U Turns

When driving around town there are intersections where U turns are allowed and other where they are not. You make a choice to go in one direction but suddenly decided it wasn't the best one and so you make a U turn and get back on tract. Some U turns are time savers, some are illegal and some are just impulsive choices to try a different direction. Not all U turns are the best choice. Sometimes we make a U turn and find ourselves in a more difficult situation or spending more time trying to get where we want to be. I have made U turns where I couldn't make the full turn and have to back up a little to complete the turn.

And so....the hospital has made a U turn. Trouble is we didn't want to make the turn with them...we were content to continue on the direction set before us. I have worked here many years and in my mind have always felt blessed to have landed in this little island of caring. For many years I received a Christmas bonus! I had never heard of a place where a nurse was given a bonus...that was corporate America stuff. We were taught that the place we worked cared about our emotional well being, we took classes in the "people centered teams" approach of "I think, I feel, I want." We were given an opportunity to have emotional support, voice our opinions, classes to learn how to deal with stress. We were given FREE 15 minute neck and back massages on a regular basis that could be scheduled on our breaks. We not only had a gift shop that rivaled any shop downtown but we also had a health and learning store. Besides a hospital style cafeteria we had a cafe style bistro....We got used to be cared about, and for.....

then the sudden U TURN....

No longer exists the "People Centered Teams" in fact those that supported that concept no longer work in that capacity. No massages. No bonuses. No free coffee. You can tell that for most, the feeling of being cared for has changed. People walk with the weight of fear, carrying their coffee mugs from home....caring little if they get a bonus, just hoping their badge works each day they arrived to work.

U Turns don't always take you where you want to go, sometimes they take you back to where you started, sometimes they take you back to where you need to be...

I wonder where this U TURN will take me...I have always been open to adventure, even if it is a little challenging.