Work Readiness

At Kaiser, I used effective communication and dedication successfully this week.  Effective communication greatly helped me with my internship.  My supervisor, Darcy Allen, for the Critical Care Unit had been difficult to get in contact with.  I had called her multiple times, left her multiple voicemails, and even emailed her, to no avail.  I contacted the woman in charge of the Kaiser internship program, Camille Madfes, and kept her updated about Darcy's unresponsiveness.  Because I effectively communicated to Camille my struggle, she reached out to Darcy herself and worked to help fix the issue.  Darcy told Camille to tell me to contact a different nerse in the same unit, Tami Behr.  I called her immediately and made an appointment for an interview with her Monday and set up a schedule with the woman who I'd be working with, Unit Assistant Sarah Rowley Morgan.  Sarah only works Thursday and Friday afternoons/evenings, and so I decided to intern for her Thursdays from 2:45-7:45pm and Fridays from 2:45-6:45pm.  On my first day interning for Sarah, that Thursday, I immediately asked her where she'd like me to meet her every day and to give me a tour of the Unit.  By 7pm, the unit was very busy, and Sarah told me that it is most interesting to work 8-10pm.  So, I asked her if I could asjust my Friday hours to 5-9pm to get a taste of the night shift, and she agreed.  Thanks to this communication, I was able to gain more insight into the medical field.

Dedication also helped me be successful at Kaiser this week.  Sometimes, I was asked to complete boring tasks, but because I was so dedicated to my job, I completed them enthusiastically.  For example, on Friday I was asked to answer phones for a little while.  The phone rarely rang, and Sarah read a newspaper while I sat at her desk waiting for something of interest to happen.  However, whenever the phone did ring, I answered professionally and followed all the steps Sarah had taught me; usually, the person calling would ask to see one of the nurses, and so I would transfer the call to that nurse's phone (each nurses' numbers were listed on a sheet of paper available to me).  However, my dedication paid off.  One of the nurses noticed how hard I was working and asked if I'd like to see a patient with her.  Shadowing that nurse was a very valuable experience to me, and I was very grateful.  Also, when I went down to the lab to receive blood or FFP (fresh frozen plasma) with Sarah, the lab manager noticed my interest and dedication and taught me how to read back blood samples, which was incredibly interesting to me.

However, I struggled with professionalism due to promptness.  On my interview Monday, I was told to meet Sarah at her desk Thursday and was shown its location.  However, the Critical Care Unit was somewhat new to me, and I knew I'd get lost very easily.  Although I came to work on time, I got lost and had to ask multiple people where to go, until finally Sarah found me, 5 minutes after I was supposed to have met with her.  On Friday, I struggled with promptness once more, and I arrived 3 minutes late to work.  Next week, I will make sure to leave earlier for work so that I will be on time, if not early.