Leaving my Blankie

I just realized that even though I told you all about leaving the Crapdorable place, I didn't say what I'm going to do instead! Duh.

My interview at the GreatRep place went very well, and they called back to offer me a job the same day. Even better, the position they offered me is one that I didn't know was available: full time, part dayshift, part evening shift (probably 2 days per week of each, one variable, 2 days off per week). That means NO MORE OVERNIGHTS!

And this time, let me tell you, I interviewed. I asked that administrator so many questions that I wish I'd asked at the Crapdorable place. Everything from "What's your employee retention rate?" to "What's the average census of your residents?" to "How long has the administrative staff been here? Any upcoming changes?". I'll explain all those in my next post about how to choose a nursing home, so if anyone reading that went "Huh?", don't worry.

I feel confident about the care the residents get at the GreatRep place, which means I'm very likely to be able to stay in my job there. Add to that the fact that I'm only working 5 days a week, and no more than 8 hours at a stretch, and I'm very likely to actually enjoy this job! It did, however, mean that I'm finally having to cut the apron strings and leave the Home Care Agency.

That place has been my only constant in the past year. I'm embarrassed to tell you how many other supplemental jobs I've had and left throughout my year at the Home Care Agency. Okay, fine: Four. About to start my Fifth. So leaving the Home Care Agency is me leaving my blankie, basically. But it was becoming a crutch, and preventing me from taking potentially great jobs that would have conflicted with my schedule there.

The GreatRep place has a scholarship program for nursing school. And if they ask you to come in on your day off, you get $2/hour more, which should translate into almost never working understaffed. They do a lot of things which mean members of the community come through all day every day, which makes it much less likely that anyone is being neglected; they're doing a fitness study with one of the State Universities. And they have a very, very cool program that I wish I could write about but it would give away which facility I'm talking about.

To make it more bittersweet, I just had my 1-year review at the Home Care Agency with Big Boss Betty (remember her from my first post here?), and it was awesome. They gave me a bonus equal to 25 hours of work, because that's what I've averaged for them over the past year. And they said I'm welcome back any time that I want. Awwwwww.

So I just have to get through my very last crapdorable rotation, then one week of only Home Care (should be easy as pie) and then I'll begin my new full time job at the GreatRep.

Whew!