Orientation

I'm back in the South (Carolina, not of California) and have already had one busy day of work. Today was day 1 of New Employee Orientation where we learned basic information about the hospital, it's policies and what are our expectations as employees. The day began with a visit from the CEO of the hospital. Apparently he comes to 98% of New Employee Orientations which occur every Monday and Tuesday, 51 weeks out of the year! For such a busy person, that is a lot of time welcoming new employees. He was a great speaker and shared his mission and goals for the hospital, which were inspiring and realistic. The day continued with many different speakers from areas of the hospital such as Worker's Compensation, Diversity, Employee Health and Wellness and Employee Benefits (how grown up do I sound?!).

It was an interesting assortment of presentations although most of it didn't quite apply to my program since it is only a summer job, but it was still interesting to hear and important to know down the road. The entire day I kept asking the other externs whether or not they knew when we'd get our schedules, when we'd be working, which floors would we be working on, etc. No one else knew, but everyone was as excited as I was to find out! Well...we finally did! This summer I will be spending my first three weeks on Labor and Delivery (L&D), my second three weeks on Women's Speciality Obstetrics (this is for high risk pregnancies and severe gynecological issues) and my last three weeks in the operating room (OR). I am so so excited for this summer to really start because these are all areas that I'm very interested. Tomorrow we continue on with New Employee Orientation and Wednesday-Friday we learn more about the Nurse Extern program specifically.