I have the best job in the world. And surprisingly, I'm not talking about being a mom.
I just love my job here at Interlochen. In a world where I could choose what I would do each and every day, it would be working here.
People know that I'm a "Health Assistant" here, but that description leaves a lot to the imagination. Kind of like people who work in "Compliance". :-)
I wake up each morning around 6 a.m., shower, throw on my uniform, and leave for work by 6:45. I walk up to our tiny health service cabin in the woods around 7 a.m., and prepare for whatever the day will throw at me.
I fill three coolers of water and place them around the cabin. I make sure all the patient beds are made and ready. I do a bit of clerical work. I catch up from the previous day with my friends...conveniently around the water cooler :-)
Then, around 7:45, campers begin showing up to take their daily meds. It's like a dance between the nurses and me. I see the campers, pull their meds while the nurse pulls up their chart, hand off the meds to the one nurse, and while she is dispensing them, I go through the same motion for the second nurse. By the time she begins, the first nurse is returning the bag of meds to me and I'm simultaneously pulling the meds for the next camper. This goes on for over an hour. We are also catching up with the campers: how did their recital go last night? was their cabin cold? what are their plans for the day? It's great fun to talk to the kids for a bit before moving onto the next one. In the same way that John is energized by meeting new people and socializing, I'm energized by this experience.
Then, it's pulling all of the names of campers who didn't show. This has become a more important situation since I began working here six years ago, seeing as a couple of summers ago, one kid on the Boys' side didn't come for his ADHD meds for almost three weeks. Nobody was even looking for it, or caring if any kids came or didn't come. By the time the three weeks was up, the kid was bouncing off the walls in all of his classes, and no surprise, Health Services was blamed. Now, we don't even let a child miss taking a Claritin.
Pulling the names is easy. Even searching their schedules and writing down where they are for the next three hours isn't bad. But the best part is finding those sneaky, non-compliant campers. In fact, I guess you could say that, like Ethan, I too am a compliance officer :-). But of course, I'm not making the big bucks at Goldman Sachs.
I then spend the next 2-3 hours, walking the Interlochen campus, interrupting rehearsals, classes and dance lessons to pull those kids out of said rehearsals, classes and dance lessons to escort them back to JIG (Junior and Intermediate Girls Infirmary) so that they will indeed get the meds that they are supposed to take.
I love this part of the day. It's still cool from the nighttime, but the sun is coming out. There is music everywhere, because all of the large ensembles rehearse outside. And I get to walk and walk and walk. On any normal day, I end up walking between three and five miles, looking for campers. And I get to talk to the little baby Junior campers, because they must be escorted to and from so they don't become lost. Plus, I get to peek my head into a life that I wish I could have had: teaching kids music. I'm so jealous of those teachers who get to help kids become better musicians. What a great life!
Then it's back to the infirmary to catch up on any paperwork from the provider visits. There are always prescriptions to fax in, or lab cultures to send, or other arrangements to be made.
Then lunch, and we usually get a few moments to debrief about some crazy moment from the morning. Really, for those five hours, we are all working at full-capacity, and then it all just kind of slows down. At least we hope it does.
There must be some kind of Camp God who is a cousin of Satan, because no matter how prepared we are each year for anything, something comes along that throws us all for a loop. We've had summers full of bat-bites (and the subsequent rabies shots). Lice-pocalypse was two summers ago. H1N1 virus kept all of our beds full for several weeks. Bed bugs were a problem in a couple of cabins during one summer, and last summer, a boy from Barbados brought Chicken Pox into camp. There's always something. And usually, that time between 1 and 3 o'clock is spent managing whatever catastrophe has descended on camp.
As silly as my job might sound, I'm really, REALLY good at it. People here are so kind to me about how much they appreciate me, and the nurses particularly are thankful that they don't need to worry about anything but nursing when I'm around. I take a lot of joy in being a support to them and to the kids. And I always get a kick out of people asking me if I manage John's practice because I'm so good at running the office at these small health service cabins.
I love my job. I wish it could translate into anything else in the real world, but if I can only have it for six weeks of the year, I'll take it, bed bugs and all.
I just love my job here at Interlochen. In a world where I could choose what I would do each and every day, it would be working here.
People know that I'm a "Health Assistant" here, but that description leaves a lot to the imagination. Kind of like people who work in "Compliance". :-)
I wake up each morning around 6 a.m., shower, throw on my uniform, and leave for work by 6:45. I walk up to our tiny health service cabin in the woods around 7 a.m., and prepare for whatever the day will throw at me.
I fill three coolers of water and place them around the cabin. I make sure all the patient beds are made and ready. I do a bit of clerical work. I catch up from the previous day with my friends...conveniently around the water cooler :-)
Then, around 7:45, campers begin showing up to take their daily meds. It's like a dance between the nurses and me. I see the campers, pull their meds while the nurse pulls up their chart, hand off the meds to the one nurse, and while she is dispensing them, I go through the same motion for the second nurse. By the time she begins, the first nurse is returning the bag of meds to me and I'm simultaneously pulling the meds for the next camper. This goes on for over an hour. We are also catching up with the campers: how did their recital go last night? was their cabin cold? what are their plans for the day? It's great fun to talk to the kids for a bit before moving onto the next one. In the same way that John is energized by meeting new people and socializing, I'm energized by this experience.
Then, it's pulling all of the names of campers who didn't show. This has become a more important situation since I began working here six years ago, seeing as a couple of summers ago, one kid on the Boys' side didn't come for his ADHD meds for almost three weeks. Nobody was even looking for it, or caring if any kids came or didn't come. By the time the three weeks was up, the kid was bouncing off the walls in all of his classes, and no surprise, Health Services was blamed. Now, we don't even let a child miss taking a Claritin.
Pulling the names is easy. Even searching their schedules and writing down where they are for the next three hours isn't bad. But the best part is finding those sneaky, non-compliant campers. In fact, I guess you could say that, like Ethan, I too am a compliance officer :-). But of course, I'm not making the big bucks at Goldman Sachs.
I then spend the next 2-3 hours, walking the Interlochen campus, interrupting rehearsals, classes and dance lessons to pull those kids out of said rehearsals, classes and dance lessons to escort them back to JIG (Junior and Intermediate Girls Infirmary) so that they will indeed get the meds that they are supposed to take.
I love this part of the day. It's still cool from the nighttime, but the sun is coming out. There is music everywhere, because all of the large ensembles rehearse outside. And I get to walk and walk and walk. On any normal day, I end up walking between three and five miles, looking for campers. And I get to talk to the little baby Junior campers, because they must be escorted to and from so they don't become lost. Plus, I get to peek my head into a life that I wish I could have had: teaching kids music. I'm so jealous of those teachers who get to help kids become better musicians. What a great life!
Then it's back to the infirmary to catch up on any paperwork from the provider visits. There are always prescriptions to fax in, or lab cultures to send, or other arrangements to be made.
Then lunch, and we usually get a few moments to debrief about some crazy moment from the morning. Really, for those five hours, we are all working at full-capacity, and then it all just kind of slows down. At least we hope it does.
There must be some kind of Camp God who is a cousin of Satan, because no matter how prepared we are each year for anything, something comes along that throws us all for a loop. We've had summers full of bat-bites (and the subsequent rabies shots). Lice-pocalypse was two summers ago. H1N1 virus kept all of our beds full for several weeks. Bed bugs were a problem in a couple of cabins during one summer, and last summer, a boy from Barbados brought Chicken Pox into camp. There's always something. And usually, that time between 1 and 3 o'clock is spent managing whatever catastrophe has descended on camp.
As silly as my job might sound, I'm really, REALLY good at it. People here are so kind to me about how much they appreciate me, and the nurses particularly are thankful that they don't need to worry about anything but nursing when I'm around. I take a lot of joy in being a support to them and to the kids. And I always get a kick out of people asking me if I manage John's practice because I'm so good at running the office at these small health service cabins.
I love my job. I wish it could translate into anything else in the real world, but if I can only have it for six weeks of the year, I'll take it, bed bugs and all.
Those nurses and providers are sooo lucky to have you. Having someone to help with the little details helps patient care both directly and indirectly, and I'm sure there are many "real world" jobs like that. But I know all your family charges keep you busy when you're not escaping to your Interlochen job. Enjoy! And remember your work is not trivial!
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