Shh It's Christmas

Yes Christmas is coming, well for those that have maybe been asleep for the last month and had forgotten!
We are so close yet I am missing a few things and have found 1 thing.......

Missing

I have the Christmas spirit which is great, just a shame that "The Book Depository" did not quite have the same spirit that I had! They managed to screw up thousands of orders coming down under to New Zealand. Consequently the wonderful new addition to our family, that little mischievious "Elf on The Shelf" didn't arrive until 2 days ago.

Therefore he has sadly had to go into hiding until next year. Never fear, I have welcomed him into the family and shown him round the house, feed and watered him for his long sleep ahead and explained the situation to him. He is perfectly happy to finally be in a new home and not stuck in a shipping container at the immigration warehouse, so is happy to not meet the children until next November/December and has now gone away. He will be back though.

Missing

One thing I like about Christmas is the music. I love Christmas carols and I doubly like singing along to them. However this year I think someone is trying to tell me something......as yesterday I sadly got struck down with Viral Laryngitis! In plain simple terms.....I have lost my voice!

The boys think this is funny and my husband cheered! I hit him.
The boys have been unwell with viral infections since Dec 1 and I knew it was only a matter of time before I gained something. I just wish it had been their cough and cold instead.
Ok I feel really quite well, apart from a little tired and no voice, but that is not helping us get everything completed in time for the up coming holiday.
I was sick last Christmas from Christmas Eve through till just before New Year, so I can't believe I am so close again. Hopefully the cough and cold will never come near me and the voice will have returned before Tuesday!

Found

With everything that is missing at present it is lovely to find something that has been missing.

I have found a job

I have secured a position at the hospital 3 days a week.
It has only taken me 6 months! However when they tell you that they had over 70 applicants, shortlisted to 4 and you get the position then you start to  realise just how hard the job situation is at the present moment.
We have never had a situation like this in nursing for as long as I have been a nurse!
There has never been an abundance of nurses there has always been a shortage of nurses!
The jobs have just been few and far between and when you do find something worth applying for so does 50 other people. I have been shortlisted several times for interviews but sadly there has always been someone just slightly better qualified than myself but this time it was my turn, yea for me.

So on that happy joyful note I will wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful joyous New Year.

Work

Last year, I got in a bad way with my job, nothing too bad, just got a little restless and bored and needed to do something totally different!
So I changed my job and became a Vaccinator for the School Based HPV Vaccine (Cervical Cancer Vaccine)
Unfortunately this was only ever a 7 month contract and that has now sadly finished.
Today was my last day, yea!

Whilst the job has been different, quiet and not stressful, there have been other challenges along the way. For instance a manager who has the communication skills of a donkey!
That in its self has been the main challenge, but alas no more, I have handed in my ID Badge and I no longer work as a vaccinator.

On Tuesday, I start my new job, back to the Operating Rooms, but I don't mind.
I know my way around a theatre like I was born in one! I wasn't by the way.
It will be nice to go and work for a while where there are decent hours and I will just get on with the job without thinking. I love that feeling of being able to get on with your days work, knowing what to do and just running with it.

So tonight, I feel stress free, knowing, ok that my next week of work will be a little testing as it is a new job in a new company, but it is theatres, I have been doing that for 15 years, it just comes naturally!

Oh and my husband has a job interview on Wednesday for a job that I think he will really enjoy. So keep your fingers crossed for him for next week please.

New Job

Yea for me, I have a new job.

And yes I have accepted it and yes I am excited, finally.

I applied for a job as a Vaccinator, yes, one of those miserable people who sticks needles in children's arms.

Although the children I am going to be hurting are 15 & 16yr old girls who are receiving the Goverment Funded Human Papillomavirus (Cervical Cancer Vacinate)

It is given in a 3 course programme and so I am going to be going around the schools in the Hamilton area with a team of other nurses, during the whole of this years school year, through to November, giving the vacinate to these darling young ladies.

The position is for as many hours as I would like each week, so I am looking at 3 days, and we get the school holidays off each term.

The only down side of the position is that it is a fixed term contract through to the middle to end of November. So unfortunately as of Dec 1, I will be jobless, although there is always the Nursing Agency if I get desperate.

I had to speak to the lady today who was organising this job, I was only calling to find out exactly when we would be finding out if we had been successful, due to the fact there are so many other people involved with my current job that I needed to be able to give my current boss some acurate information which I just didn't know.

She said we would be finding out today, but that if I held on she would just confirm something. So I held and then she came back to me and said...

"We would love to have your onboard our team, please accept!"

When someone offers you a job like that, it makes you feel really nice, or at least they are desperate, what ever I don't care, I told her that as she had put it that way, how could I not accept and that I would be delighted to be part of their team.

So now I just have to wait for a call about the finer details of the job, start date, training dates etc and then I can get life organised for this year with my new position.

Jobs, jobs and more jobs

I have posted several times now about how I am looking for a new job.
Well back in November I spent a day at home on my own and really looked into it.

I contacted another Private Hospital here in Hamilton and expressed my interest in obtaining work. This lead to a meeting with the Manager, which in turn lead to an interview, which nicely in turn lead to an offer of employment this week.

I also checked out jobs on offer at the local Public Hospital and found 1 that might be different. Not in Theatres like I usually do, but in the Pre Admit Clinic, sort of one step before theatre. So all my theatre knowledge would come in handy when giving information to patients prior to surgery.
Anyway, I had a call today to say that I have been shortlisted and can I make an interview next week? Of course I can.

Steve also met a lady a few weeks ago who is running a vaccination programme next year and is looking for nurses. I have spoken to her and quite like the sound of the job. Ok this one has a few small draw backs like it is only through to November next year, but it is a position in the community working with schools and so therefore I would get school holidays off. Yea.
So I have applied for that position too, but the closing date was only Dec 1, so not expecting to hear if I have been short listed until next week possibly.

So there you go, when it rains it pours.
I will keep you posted, but hopefully when this little project finishes at the end of January next year, I will have a new job to move onto.
Oh and just to give you a heads up, I am turning down the job at the Private Hospital, because I really fancy one of the other 2 jobs.

New Job

I want a new job.....!

I know back here I wrote about my current work and I have done a little towards finding something new, but whenever I read the Vacancy Bulletin at the hospital there is never anything.
I have sent my CV to some people at the hospital but I have never heard anything back, not that I expected them to just pick up the phone and call saying 'Hey guess what? We have just the job for you...'

At our wedding my brother's boss was talking about looking for an Office Manager for their branch here in Hamilton, he runs an architecture company, apart from the fact the pay would just be so stupid to go backwards for and I think they want someone full time rather than 3 1/2 day a week, I seriously would have been tempted to check it out further.
The swimming school that the boys go to are also looking for people to train as teachers. I talked further with one of the teachers and even brought the application form home, but again, I just can not justify changing my job to a job that will pay me half of what I am currently earning an hour now.

So I have a few other people to send my CV to and I will slowly plod along keeping my eyes wide open in the hope that something new might come my way that would maybe at least get me in the door.

Work

I currently work at a Private Day Surgical Hospital.
All the cases we do are predominately day stay and they usually go home within 3-6 hours of completion of surgery.
This is my first time working in a Private setting and it sure is different to the Public setting.
I honestly thought there would be more variety in the instruments and resources we have for the surgeons, but I am told all the time that what we have is what they get! I thought the Consultants would at least get to use what they would like to use!
The work I currently do is a little boring, and some of their nursing practices do leave me a little cold, nothing too serious, but enough to make me question my own practices all the time.
I currently work 3 days a fortnight, and pick up extra lists when I am able to, as long as it fits in with the family.
I predominately work on Dental lists at present, which amounts to a large load of Wisdom Teeth and the occassional implant work.
Now the people I work with are a great bunch and so it does make for an enjoyable day when you work with good people. You can get through 4 or 5 wisdom teeth extractions in an afternoon very easily with the jokes flying and the music playing.

But.....I don't feel the job is going anywhere. It is a little hap hazard, if the surgeon doesn't have a list then I don't work, sometimes I don't feel there is a routine to what lists I do and so you loose interest very easily. There is also no oppurtunity to advance to anyother position and I think that is what is bothering me, to go to a better position means to leave the company.

The full time work I have just completed was at Waikato Hospital (Public) and the vibe just walking through the corridor put a spring in my step. Made me realise that as much as I love the people I currently work with, there has got to be more out there.

I want a job where I actually feel like I am achieving something, working towards something and even completing things.
Now yes I do get things done in my job, we get people's surgeries out of the way, take their pain away etc but it is not doing it for me.

I know a few people at the Public hospital and I bumped into one of them a couple of weeks ago. We did the usual catching up thing and then I mentioned about work. He told me of a few things that may be coming up and it got me excited. I decided that I needed to send him my CV so he could let me know if anything comes round.
The other day I passed him again in the corridor and he asked if I was into Research??
Turns out there is a Research Nurse with Trauma available and he wondered if it was something I was into.
I now have the job description and have read through it. I have even considered calling the person on it to ask more questions.
On the same day this got given to me I also had a chat with a lady I had just met and through talking to her it made me realise that I need to send my CV to some other people within the hospital.
So now I don't know if I am interesting in doing an 18 month research about why people have falls and injuries at home or whether it is just the first thing to make me sit up and look at what I am currently doing.
I guess just reading about a job that makes me have to think, work towards something and aim for the finish line are more important to me than I thought.

Whilst talking to the lady the other day I realised that I want a job that is problem solving, with organising and planning, taking situations, running with them and then working out why they are not working or even how we can make them work better and more efficient, all within a medical setting.

Hey not too much to ask for is it???

Job and House

Job - I got a job at Braemar Hospital. They called today and said that they would be happy to have me on board.
So things are getting finalised next week, so by February I should be back at work.

House - The Building Inspection was performed yesterday and from what they have told me all was good, so as long as the LIM from the council doesn't hold anything we are not expecting then looks like we have the house.
So back to the drawing board on designing the kitchen. Yes I will put up before and after shots so you can see how things come along, but then I will do that with lots of the house as we decorate and tidy it, so there is something I can post about whilst reaching my 366 posts.

Job Interview

I have heard nothing so far, but they did say they would get back to me about Wednesday, so not there yet.
The meeting with them went well and I feel positive.
I am hoping that these few days are what they are using to do reference checks etc.
When I know I will let you know.