Since I last wrote in this blog, I have had a somewhat busy schedule. Sunday was easy-peasy. There was no work to be done. I relaxed, visited the town centre, even did a bit of gymming in the morning and mostly slept. I haven't cooked much since the past several days, as I have yet to finish some of my previously cooked food.
Monday and Tuesday were hectic, as I had to attend the full-day Trust induction program. This meant attending several sessions in the close confines of a meeting room with about 30 other new employees working either in the hospital itself or in one of the outdoor clinics in the community. The only thing that kept these sessions interesting was the chance to make new friends, which I did. I also used the induction days to gain insight into the way the NHS works. A few sessions were actually entertaining, such as the theory session on "Moving and Handling" things and people while working in the hospital, and the session on "Fire Safety" which enabled us to understand how to behave if you see a fire incident in the hospital or any of the Trust properties.
On Monday evening, I went to the gym and attended a free training session conducted by Jamie Evill, one of the personal trainers who work in Helio Fitness. I thoroughly enjoyed the session and am considering hiring his services for getting back into shape.
On Tuesday evening, I visited the home of one of the registrars I am working with - the very pretty Romanian Letty Ene. She had invited all the co-workers to her place for a party. Expecting a bohemian atmosphere, I was quite surprised to meet a bunch of sober young people who sipped on fruit juice and partook of some delicious ethnic baked stuff such as spinach pouches and cheese tacos made by Letty herself. Letty stays at Lytham St. Anne's, a suburb that is over 16 km away from the hospital, and I was fortunate to get a ride with my colleague Ms. Evelyn Chia on the way to the party, and another colleague Ms. Jessica on the way back. The others who attended included a Pakistani girl Fatima Hayat, a Ghanaian girl Akua, Englishmen Joe and Michael and a Canadian girl Sherin. Some of the invitees brought their own food as well to share with the others. I felt awkward initially because a) I had not taken anything to the party b) I was the newest resident joining the hospital and they don't know me as well and c) I am almost or, in some cases, over twice their age, However, we all gelled well with each other. After dinner, we all sat to view some videos on You Tube beamed on the smart TV (Panasonic - maybe Viera) that Letty has. Each of the invitee was asked to share a video from their own choice and culture. In the event, I shared the song "Ek Do Teen ..." from Tezaab, and it was enjoyed by the attendees to some extent. After this round of watching videos, we all sat down to a group board game called "Articulate" where players form teams and each one draws a card from a pile, and then articulates a word using ideas from among the words listed on that card. A spinning arrow provides the "articulator" with the word he/she has to articulate. The other team members must guess what the word is. A timer shaped like a sand-clock runs while the articulator tries and gets as many word guesses as possible until the sand has run out. We had great fun with this game. I returned home with Jess and Sherin around half past ten.
On Wednesday, I resumed work in the department, filling e-discharges. These are online statements that you need to fill for each patient that was kept in any part of the Paediatric department. The statements become part of the patient's record and can be accessed by any healthcare worker with the NHS who looks after the patient any time in the future. Earlier, in the morning, I went for a long walk-cum-run of just over 5 km; in the evening, I visited the gym and did a little workout, with intermittent cardio on the cross trainer and some upper-limb free exercises.
All in all, I spent a busy three days, as I had mentioned earlier in this entry. Do leave your comments and be part of the interaction on this blog. Thank you, dear reader.
Monday and Tuesday were hectic, as I had to attend the full-day Trust induction program. This meant attending several sessions in the close confines of a meeting room with about 30 other new employees working either in the hospital itself or in one of the outdoor clinics in the community. The only thing that kept these sessions interesting was the chance to make new friends, which I did. I also used the induction days to gain insight into the way the NHS works. A few sessions were actually entertaining, such as the theory session on "Moving and Handling" things and people while working in the hospital, and the session on "Fire Safety" which enabled us to understand how to behave if you see a fire incident in the hospital or any of the Trust properties.
On Monday evening, I went to the gym and attended a free training session conducted by Jamie Evill, one of the personal trainers who work in Helio Fitness. I thoroughly enjoyed the session and am considering hiring his services for getting back into shape.
On Tuesday evening, I visited the home of one of the registrars I am working with - the very pretty Romanian Letty Ene. She had invited all the co-workers to her place for a party. Expecting a bohemian atmosphere, I was quite surprised to meet a bunch of sober young people who sipped on fruit juice and partook of some delicious ethnic baked stuff such as spinach pouches and cheese tacos made by Letty herself. Letty stays at Lytham St. Anne's, a suburb that is over 16 km away from the hospital, and I was fortunate to get a ride with my colleague Ms. Evelyn Chia on the way to the party, and another colleague Ms. Jessica on the way back. The others who attended included a Pakistani girl Fatima Hayat, a Ghanaian girl Akua, Englishmen Joe and Michael and a Canadian girl Sherin. Some of the invitees brought their own food as well to share with the others. I felt awkward initially because a) I had not taken anything to the party b) I was the newest resident joining the hospital and they don't know me as well and c) I am almost or, in some cases, over twice their age, However, we all gelled well with each other. After dinner, we all sat to view some videos on You Tube beamed on the smart TV (Panasonic - maybe Viera) that Letty has. Each of the invitee was asked to share a video from their own choice and culture. In the event, I shared the song "Ek Do Teen ..." from Tezaab, and it was enjoyed by the attendees to some extent. After this round of watching videos, we all sat down to a group board game called "Articulate" where players form teams and each one draws a card from a pile, and then articulates a word using ideas from among the words listed on that card. A spinning arrow provides the "articulator" with the word he/she has to articulate. The other team members must guess what the word is. A timer shaped like a sand-clock runs while the articulator tries and gets as many word guesses as possible until the sand has run out. We had great fun with this game. I returned home with Jess and Sherin around half past ten.
On Wednesday, I resumed work in the department, filling e-discharges. These are online statements that you need to fill for each patient that was kept in any part of the Paediatric department. The statements become part of the patient's record and can be accessed by any healthcare worker with the NHS who looks after the patient any time in the future. Earlier, in the morning, I went for a long walk-cum-run of just over 5 km; in the evening, I visited the gym and did a little workout, with intermittent cardio on the cross trainer and some upper-limb free exercises.
All in all, I spent a busy three days, as I had mentioned earlier in this entry. Do leave your comments and be part of the interaction on this blog. Thank you, dear reader.
No comments:
Post a Comment