April 21 - 3rd Day Gaff

So, as many of you know I am now working PRN (as needed) at Mercy Memorial in Ardmore,  OK as a Registered Respiratory Therapist (Yippee!!!).  I just finished day 3 of my orientation (3 more next week).

Everything is going well, I LOVE it there.  The RT department is great, very friendly, helpful and welcoming as are most of the nurses, aides, etc that I have met.  I'm even learning the color codes of the different departments/groups:  Nurses are USUALLY in red scrubs, RT's are teal blue scrubs, CNA (nurse's aides) are black, etc.  (This is important later in this story).

But today...  oh today...  I finished a patient's treatment and as I was leaving I asked them if there was anything else I could do for them today?  They asked if I would find their Nurse's Aide and send her in.  "Sure" I say.  And off I go to find the aide.  Lucky me!  She seems to be sitting at the nurse's station.  There the aide was, all dressed in black scrubs.  So I say "the patient is asking for you".  The woman looks at me a bit askance and says "for me?".   I tentatively reply... "are you the aide?".  To which she replies in a semi-disgusted tone:  "No, I'm their DOCTOR"  (heavy emphasis on DOCTOR).  I apologize, mutter something about being new, tell her that she isn't who the patient is asking for and make a hasty retreat.

So I tell my RT mentor of the day about the encounter.  She's like, so who was the doctor?  And I'm shrugging saying OBVIOUSLY I don't know or I wouldn't have called her an AIDE!!  So I describe the doc, to which Susan (my mentor) gets a horrified look on her face and says OH NO!!!!!!  That's Doctor... and she already hates RT's!    Yea me!!

The RT department varied between looks or horror and relentless laughter. Most saying they would have loved to have seen the look on her face.

Really, she wasn't that bad about it but I feel kinda bad.  However in my defense she as in black scrubs which = NURSE'S AIDES!!!

Other than that little snafu.  I think things are going well.  I have several days lined up to actually work (on my own without the mentor) in May so I'm on my way.  They say I'm doing great.  It feels so good to be working in my chosen field - even if it is 80 miles away.