a gentleman from an outside contractor who comes every night to pick up the urine specimens. Of course I call him the pissboy). I have also learned that a nurse recently got shitcanned for sex with a patient, but that's pretty average stuff, well, except that it's total dude naughty nurse girl on girl action fantasy stuff. But anyway ...
So, on Thursday hyperguy starts texting me ... "I fixed it, I think I can come back." So, I got the story direct from him ... and then by the next morning, bossdude's assistant is just kind of casually saying, "yeah hyperguy is coming back, he came up with prescriptions." Okay, two days ago we were at "hyperguy does not work here anymore" and today you're telling me everything. Okey Dokey.
Hyperguy was supposed to work the weekend ... he didn't. And he didn't respond to any of the phone calls from HR, which, if he really wants his job is pretty stupid. How do I know this? It's all anybody is talking about.
So, as of Monday, he still hadn't contact anyone. He was supposed to work yesterday, which was RDO for me. I told the cow orkers to take notes, photos and videos so that I did not miss a thing.
More importantly, I want to find out where the giant vat of Teflon is stored, and how I get access to it.
Prescriptions...
I fixed it...
Hyper guy...
The Three Pillars of what?
So, I'm on the phone with an insurance company, and they are asking me about a patient's medical conditions.
wolf: He's got Hypospadias.
insurancelady: What's that?
Now, I figured I would be asked so I looked it up before making my phone call.
wolf: It is a malformation of the urethra in which it emerges from a different part of his wee-wee.
insurancelady: ew. Oh, my friend's son had that. he had to have surgery to correct it.
wolf: yeah, that's the one. This dude had surgery too.
insurancelady: What else does he have?
wolf: Nystagmus.
insurance lady: what's that one?
wolf: He's cross-eyed. Actually, I could have saved time and just told you he was cock-eyed, but in two different ways.
I was having a snack and as he came down the hallway, I held out the bag and said, "Doctor, care for a Jelly Baby?"
[snip]
He's cross-eyed. Actually, I could have saved time and just told you he was cock-eyed, but in two different ways.
I remember why I hold you in such high esteem.
Haggis.
OVERHEAD PAGE: Security, please call detox, security call detox. No emergency.
Now, since it's a weekend, this disturbed the security guard from his very important television watching in my empty back lobby. There was basketball on, you see. I only knew he was there because I had to get water from the lab's filtered water spigot for the Keurig bossdude bought us for Christmas.
Anyway, he came int the office and used my phone to call.
GUARD: Security ... you want what? ... that's housekeeping. I don't have no blankets ... oh, you tried them and they're gone for the day ... I see.
He hangs up and turns around and looks at me, making it clear that the entire weight of the world is on his shoulders, and he has to go looking for blankets. Apparently it was a pretty good basketball game.
WOLF: Clearly they don't want just any darn blanket, eh? Only a security blanket will do ...
I'll be here all week, folks. Don't forget to tip your waiters and waitresses.
...but in two different ways.
...Only a security blanket will do ...
:notworthy
I had a completely unsatisfying interaction with the old nuthouse last night. reallycrazychick comes in. She does this about once every month and a half. She has engaged in some minor drug use, usually weed, has been off her meds for at least a couple weeks, and lies about an assortment of things, mainly that she is suicidal. Her performance typically ends with an admission to our psych unit. Just one problem, really. No room at the inn last night.
So I had to put her somewhere. She needed a babysitter (the technical term is a one-on-one, but really it's a nut-sitter) because she had wandered off on me once and had to be returned by security.
I get everything cleared with her insurance, and called the old nuthouse. They were willing to take her but couldn't do the transport. Now, mind you, the ambulance was in station when I called, they hadn't left on their two runs yet ... and I was significantly closer than the other two runs. My deal would have taken about 20 minutes round trip, actually. Instead, I'm looking at a pick up time after midnight, knowing how the crews there do on turn-around. Not happening. I've got a staff member tied up here watching her. Not that the private transport crew ended up being much faster.
Kind of weird, though, talking to people I don't know. What I didn't know was if they knew who I was.
I think hyperguy is using drugs again. You know, the kind he came up with a prescription for and saved his job the last time. I have also heard that his mysterious disappearance right after I started was a trip to rehab. I do not know this from him. What I do know from him is that he has to piss for HR on a weekly basis.
Now, I accept that he has the ability to focus like a ... um ... telescope with a warped lens or something.
But lately, he is worse.
Also, he disappears.
There is a clear difference in his behavior before and after disappearances.
Before, jumpy. After, calm.
The other night he was on the phone with an insurance company, PUT THEM ON HOLD, mumbled something about having to get a computer from his friend in the parking lot, off he went ... came back ... empty handed.
And oh, he didn't just put it in his car or something, because he doesn't own a car.
He has been living with his dad for nearly a year, does not pay rent. Does not buy food. Has not bought a car ...
Okay, yeah. I'm making assumptions.
but they are well-thought out assumptions.
I would be perfectly happy to be wrong.
Zen calm is good.
High calm is not.
And the storm before the calm, that's an issue, too.
I was off for two days and people were falling over themselves tonight to catch me up on the doin's of the last two days ... hyperguy has been worse than usual, super disorganized. Now he's got some stuff going on that certainly is stressful ... but when one has few coping skills, well, you go with what you know, I guess.
I think a couple of people have already gone to bossdude. I was going to do some therapist-fu and try to get hyperguy to fess up on his own. Not likely, of course, but I am a hopeful person. Okay, so more likely, at least nudge him towards realizing that he ain't foolin' nobody.
he ain't foolin' nobody.
That's the sad and really amazing part about these sorts of things; people's ability to really, truly believe they are "passing."
Denial => 'doesn't even (k)now it's a lie'. (Spelling apologies, but otherwise it's sort of appropriate.) It is sad.
Denial ain't just a river in Egypt ... and it does not flow through my office.
Last night took suck to an extraordinary new level.
When I showed up, there was just me and one other cow orker. A trainee. A competent trainee, but a trainee, nonetheless.
Bossdude says, you'll be fine ...
(I have learned to define "fine" as Fucked up, Insane, Neurotic, and Emotional. I am an experienced mental health professional, after all.)
There were twelve scheduled patients. Or maybe eleven. Between walk-ins and return from hospitals that we hadn't known about, we ended up dealing with seventeen. Fuck, I said. Fuckity fuck fuck, I said. A lot.
The trainee says, "I never heard you say that word before."
I am always surprised when people say this to me.
But I guess, that unless I am under extreme stress, like last night, I have been keeping a lid on it at the rehab.
Fuck.
It was one of those nights where I didn't get to eat dinner. I had made a grievous error. I took something that I had to microwave. I think this was the second time since I've worked there that I've taken something other than a sandwich for dinner. By the time I realized I hadn't eaten it was around 2130, which was past my point of no return for eating dinner. I sustained myself on corn nuts and peanut butter crackers. And some fruit snacks.
Fuck.
It has been an eventful week at the rehab.
I come in on Monday, and one of the part-timers is working. She starts whispering ... "As soon as everybody is gone, we have to go out and smoke together. You will not believe this."
Apparently, on Saturday, hyperguy came in, and was doing his usual bullshitting around, and avoiding seeing and talking to the folks he was coming in to replace. This was described as "he hid in the bathroom until gothychick left."
And?
Well, there were a bunch of patients in the lobby, and the doctor comes out to find hyperguy unwell.
By unwell, I mean that he was kind of non-responsive, breathing shallowly, that kind of unwell.
The doctor called 911 on him.
Now, there was another coworker there ... she was all flustered, nearly crying, from the description ... one of the junkies in the lobby said to her, "Don't worry lady, it's only an overdose. They'll give him some narcan and he'll be fine."
Of course, the junkie was an old hand at this, and was completely right.
My cow orker was wrong. I totally believed it.
bossdude announced that hyperguy was no longer working for the rehab. He also said, "I really mean it this time," referencing that time last year that hyperguy was fired for a hot urine, but pulled some prescriptions out of his ass and returned to work a few days later.
The place is an adventure, I tell you.
However, given the current massive hole in the schedule, the screwup threshold has been raised so high, nobody is in danger of being fired for quite some time.
May and June are entirely too full. I have had three trainings (two 2-day and one 3-day that I was both taking and hosting), lots of overtime because of the hyperguy firing, and now ...
bossdude has hired a couple of people. One is a psych student who therefore thinks she knows everything, and the other ...
Well, this is weird, even in my vast experience.
The other night she as working and we were comminting on the inappropriateness of her minidress, which, incidentally, for June is totally wrong, winter colors and it was a heavy wool fabric. She is from a warmer part of the country, Pennsyltucky weather is confusing to her system I guess.
So over the weekend I was picking up an extra shift and worked with her. It was busy, but light enough in traffic that we had some time to talk. She starts telling doghoarder and I about her hobby.
She's into serial killers.
I mean REALLY into serial killers. Like in love with a particular one with a very high body count who has since been executed.
Freaky in love.
Gets an "O" face when she talks about him. I have been describing this is "rapturous."
Now, I know some things here and there about serial killers, followed a few, have read most of the books.
Why people do things fascinates me. Especially why they do particularly dark things. Like that.
But it's a passing interest.
So after the revelation about how much she loves this dead serial killer, even to the point where she wants to have her ashes sprinkled in the same location as his ... well ... then it hit me.
She dresses, does her hair, everything ... to match his victim profile.
When I say freaky, I mean freaky.
So, yesterday I get a text from doghoarder ...
"psychokillergirlfriend has a girl crush on you. She just told me."
Sounds like she should be on the nut side of the nuthouse.
the one good thing that came from the Ace Ventura movies
Alrighty then!
[a quote that encompasses shock, awe and non judgement, well maybe a little judgement]
I was just re-reading this:
Now, there was another coworker there ... she was all flustered, nearly crying, from the description ... one of the junkies in the lobby said to her, "Don't worry lady, it's only an overdose. They'll give him some narcan and he'll be fine."
And thinking, "yep, experience trumps qualifications every time", when I saw this:
One is a psych student who therefore thinks she knows everything,
Ohhh ddeeeaaarrr ......
Then I read about the other one.
Please keep us updated. This could be very interesting.
the one good thing that came from the Ace Ventura movies
Alrighty then!
[a quote that encompasses shock, awe and non judgement, well maybe a little judgement]
excellent assay!
... bossdude has hired a couple of people. One is a psych student who therefore thinks she knows everything, ...
and the other ... She's into serial killers. I mean REALLY into serial killers. Like in love with a particular one with a very high body count who has since been executed. Freaky in love. Gets an "O" face when she talks about him. I have been describing this is "rapturous." ... So after the revelation about how much she loves this dead serial killer, even to the point where she wants to have her ashes sprinkled in the same location as his ... well ... then it hit me. She dresses, does her hair, everything ... to match his victim profile. When I say freaky, I mean freaky. So, yesterday I get a text from doghoarder ... "psychokillergirlfriend has a girl crush on you. She just told me."
Change the names to protect the innocent; then, turn your information about
psychokillergirlfriend over to
psychstudent as a case study. Ask psychstudent for her assessment and recommendations. Should be a humbling experience for her.
Perfect. Sexobon, you rock.
"psychokillergirlfriend has a girl crush on you. She just told me."
If a psychokillergirlfriend has a girl crush on you, you just might be a serial killer. - Jeff Foxworthy Dahmer
Psychstudent had her first weekend alone. To say it didn't go well would be an understatement. She apparently called the police twice, once because a patient spoke harshly to her. She was standing in front of the bed board (handwritten whiteboard of all the patients in the facility) and crying. She will henceforth be known as "fragilegirl."
Fragilegirl is fragile.
Fragilegirl quit with no notice. Who the hell leaves a full time prodessional job with no notice? Oh yeah. Crazy people.
Security guard asked about her yesterday. When told he said, "I didnt expect her to last. I seen her over in the gym with the rehabbers, and they're, like, good you know, and she was scared of them. She ain't like wolf, for sure."
An altercation over staff food in the "patient food" fridge nearly came to fisticuffs. Imagine, if you will, the ire of an African American man in his 50s when the old white lady receptionist throws his tub of watermelon onto the ground with enough force that it opens and spills.
He somehow managed not to hit her.
But the next day we got a memo about no staff food in the patient food fridge. 1. We rarely used it. 2. We only used the shelf that is too short to squeeze lunchbags into. This is totally a power and control game on the part of the receptionist.
so I solved the problem
So, I walk into bossdude's office and he says, "Are you packing."
"Not today."
"I have a problem I need to solve."
"Let me know if you need it dealt with quietly and from a distance."
"I will."
I do not know why this happened. As far as the office knows, I all about Hello Kitty, Origami Christmas decorations, and a sometimes quirky approach to life.
I find that exchange disconcerting. As a rule of thumb, I don't tell anyone whether or not I'm carrying even when asked. You'll get more information about why they're asking with the reply "And if I am?"
The issue is that even friendlies who know you're carrying can compromise you by announcing it to intimidate someone; or, blurt it out in a panic situation like "Wolf, use your gun!" It can happen even when you know the timing isn't right due to the tactical situation, spectrum of force continuum criteria, or both.
Unless your boss has the lawful authority to order you to shoot someone, you're better off making him demonstrate a need to know by having him give a rationale for his question up front. It will give you some warning about potentially being put in a bad situation. That your boss would put you on the spot with his unqualified question in an indicator.
The real question is how did he know to ask.
Your consent to a routine pre-employment background check probably opened the door to the concealed carry permit registry (at least for inquiries submitted by healthcare facilities, schools, government offices ... etc.). You could check with whichever agency maintains that registry about releases. Your employer may conduct more comprehensive screening than most.
They check criminal history, child abuse, and drug screen. Nothing else.
Then either he knows someone who can provide that information about you, noticed that you're carrying; or, suckered you into revealing your status. Let's hope it's neither of the latter two.
It would be prudent to contact your personal and professional references to rule out those possible sources before asking him how he came into that knowledge.
That is genuinely disturbing in several ways. I'm sure you will be covering yourself in every sense of the word.
He probably knows people in the first responder community who know you... unless this information came from the previous nuthouse? Have you googled yourself lately?
The old nuthouse could have mentioned something, or it could have been an assumption on his part based on my end of the world readiness.
I did not, at any point, assume he was asking me to really solve his problem ... he's quite the joker.
Your consent to a routine pre-employment background check probably opened the door to the concealed carry permit registry (at least for inquiries submitted by healthcare facilities, schools, government offices ... etc.). You could check with whichever agency maintains that registry about releases. Your employer may conduct more comprehensive screening than most.
Isn't this "registry" ALREADY publicly available?
I seem to remember quite the kerfuffle recently when an investigative journalist reported the names and addresses mashed up with googlemaps of all the registered gun owners in a particular geographic area.
No, a lot of states can't by law, or choose not to, divulge the names and addresses of concealed carry permit holders.
So, it wasn't about me. It was about psychokillergirlfriend. She was talking about carrying when going to her other job, which is in a notoriously dangerous area ... in another state that I usually refer to as a small communist country that borders Pennsylvania ... you know, the one that charges a ransom to leave? She also mentioned carrying a stun gun ... takes a breath and goes on to discuss flying back to her home state to see her shrink. bossdude was ear hustling the conversation. I had my back to him so I didn't see the look on his face, which was reportedly priceless.
So it's not about me for a change.
Rumor has it that he is doing something about the issue after he comes back from vacation. Don't know is it is going to involve anything more than a strongly worded memo.
The doctor quit last night. Pitched a fit while seeing his second patient. Chaos reigned more than usual.
!
Can't wait for the next episode!
Another one bites the dust ...
Psychokiller girlfriend worked one shift this week.
She had two patients and a psych referral (goes straight to the psych unit, we never see them). I left itemized instructions for dealing with the two referrals. An average night is 4 to 6 patients plus the psych referrals.
She resigned first thing Sunday morning, sent an email giving 2 week's notice. Sent bossdude an email. I'm supposed to act surprised when I find out tomorrow.
Wow you have more turnovers than Arby's!
There was also a nursing assistant fired for assisting nurses in a way not covered in his job description.
You gotta explain more about that one. :D
Apparently he was found en flagrante delicto by another of his paramours. It seems that many of the nurses are Nurse Jackie.
So he got fired for doing rather than assisting; but, wasn't practicing without a license. I'd like to hear him explain that at his next job interview.
The night weekend girl has a "prescription." It is only a matter of time until that becomes a full blown relapse. Her thing is coke and booze, but it's all kind of a slippery slope. Hyperguy's thing was coke too, I think.
Today, from a telephone interview ...
wolf: So, what are you drinking
DrunkOldLady: Ensure Mudslides.
I'm in the midst of an eight day stretch without a break including a double going into it, a 12+-hour shift to start it. I won't be coming up for air until this coming weekend.
But I may end up being able to cover my rent this month.
I question the appropriateness of the rehab receptionist greeting all the patients by saying "Happy Cinco de Mayo."
Absolutely! She should have said "Feliz Cinco de Mayo." It was in poor taste to greet the patients in Spanglish.
Great moment of the day
Patient: That place, it was crazy.
Me: It's a mental institution.
Patient: The police brought in this guy, he was in a towel.
Me: It's Friday.
Patient: What?
Me: Most days they don't have the towel.
Always know where your towel is!
I'm off this week, but chaos is reigning at the rehab. I've gotten at least one cryptic text message, and have been making popcorn and watching a doozy of a veiled argument involving unfriendings and accusations over on the facespace.
I had no idea I was that much of a stabilizing influence.
Not really a story from the rehab, but as I was heading home FROM the rehab, I have decided this counts ...
So, I was minding my own business, driving along, listening to my audiobook, and all of a sudden there were blue/reds flashing behind me.
No biggie. I know I wasn't speeding, so I figured the cop just wanted me to get out of his (or, as it turned out, her) way because there was an important meeting scheduled at the Dunkin Donuts.
I pulled off to the side, and waited for the officer to pass me ... and waited, as the cop pulled in behind me.
Bloody crap. I can't afford a ticket, but I swear I didn't do anything. No speeding, no littering, no rude gestures out the window ...
Cop walks up to the window and I poke my head out, ready to offer my license, registration, insurance card, and a bewildered look.
She steps into my sightline, and I look up and say, "Oh, Hi! What did I do?"
"Oh, it's YOU. Nothing."
"So, why am I pulled over?"
"Your license plate is unreadable."
"Oh, it's probably dirty. I'll give it a good clean when I get home."
"Cleaning won't help it. It has to be replaced."
Crap, I think. it's a vanity plate. They are fuck-all expensive to replace. I had it in my head that it would cost around $50 (and eventually it will, but not all at once)
Short version, I didn't get a ticket, got home and started looking into it. I could have replaced my current plate if I had the police fill out some form that I would have to get notarized, or I could apply for a new vanity plate for the princely sum of $20, plus I'll be paying to renew the tag when it comes up in a few months. But I did learn something ... the Commonwealth no longer automatically replaces all of the existing plates every 10 years, so they are more likely to become illegible over their life span.
My first choice place is now showing unavailable, with my second choice still available, so I know which one I'm getting.
My first choice place is now showing unavailable, with my second choice still available, so I know which one I'm getting.
So you're getting a different plate rather than have them send new copies of the same plate?
Yes. It's time to let the old plate go. I had been thinking about it, and the deal pretty much got sealed when I read through the number of hoops you need to jump through to have an existing plate reissued ... which is a pretty new thing, incidentally. It used to be that if a vanity plate got lost, damaged, or stolen it was gone "forever."
After much consideration, I will have a plate that reflects the volunteer stuff that I do.
That's a good one, but I don't think it would have gotten past the appropriateness screener.
worth a try next time? ;)
Were I still at the nuthouse, it would have been 302B.
The section of the mental health law that let me bring nuts before a psychiatrist to be evaluated.
renewing my vanity plates cost over $100. Some of that was reregistration, some was the compulsory plates replacement (every seven years). A couple months after I paid to replace my perfectly good plates, the rule was rescinded/expired. *sigh*
The new ones are a totally different color and look, though the number/digits are the same.
PA charges $20 to issue a vanity plate and $36 for a regular registration. In your first year of holding a vanity plate you end up paying $56, but after that it's only the $36 annual renewal.
Nurse: Female building to Security ... Female building to Security ...
New security guy: Security, go ahead.
Nurse: The girls are reporting seeing a male in tan pants and tan shirt lurking around near the trees.
New security guy: That would be me.
Best overhead exchange of the night. It managed to beat out patients sick in the elevator.
It never ceases to amuse me ... A 20 minute exchange between the nurse manager and security about an elopement ending with a classic ... "male unit, we have one of your little chickadees and we are bringing him home to the nest."
The new security guy is a former cop. You can tell on the radio. "I have surveillance on the male suspect. He has just entered the Turkey Hill. Police are on scene." He also says "affirmative" a lot.
The nest thing is funnier when you know that the rehab's name and logo includes a bird of prey.
When elopees are returned, do they say "The Eagle has landed."? :lol:
instead of "home to roost"?
Not that I have heard yet. But they do call the bastard offspring of rehab romances "eaglets."