a chapter closed

This week I've been amazed multiple times. I know amazing is a word that gets overused, but I mean it quite literally here! 

I didn't tell many of my colleagues I was leaving LVHN, but slowly the word got out and by Monday, I was getting lots of "Sorry to hear you're leaving" comments. I was genuinely surprised how many people said that! After 7 months, it felt like I was just getting to know who everyone was, but hadn't made many friends. Apparently I've had the wrong impression this whole time! My managers expressed sincere regret, and even tried bribing me to stay. After hearing comments like "Why are you leaving us?" and "Are you sure you don't want to change your mind?" several times a day, I started doubting myself. Were things really so bad that I couldn't learn to like it at LVHN? Then something would happen and I'd remember this is why I'm leaving! 

Today was my final day. To my astonishment, my IV friends put on an ice cream party for me and signed a card with some lovely goodbye wishes. I was truly touched! 

In my last few days at work, I decided I don't want to completely cut ties, so I'll be staying on per diem. I'm only required to work 1 day a month, and that keeps my foot in the door. Also, I don't want to lose my skills and I know there will be times I just want to make some IV's! 😄

Every day of the last 7 months at the end of my shift I felt like running out of the building. I could never get out of there fast enough. Today was no exception, even though I will miss some things and people. There's mixed feelings, but the most dominant one is joy! Some people at work noticed I couldn't keep the smile off my face when I talked about leaving! And some of them admitted they're jealous. 

As this chapter in my life is closing, I'm still trying to process it all. It was such a surprise to find out how much people cared, among other things. I had a completely different impression and it's hard to reconcile what I believed with what I heard and saw. It's been an eye-opening experience!

a fresh start

It's August 1, and again the summer has gone by too fast. September, usually one of my least favorite months, will be here in 30 days. Some people like September because it feels like a mini new year. The seasons are changing, teachers and students go back to school, and there's a "fresh start" feeling in the air. This year September WILL be a fresh start for me. 

Breaking news!

I have accepted a job at Gehman Accounting.

I certainly didn't expect to start over at a new job twice this year, but things just weren't working out for me at LVHN. I wanted to give it 6 months to see if anything changed, and I feel I've given it a fair shot. I do enjoy working in the IV room, and there were other positives about the place. Still, the environment has been a drag on me and I've been unhappy there.

I sat down with my manager on Friday and had a very open discussion about why I'm leaving. I've greatly appreciated my managers all along, and they share some of the same concerns I have about the staff, unsafe work practices, and culture of the department. The manager of the IV room (a different manager than the one I talked to on Friday) told me she agrees completely, and what is happening is unacceptable. She mentioned that she's shocked by the vulgarity and attitudes of some of the staff, which I never brought up. She's trying to change how things are done in the IV room, but has had a lot of resistance and negative feedback. There are good people there that I will miss, but I never formed a connection with LVHN like I did at St. Joe’s. 

Although I don't like starting over, I'm really excited about working for Gehman Accounting. My interview with the CEO (I'll call him Mike, not his real name) took place over three meetings. The first interview was basically a personality test. I could tell quite quickly that he knew the kind of person he wanted to hire, and the questions he asked were screening me for personality traits. Some of his questions were, "What are you most afraid of?" My answer: not being useful. "What do you care about most?" God and my family. "What do you care about least? What people think. (To be completely honest, I do care a little. But I'm not generally bothered with it.) Out of the blue, Mike said, "Tell me a story." My mind was racing and I wasn't sure what to say, but finally I told him a "horror story" about a med error that happened at work. At the end of the interview, I took a personality test (the DiSC assesment, click here for more details). The whole interview was over an hour long. I messaged my friend Dani, who has worked at Gehman for 10+ years, and told her my impressions. In her words, "Mike always says, You can train skills but you can't train personality." It was the first interview I'd ever been to where the interviewer seemed interested in matching my personality to the right position. I was intrigued, since I've studied personalities a bit and think it's a wonderful idea to match people with what they're naturally good at!

In the second interview, Mike showed me the results of my personality test. My answers were transferred to a graph. He looks for people whose graph looks like a check mark (mine was). He explained what each letter (D, I, S, C) means and what my strengths and weaknesses are. Then we discussed what I'd like to do at Gehman Accounting. It was another hour-plus meeting. 

The third meeting was the official job offer, which I was very happy with. I didn't sign immediately, since big decisions like that scare me and I usually have a hard time. This was a surprisingly easy one, though, and a day later I was ready to sign.

I don't have an official start date yet, but think it will be around Labor Day. That gives me some time between jobs to regroup and prepare myself, if that's possible! As with all things, I know this won't be the answer to happiness, but I feel a lot better about the environment I'll be in. I'm sad to leave healthcare and making IV's, but I can't have it all. This quote from The Secret Life of Bees wowed me.