Big, Long And Cold

It's not quite done, but I got my first peek at our new hospital. I worked last night and had to be back early the next morning for my new hospital orientation. On four hours sleep, I was so tired I felt like I might vomit. That could have influenced my impression, but I'm not loving the new hospital. The corridors are soooo long. I'm really hoping that we are allowed to wear roller skates or use skate boards.

Our current hospital has each unit built in a circle with the nurse's station in the middle and the rooms around the outside circle. It's small, old and cramped, but at least we don't have to walk far.

The patients will probably be happier in the new hospital, though, because the rooms are large and almost all private. And, I am happy that the wards are gone. If one person wants something in a ward, then everybody else wants it too. A ward with four people in it is ten times more work than four private rooms, especially if it's women in the ward.

We had to dress like construction workers for the orientation. It all seemed quite silly. The building no longer looks like it's under construction. The orange vest, hard-hat and hard shoes seemed like over-kill.

The shoes were a problem for many of the nurses. Most people around here wear tennis shoes or sandals. That's all that many people own. Rather than have to buy some ugly man-shoes that would never be worn again, some of the nurses wore their husband's shoes. They were several sizes too big and resembled clown shoes, but it got them past the shoe inspection.

At least the air conditioner works in the new building. The old hospital is stuffy and hot on days like this. The patients all complain and beg for fans that we don't have. The new hospital feels like a meat locker. I'm not sure how that's going to work out.

When I got home, I had beer, potato chips, ice cream and chocolate for dinner. For some reason, that didn't help. I'm still tired. Tomorrow, it's back to fruit and kefir.