Well, not completely ended, but changed drastically. The CEO retired unexpectedly early, the CNO was asked to 'fill in' until the Board could find a replacement, and so 'my boss' moved to another floor, another office, with another assistant who was probably the glue that kept the hospital together ~ she knew everything that needed to be kept up with, when to do what, and who to expect to do what. So, that left me hanging, waiting for a new CNO to be hired.
Happy Day! The nurse manager that had been sharing our triple-room office was named as CNO! I really enjoyed working with him, he had a wicked sense of humor (well, still does, but he is no longer CNO...more story later), and had so many fascinating life stories to share, as he has been in the nursing profession since he was 16! But alas, he had trouble letting go of duties and tasks, and I found my days dragging, not having enough to do to make me feel needed. I found myself asking for projects from other departments within the hospital. I got to do so many fun, interesting, and yes - BORRRRRing - things. There were minutes of meetings - good grief, the meetings! - and booklets, bulletin boards, copies by the thousands it seemed. I got to create the pamphlet that promoted the hospital's new venture ~ three satellite clinics manned by a physician, nurse practitioners, and physician's assistants. There were health fairs, and setting up luncheons with physician offices to introduce new medical staff members to them, and various community events involving the hospital. I helped plan and orchestrate Nurses Day celebrations, a Nursing Dept drop-in, and holiday celebrations galore. Most of what I did was enjoyable even though I was reluctant to jump into some of the projects. This may be boring by comparison to some careers, but it suited me well for this time in my life.
See, I have never been a 'career' person. I have never desired the 'power suit and power heels' that come with the attending career stress, headaches, and numerous physical ailments created by such stress and long hours. I am very much a 'knit pants outfit and flats from Ross' kind of gal, content to work hard all day but clear my desk and leave at 5:30, not to think about the job again until I clocked back in - no beeper, no taking call. I was happy there.
Before the end of that year we had to prepare for the Joint Commission Survey that was due by Dec. 31. This involved review, and subsequent revision of hundreds of lengthy policies and procedures all over the hospital. Guess who got 'asked' to do all this, and due to the missing programs on the computer, completely retype every letter of most of them? Yep. Yours truly. Wouldn't have been so bad if the managers had worked on these all year long like they were instructed, instead of all waiting until the last couple of weeks and dumping them on me. Whew! That was stressful, and I determined then that I would be gone before the next Joint Commission Survey in 3 more years. I did not intend to live through another one and I started making comments to that effect. There was great news though ~ we passed with flying colors, and are still accredited!
Well, life is full of changes, and this CNO decided to leave for other opportunities. Here I was, hanging in limbo again. The hospital was in a financial crisis, as it had been for a very long time, and I was concerned my job might not be considered crucial. There were furloughs, then a 10% pay cut hospital-wide for a quarter, and eventually layoffs. This is all publicly documented in the Barnwell paper, so I'm not telling secrets. They did hire another CNO, a delightful, beautiful young woman who was very easy to work for also. However, she also had problems delegating duties and projects, and I seriously worried about the state of my job. The county wanted out of managing the hospital, and it was put up for sale. Right now it looks as though a good company is going to buy it and manage it well. The company that was initially to buy it though sent in their corporate suit-and-tie-guys who would not even speak to employees in the halls; didn't send employees a good 'vibe', but we had no say, it was all management and County Council. The rumor was they would wipe out all accrued vacation, sick time, and retirement once they took over. I couldn't bear the thought of yet another set of management, rules and regulations at my age.
I started thinking. I was already 60 years old and a widow, so I could draw my late husband's Social Security and have some income, and am still on his company's health insurance as a retiree, so I didn't need benefits. We had invested wisely in income producing annuities, and I have a very astute young financial genius managing these for me. We determined I could use these sources and have enough income to be okay, so I made my decision at the end of February to retire by March 31, 2011. I have never felt such fear and yet such relief in my life! Would I really be okay??
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