The Dangers of Saying "I need a Break"...

I have been at my new job for almost a month and I am settling in. My supervisor admired my cube today, noting how I am filling up my cabinets with assorted resource books, manuals and client files. I told her it looks like I have moved in. I am getting lost less and less. I have managed to find my way to the supply room several times without getting lost. I will admit I did have a few close calls but I have picked out a landmark, a large brass goose. And in the spirit of spring time, someone has playfully put those little marshmellow peeps in a line behind the goose, like fluffy chicks. (And today, the peeps were protesting, holding up little signs. Humor is a good thing).

At the other office, I have another nurse counterpart who covers basically, the southern half of the county. She started a few weeks before me and has been telling me she is feeling very overwhelmed and swamped with clients, poor communication and so forth. She is a very experienced nurse but this is still a new job for her as well with a large learning curve. I have felt bad for her because I am having the total opposite experience. To compare, she had to jump in from the dock and start swimming, or for her, feeling like she is drowning. I have been able to dip my toes in from the shore and slowly immerse myself at a comfortable pace.

Word to the wise, don't ask for a break. I am not sure that Jane actually asked for a break but it could have been an unspoken request. Last Friday, while crossing the street and taking a shortcut she had never taken, she slipped on the wet grass and into a ditch and broke her ankle. She will now be out of work for 6 weeks. OUCH.

Later that day, I did not know that this had happened, and a bunch of co-workers were gathering at a restaurant for lunch and to say farewell to someone who was leaving to chase his dream of a music career. A gal from the other office, looked at me and said, "We are going to call you a lot! Jane broke her ankle and can't work." Yikes! My coworkers from my office said to me, "You are not allowed to talk to anyone from that office. You are our nurse!"

It's nice to be wanted. But I know that my days of leisurely dipping my toes in the pool are over and I will be pitching in and taking on some of Jane's clients. It should make my life interesting and very very busy.

I feel bad that Jane got her break by actually breaking a bone. I am just going to take a day of vacation now and then and avoid going down slippery hills.