the sorta plan for April

I tracked down Matt at the end of this week. He assures me I am hired, that the SCTU has been approved as a hybrid unit, and that the only hold-up now is to get me through orientation before I die of old age. There is a mid-month orientation, which is not for nursing staff, but it might get me through all of the mission statement / fire exit / please don't sexually harass your co-workers stuff that is the price of admission for anyone being hired by a hospital.

With next week suddenly open, I registered for the annual critical care transport medicine conference out in San Antonio. I admit I have reservations about dropping two grand on travel in my current underemployed state. But the slush fund will cover it, and it would be silly to pass up the opportunity to learn more about the business. It's a vote of confidence in my career to shell out the money now.

moment of Zen

I saw my former clinical coordinator driving to work as I was jogging back to my apartment this morning. I know, I know, it's not nice to gloat.

Today's goal is to finish my slide presentation, and schedule the taping. I also have to call Matt and figure out what is going on with next month's schedule, and pick up some agency work if it comes to that.

timing

Today, Excelsior College sent out an email announcing that they are offering a cohort course format for Professionalism, TAC, and Research in Nursing.

Not that Health Assessment was a breeze, but doing it online was MUCH easier than the thought of driving to Albany and doing the assessment under live fire. I expect that the same would apply for these three courses as well, although they will take longer and be more expensive. Still a better bet than brick and mortar in my book, though.

It's good news for future BSN students. . . you know who you are. :)

what's next

The good thing about being forced to change your plans is that it generates creativity. I have been making my own schedule, so to speak, for the last week and a half, and while I have been in low gear for most of it, there are a few things germinating. Much of the impetus came from being called out at the Baltimore conference: "Hey, jackass, if you want to write, then write!" The remainder came from the clarity of not being in the thick of my usual routine, and having a chance to notice that, no, I really hadn't been happy at work for quite a while. Too long.

The first priority for this week is to pass the Research exam, which is scheduled for tomorrow. I have been playing with the books since last July, but I have never given it my full attention. Yesterday, I started reading, and things started to click into place. Let's hope they are clicked securely enough for a good grade!

While I was reviewing qualitative research yesterday, I began to think about designing a phenomenological study to examine the motivations of people who volunteer in EMS. I think it's very doable. Very few people in EMS are doing any research at all, let alone anything qualitative. While it wouldn't have the implications for practice that a randomized controlled study of a clinical intervention would, I think it would still have implications for how we recruit and retain. And it's a weird phenomenon to me that volunteerism has been preserved as well as it has in EMS, so I want to poke at it a little and see if I learn anything.

I could even make it a quantitative study by categorizing people's reasons for volunteering and seeing if they correlate with length of service or some other variable, but I don't think it will give me the depth of information I'm looking for. I think I'd hear something pat about wanting to help people, and I don't think that completely explains the phenomenon.