The Real Work Begins.

So the first two days of this week were my new-employee orientation classes at MECMC. It was a well put-together set of lectures and interactive elements teaching us the mandatory requirements for Joint Commission accreditation, something that most American Hospitals go through in order to be compliant with all federal regulations for Medicare, Medicaid, and insurance purposes, among other things. I’ve never been on that side of it before, the administration aspect, so I’m not entirely sure what it’s all about. But I know that it’s important. I paid attention and asked a lot of questions and was generally the snot at the front of the class.

Tomorrow I show up at 0830 and start my real work. I log on and get my shiny new email address. A real one. I complete a couple of training modules. And I meet my work group. I’m excited. I feel confident and ready. And nervous. I have one stupid annoying thing I need to get fixed already. They forgot to put my Doctorate on my ID badge. I’m going to insist on that. It’s not (just) vanity. In order to spar with physicians over data and processes, something that always happens, I need to be obviously in possession of a high-quality credential.

I’ve had a good time exploring ECC. I have, it turns out, made a couple of friends here from the twitterverse. And the AA community is strong. My Wednesday evening men’s meeting is a great group. Not quite like my old men’s meeting, but nothing would be. And one man there is a co-worker at MECMC. I’m glad for that. It’s good to know that there’s someone in the program at work that I can turn to in the event that things are turning tough and I need to talk the program with someone who understands the work-environment.

And now, I go to work. I find myself waking up in the morning excited, thinking: “Today, I get to go to work at MECMC!!” It’s so beautiful. It’s SO beautiful. I’m thrilled and privileged to be a part of it.