Expectedly, she’s again my preceptor this time in the PM shift. I had another bedside nurse with me. The 10 patients were equally divided between the two bedside nurses. Thank heavens!
I am getting the hang of managing level 2 patients. I got to do the admission notes for another patient with ease but still I know that I will be unable to finish the task on time.
The atmosphere is so much lighter compared to the previous day when we were just 2 in the ward. Maybe it’s because the charge nurse was conscious that the other bedside nurse would feel her bitterness.
I still got her angst once in a while though but not as intense as the other day. I got to do the morning care for my patient without her help and she was even surprised to see that I was done with it when she entered the patient’s room.
I was done charting before 6:00am. I only lacked the input and output data for one of the patients plus some last doses of medications due at 6:00am inlcuding the capillary blood glucose monitoring and the osterized feeding.
At 7:00 am, I was prepping the medications that I will endorse to the incoming shift. Another bitter female nurse told me to stop what I am doing and proceed with the endorsement. To which I obliged. Expectedly, I do not have the medications to endorse so the other bedside nurse commented that I should be well prepared. Yeah right, I do not know whom to follow.
For the record, I finished my task at 8:00 am.

On the second day of my duty, I was reassigned at another ward. A private one. Most of the patients are VIPs.
For two consecutive days, my preceptor was a male nurse who I have noticed has a tendency to be lax. He always came in late for the endorsement and after the endorsement; he took five for his breakfast.
The nurses there are commenting that I am being abused by my preceptor. Honestly, I do not mind it at all. It is nothing compared to the abuse all the trainees have experienced at the Lung Center of the Philippines.
While it is true that we are not allowed to chart and to give medication to the patient at the institution, I think being asked to do so by the bedside nurse would not cost me an arm. Besides, I really feel futile by just sitting there, taking vitals and wheeling patients to and from the lab. Whether his reason by delegating to me his tasks was for me to learn or for him to get rid of them, I am up for it. I want excitement.
I do not have ill feelings about the staff nurses at my current ward assignment, but I think I need to do and learn more. Most of the patients in this ward are just there for executive or routine check ups. No special conditions. I want to handle level 2 and up patients as this is where my critical thinking will be tested.

Remember the rants I have written about “someone” who has kept me in the dark for almost two years?
It was metaphorically written, I must confess. You see I do not want to preempt things and whether it is true or not, I believe that talking about major things in your life will turn it into a jinx.
That “someone” I refer to is the HR Department of the Philippine Heart Center.
I took my qualifying exam in October 2007 and after constant follow on call and visits, our batch was scheduled for series of interviews. HR panel interview was in July 2007. After that, we were informed that we will then be called for the panel interview by the Nursing Service Department. After a month or so, I got a notice that I was up for an interview in August. I breezed through the panel, so I thought and in the last week of August, I was scheduled for the final interview with the head of Nursing Service Dept.
The result was out in the early week of September and I was really thankful to the Lord that He let me in!
The instruction that I have got is do not resign yet from work as there are still no vacancies. So I did until this morning. I got a text from the Nursing Office and I am being asked to resign effective immediately as I am invited to join the 6-month nurse apprenticeship program that will start on October 12th. I am not yet hired but I was told that while awaiting an available slot in the hospital, I can join the apprenticeship program. I can decline and a slot for a nurse position is still reserved for me even so but

Last Saturday, I got a text from World Citi College (WCC) HR that I was chosen to undergo the Nurse Training Program and I was scheduled to take the exam this morning.  To which I texted back that I already went through final interview and has paid the initial training fee of P2500 in February and that I was supposed to be in the February batch of trainees but just deferred due to the short notice I got from them then.

The HR officer affirmed that I was indeed on the waiting list of the next batch of trainees and I should still come to their office on Monday at 9:00 am (which is today) for contract signing and instructions to which I obliged.

I swapped sked with my office mate so I could swing by WCC in the morning.

I was there before 9 am along with other examinees.  The HR assistant, after learning my purpose, did not ask me to take the exam and instructed me instead to wait for the HR supervisor. After almost an hour of patiently waiting, the  assistant informed me in a very apologetic manner that the contract has not been prepared yet and as she was about  to discuss further the supervisor approached us. She told me that there have been changes in their training program.

Originally it was a 4-month training program which is billed at P2500 per month. Starting the new batch, they will be adapting  the 2-month training program and they have not revised the contract yet as the signatories were out somewhere.

I was told that the training program will commence on May 25 and I will be surely contacted for the contract signing before then.

I was done with them at past 10:00 a.m. I decided to go straight to the office and just render an over time since my sked was at 1:00 p.m.

I needed to be productive.  The caffeine I chugged this morning at Mc Donald’s has kicked in and I was not expecting to doze off until the wee hours of the morning.

While in the office, I remembered to phone Lung Center of the Philippines (LCP).  I was included in the batch 18 of their “continuing education program” (read: volunteer) tagged P3000 for three months.

The batch in which I was reassigned is scheduled to be “trained” in mid-July.

I was told over the phone to submit the requirements already.

It’s my rest day tomorrow. So I will drop by to comply.

If my calculations are correct, I will be able to finish the 2-month training program at WCC right before the training  in LCP will start.

I won’t quit my call center job just yet.  Next week will be my first time to be on graveyard shift since time immemorial. I have aasked my team mates to swap their graveyard sked with me starting May 25. This way, I could joggle paid and volunteer works.

I just hope nothing gets compromised not even my health.

I also hope that LCP has pulled their acts together this time. The last time I went there, my name was missing on the list of any batches of trainees.

At this point in time, I am hoping for the best.