yet another proof that the grass is not always greener on the other side.

my coworker who was beaming with happiness when she told us she was resigning, is back. she was the one who was going to a hospital which she so ideally described as nice, easy and perfect, it might as well be called the “hospital paradise”.

she has not even resigned yet, and she is back. “so, what is this i heard? you are back? how did that happen? i didn’t even see you leave”, i joked. she laughed and told me that she will not risk starting a job in a shaky place. by shaky, she meant she found out on her first day of orientation that the so called hospital paradise was THIS close to closing due to bankruptcy.

i guess that explains why. healthcare is  business after all, and it is always wise to stay in the middle for balance. i mean, an adminsitrator can hire beyond what they can pay just to please the staff, but what good will that do in the long run? on the other hand, an adminsitrator can implement budget cuts here and there just to increase profit and please the higher ups, but what good will that do in the long run? if you ask me, both are wrong and will not work for long. what works is balance, balance, balance.

let’s all cross our fingers and hope she has learned from this experience and stop whining. sometimes, it gets more difficult to focus on doing your best when every hour, you hear a whiny nurse complaining about every single thing seen and unseen. it gets on your nerves.

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on friday, my husband and i are scheduled for an interview. the kind of interview that will eventually make us both US citizens. i have VERY mixed emotions about this whole thing so i will spare you the details. all i can say is that after reviewing the booklet that they gave us for possible interview questions, i have this weird idea that i actually know more about the USA’s basic history than the philippines’. it’s just weird. and it’s crazy that i have this feeling because really, the first time they asked me who the first president was, i answered Benjamin Franklin like i was so sure i knew i was right. i tell you, nobody and nothing can teach me to love and enjoy history. i know, that makes me stupid, but i’m just not into it.

i guess one thing i can brag about is that i actually know the colors of the flag. i would have been really messed up not to get that right. the only thing is, if they ask me to sing the national anthem, i might just have to kiss the citizenship goodbye.

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i’m working tonight and i need a load of good luck. yesterday was the first day that eMAR (electronic medication adminstration record) went live in our hospital. i need luck because i’m old. i have nothing against change and i am well aware that the first phase of change is always the most difficult.

the thing that makes me uncomfortable is the fact that when there are changes that involve technology and patients at the same time, the patients always sort of suffer the issues with glitches. when a new thing like this is started, time that should be spent with patients is spent figuring out new stuff in the computer. don’t get me wrong, it’s not that meds will not be given, it is that we will have less time interacting with patients because we need time to document the act of giving the meds.

i’m sure things will settle down after we get familiar with the new application. i just have to convince myself that i am not that old of a dog to learn new tricks. it was bill cosby who said: “it is not that old dogs can’t learn new tricks, because they can. it’s just painful to watch them”.

i so agree.