It just isn't Fall unless I get sick..............or Spring, or Winter (you get the point). Anyway, I spent today largely prone and only moving when circumstances compelled me to. Hopefully this is a passing thing. Thankfully, Tia picked me up some good meds, so mostly I just feel a bit spaced out and tired, but not altogether terrible. Yeah meds and yeah wives who run and get them for you before work!
We have mostly been reestablishing our routines and starting the slide into early sunsets and overcast days. My goal this year is to try not to let it get to me. It is the same goal I have every year though, so no promises. There is just something completely wrong about the sun disappearing for so many days (weeks) at a time. I would I just viewed it as an irritation, but physically it get to me as much as any virus would. But, best to start with optimism and proceed from there.
Work remains about the same with it's minor dramas that I rarely hear about until far after the fact and still an overall shortage of staff (and evidently no 'viable' candidates per the supervisor). The wound care side of things if shifting though, which may directly affect me. They share the office with me and do their own thing as I do mine but work as my second nurse for emergencies. As such, they can't leave while I have patients running.......even if they have nothing whatsoever to do. It makes no sense other than we share the same boss. They work as a pair, with one doing the inpatient (hospital) side and one the outpatient (clinic) side of things. Since one of them will be moving over to another hospital, it means they will need to replace her. Only, the plan is evidently to make both of them less than 40 hours a week. In discussions, of which I have not really been a part of, they have evidently talked about closing their side of the clinic a half day weekly. This means that I could not schedule anyone then which leaves me a few options (that I presented to my boss).
My push is to extend the clinic hours, but make it a 4 day a week proposition. I would work 9 hours 4 days a week and open up an hour earlier than I do presently. It makes sense because, for reasons that fail to make any sense to me, the wound care nurses (and again, they are my second nurse) start and end their shifts an hour earlier than I do already. Option B would be to match their half day in the clinic. A further option would be to stay on the same schedule and work the floor the other half of the day we close the clinic. I badly want it to go back to a 4/9 though because it would mean only a minimal financial impact, would give me a full day off during the week so we don't have to cram all our errands in on the weekend, and would largely restore my sanity because I could plan all other appointments on that day and plan to work towards other goals, hobbies, etc as well. Of course, I won't hold my breath. Things seem to change not at all for the most part........or with a whiplash inducing suddenness. I will post an update of course.
The only other thing of note is a general conversation I had with my supervisor. The conversation centered around my asking about a certain medication they want to infuse in the clinic. I called the woman who 'runs' one of our other clinics (and used to be my supervisor) and she advised me that she had never given that med and that she would feel uncomfortable doing it without a second IV nurse. When I brought this up with my supervisor, she seemed to think that the wound care nurses were the second nurse and that should be good enough. She was also concerned that things might eventually come to a head with certain doctor's offices who want to send patients that I refuse to see without a second IV nurse. Initially this kind of pissed me off because I already see some patients that are a little 'iffy' to be doing with wound care as my second and I have to run out regularly to get meds, run labs, etc that are not located anywhere near my clinic. So, I do what I have to do, but god forbid something happen when I step out. But, the truth is that likely NOTHING will be done to change things because: A. no one wants to work the clinic and B. because of point A, they pretty much leave me the alone to make those decisions because if I leave no one wants or knows how to run the clinic. And, honestly, if push came to shove I would just refuse and make them force me out. I am not going to put my license and the patient's safety in any doubt when no one else is willing to do the same.
More to come as always.............time for the night time cold meds in the meantime.
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