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Memorable
first days of work
As a travel scrub nurse of six years, I had many first =
days
on the job. I traveled all across the Unit=
ed
States before I settled in =
Dalton,
Georgia. Orientatio=
ns,
which occur on the first day, differed greatly from place to place. But, =
by
far, my most memorable orientations were Denver,
Colorado; Boston=
,
Massachusetts; and Laredo,
Texas.
Taking the job in Denver,
Colorado was a “no br=
ainer
“to me. I made sure to take the assignment in the middle of winter =
so I
could go snowboarding on my days off. I drove fifteen hours from my
parents’ home in Del Rio, Texas,
to get to Denver. My assignme=
nt
was at the University of Colorado Medical Center. After navigating the
employee parking lot, I quickly found the operating room staff lounge. I
opened the door and was greeted by the nurse educator. She soon showed me
where to change into scrubs, and I found myself in the main operating roo=
m.
The nurse educator informed me that I would be, mostly, doing
orthopedics. She informed m=
e of
how short staffed they were and showed me the orthopedic rooms. I walked =
into
my room, and wasted no time in getting to work. My orientation was short =
and
sweet, I loved it!
My assignment in Boston=
, Massachusetts
was at the Brigham and Woman’s Hospital. I took this assignment aft=
er Seattle,
Washington, so I drove cross country =
to
get there. That was probably not my smartest move, but you have to live to
learn. When I got to Boston, I
quickly figured out, public transportation was the best way to get to wor=
k;
but, when the day was nice a pretty, I often walked to work. My first day=
of
orientation was completely different than Denver,
Colorado. Orientation was a week long=
, a
long time, considering this was a thirteen week contract. The nurse educa=
tor
made sure I never even saw an operating room until I proved that I was
competent to be there. Before the end of my stay in =
Boston,
I renewed my contract four times so a week of orientation did not seem li=
ke
that long after all.
After Boston,
on to Laredo, Texas,
I went. My brother lives in Laredo
and knew right where my next assignment, Mercy<=
/st1:PlaceName>
Hospital, was. I walked into =
the
staff lounge and was greeted by the nurse educator. Much to my surprise, =
she
was a nun. I knew this was a Catholic hospital, but I never knew nuns took
such an active role in the administration of the hospital. My orientation=
was
only three days but the first day was quite unforgettable, September 11, 2001. My first day at a=
new job
in Texas was the last day on
the job for some people in New York City=
.
Needless to say, the nurse educator let all the people in my orientation =
out
early to go home and be with their families. I was just glad I was somewh=
ere
where I had family; so many times I was in strange cities all alone. That
day, I was glad to be in Laredo, Texas.
The next day, I returned for the last two days of orientation. The nurse
educator made the orientation informative and enjoyable. We all needed fun
after that first day.
&nbs=
p;
In my career as a travel scrub nurse, I had many memorable first d=
ays
in orientation. Some of my orientations were very lengthy; others were a
blink of an eye. By far my most memorable were Denve=
r,
Colorado; Boston=
,
Massachusetts; and Laredo,
Texas. I have been back to these plac=
es
since I left, but one of these days, I will go back for good.
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