On my first day of work I was so nervous! I had Jimmy drive me to work because I wasn't sure what time I would be finished (and I wanted some company right before and after my first day). When I walked in to the hospital and over to the "ward" I was met with closed doors where you need a pass code to get through or someone at the nurse's station to let you in. They had not given me the code so I had to wait for a nurse to be available. When she came to the window at the desk I told her who I was and she let me in. She is actually the nurse manager for the ward. BTW, the unit is locked and you have to ask the patient if they want to see the visitor who is here for them. That is awesome! 

I walked to the HR directors office and was met with lots of paperwork to fill out, of course. After a tour I was to meet with the managers of the different departments in the hospital. Everyone was very nice and willing to help me in any way I needed. In the afternoon I was able to meet the nurse who is to be my "mentor" for the next month. She is very thorough in her orientation and documentation...I think I am going to like her. The really funny thing about that day is that there was only one patient. There were no surgeries scheduled for that day so we only had the one medical patient to attend to. It was nice to be able to learn the unit without having to run around for six different patients at the same time.

On the second day I went straight to the ward (I have the code to get in now) and checked out the assignment board. Still only one patient and one nurse but we did have one procedure to go to the "theatre." (That's what they call the OR here). I quickly found out the reason the nurse manager kept telling me they get very busy. As a nurse on the ward, you do an admission and pre-op the patient before they go to theatre. So, if there are multiple surgeries that day you will be sending and receiving many patients in your nine hours. The evening shift will have less admission/pre-op's to do but more post-op care. The night shift doesn't really have to worry about any of that but they do have to cover the 24 hour "urgent care" if someone comes in and I will be working all of those shifts in the next two weeks. I am excited but also very nervous to find out if I am going to be able to stay awake all night! 

It was nice to be able to meet one of the anesthesiologists, the neurosurgeon and some of the surgery staff that day. I also got to meet the podiatrist. He is basically an English Dr. Grossman! He had so many jokes! It made me feel at home! When I told them that the OR was my specialty they were all happy to hear it because they lost a few staff members recently. So, the OR manager told me they are going to fight for me to come to the theatre because it is way easier to find a med-surg nurse than it is to find an OR nurse. YAY!!  Before I left for the day one of the US nurses came to me to see if I would want to go out for lunch or drinks this weekend with her and another nurse. UMMM...Yes! I need friends down here! So, we are set for tomorrow :)

It is fun to see the mix of cultures at this institution. So far I have met people who are from Cayman, Jamaica, England, Poland, Germany, South Africa, Canada and the US. The accents are so fun. I feel like I am going to pick up a few new words and pronunciations. The staff are very friendly to one another...It reminds me of Grant in that respect. So, back to work Monday morning for my first full week of days with the weekend off!

P.S.  I found out while sitting in the back yard typing this------------------> 

that the bird you heard on my video clip the other day is a parrot!!! Awesome Sauce!!

WISH YOU WERE HERE!!