It's Magic (Moments) Monday

First off, I apologize for being a little late getting this post up. One of the gals called in sick for last night and I split the shift with someone, getting home and to bed at 2am. I fully intended to have this entry all written out and ready to post before now! lol

So, a quick reminder about how it works:

Mondays, for most people, are the "Ho hum, weekend's over, work is WORK, and can't wait 'til Friday" type of day. My intent is to help us begin our week with something positive, something to hold on to, to get us through the rest of the week. Your entry can be a Scripture verse, a quote, an insight, something that touched your life or changed the way you look at things. I expect some of the first entries to be from the past, until we learn to look each day for those magic moments that remind us how wonderful life really is.

Please leave a comment with a way to find your post, either the link through your signature, or insert the link, so we can all read your experience. Then, on your post, link back to this post, so others visiting you can participate if they'd like.
I am woefully computer illiterate so don't know how to make a logo or do the Mr. Linky thing, so we'll just bunt for now, okay?

Now, I'll start us off.

I gripe a lot about my job (I'm a hospital-based nurse), sometimes on this blog, most of the time to my long-suffering husband. Today I am going to list 5 things I am thankful for about this job, and try to keep these in the front of my mind when things spiral out of (my) control at work.

1. I'm thankful I HAVE a job. One of the other small hospitals in this part of NC just lost their funding from Medicare/Medicaid, and several insurance companies. Services there are severely limited now, and at least 5 of their nurses just hired on at our hospital, fearing the other one will have to close down and they will lose their source of income. Kinda puts things in perspective for me.

2. I'm grateful for patients (and the family members)who say "Thank you." Those two words go a long way when my back and shoulders are hurting, when my feet are a little swollen, when another patient is irritable, and I feel as if I can't get it all done in 12 hours.

3. I'm thankful for the flexibility of my schedule. We are a small hospital, and telemetry is a small unit, and we pretty much write our own schedules. If there is a conflict about days off, we work it out with each other. Therefore, I don't have to work more than 3 shifts in a row if I don't want to (and I don't) and I can have 2 nights off in a row (which equals one full day).

4. I'm grateful for managers who stand up for us with administration, who try their darndest to hire good nurses, not just warm bodies, and who are not too good to roll up their sleeves and work right alongside us. I'll even work 4 shifts in a row (occasionally) for them!

5. I'm thankful for my co-workers, the gals and guys of telemetry and ICU, who pitch in and help put orders in the computer when we're swamped with admissions, who rush to our aid when a patient is going bad, who ask "How is it going with the C-PAP?", and split a shift when someone is down with the flu. Come to think of it, I believe I'll make a batch of cookies to take in tomorrow night to show MY thanks!

Okay, I think I'm going to print this off and carry it around with me for those days when working McDonald's during lunch hour looks preferable to what I do.

Your turn!