Getting To Know My Mentor

As my first day came to a close, Ann asked if I would like to join her for dinner down on the Riverwalk.  I agreed and we walked down the street until we found a stairway that would take us down to the river.  Ann was gushing over how much she loved being in San Antonio and how much she loved the culture and people there.  We strolled along the river watching the gondalas float by until we reached her favorite restaurant.  I was looking forward to having a drink and relaxing a bit after my first day on the job.  She found a table with a great view of the crowds roaming through the area, unfortunately it was outside and the temperature was in the 90's not to mention the high humidity!  The waiter came over and Ann ordered a Miller heavy which I found amusing!  She explained at her stage in life she found no reason to not enjoy the real thing!

She asked me about our search for a house and I told her I was meeting with our real estate agent the next day.  Ann said that she wanted me to take as much time as I needed to get that off my agenda so I could be ready to move as soon as possible.  She changed the subject to the employees in the office and I got her insight into their personalities.  She warned me about Sue, who had been there for a number of years and seemed to be at the center of any unhappiness that cropped up.  The bookkeeper Mary and one of the other coordinators, Christina, were sisters and came from a very strong Hispanic family.  She considered both of them to be great employees, very reliable.  The other two coordinators were Pat and Jackie seemed  to meet her approval, Pat worked part time and Jackie had epilepsy, supposedly controlled by medication.

We both ordered another beer and our dinner, while we waited for the food she revealed that she had breast cancer and was on an experimental oral medication.  According to her there were a small group of women around the country who had been selected to try this experimental treatment.  She had already had surgery and chemotherapy but it had returned so she decided to try this new therapy.  To that point her doctor seemed pleased and she was feeling great.  I was amazed by her strength and her overall positive attitude.

 

My First Day In The Home Care Industry!

I went back to the hotel, combed my hair and tried to calm my nerves before heading to the office.  As I walked down the street I was taken by how tall I was compared to my Hispanic counterparts.  It didn't take long to find the office as it was on the ground floor on the corner of a tall office building.  It must have originally been a retail space since all of the exterior walls were floor to ceiling glass.  I entered and saw my mentor Ann sitting at a desk in the corner of this small space.  Directly behind her was a small narrow room with a desk, four drawer filing cabinet and a young lady working on payroll.  Ann greeted me and then introduced me to Maria, the bookkeeper, and two other ladies who sat on the other side of this 400 square foot space at a round table with that lazysusan type thing in the center of the desk.  Lou and Jackie were the staffing coordinators who worked days, later I would meet Lupe who handled the phones in the evening. They all seemed quite friendly and obviously loved Ann.

Ann and I went down to the basement of the building where there were bathrooms and a small conference room.  We sat down at the table and she explained what my orientation and training would be like.  The goal was for her, her son-in-law, Larry and his wife Sharon to feel confident that I could handle the business at the end of this two week period.  They would rotate in and out based on what part of the business I was being trained.  Her job was to train me on the coordinators desk and who the scheduling system worked.  Larry would train me on the financial tasks and Sharon would train me on marketing.

With that explained we headed back upstairs and I sat down at the coordinators table was handed a tall book from that thing in the middle of the desk and learned that it was called a wheel.  The books were full of nurses with a card on top outlining what they were capable of doing, a picture and their personal information.  The bottom card was a box like calendar with markings in the boxes.  The markings indicated whether the employee was available and for what shift.  If a line was drawn through the box it meant they were not available on that day.  The coordinators would call the employees weekly to obtain their availability and to offer them shifts that were open.  My first job was to listen to Lou and Jackie as they made calls and then they  told me to start calling!  Of course I had to explain I was the new Administrator, which sometimes seemed to surprise whoever I was calling, I guess my predecessor didn't talk much to the field staff.