I worked (oriented) all this past week. I'm so impressed with this agency. They have really got it all together. I spent 2 days spending time with each person in the office learning what their jobs are so I will know who to go to if there's a question or an issue.
I then spent two days riding with a nurse. We only saw 3 patients each day. The normal load is 3-5 per day. The emphasis is on the patient and getting the charting complete. The rest of the day is spent doing charting on the PDA. It's very relaxed and pleasant. You can stay in the office 8 hours to get the hours in or you can leave early and do your charting at home and still get paid for the time charting.
Friday I trained on the PDA, their program Healthwyse is user friendly. All charting is done on the PDA they are completely paperless. If I get a doctors order another nurse in the office takes it from me in writting and she's responsible for getting it faxed, returned signed and putting it into the PDA and into the chart. When we draw blood this same nurse is responsible for getting it delivered to the hospital, making sure the results come back, faxing them to the doctor and putting the results in the PDA and in the chart. If the doctor calls in an order then she takes care of that also. we get a paper copy of everything in our box so we know what going on. Wow!!! could it be any better?
Friday I was given a nice bag with all my supplies including a PDA, all the assessories, a Littman, Pulse Oximeter, Cell Phone, PT/INR machine, Insulated biohazard bag, isolation kit, spill kit, etc, etc.
I'm almost afraid to blink and this wonderful job will disappear. It's no wonder they rarely have an opening. God is wonderful. As always he never closes a door without opening a window. This was the window I prayed for just 2 weeks ago. God is awesome.
The difference between this agency and the one I left is like night and day. The other agencies emphasis was on the number of patients you could see per day and we didn't get paid for charting time, or mileage, or cell phone.
I feel like I could work with this agency until I retire in 14 years. I hope my bubble doesn't burst or wake up from this dream job. The others have been there years and years so I'm very hopeful. It felt really weird quitting my job with the hospital. I've been there since 1981. Full-time and then PRN since Jan 06. That's a large part of my life that is now over with. My manager told me I could pick up the phone at anytime and call her and she's take me right back so that felt good. I'm gonna go Monday and clean out my locker. That will be really weird and sad.
I loved the work, I'll miss the technical end of it but I know I just can't do 12 hours shifts on med/surg anymore.
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