Training, Part 1

Today I had my first training session for my new job as a volunteer at the information desk at Sutter Davis Hospital, sorta my old stomping grounds.  When I managed the ob/gyn office, it was in the building next door, the Medical Office Building (MOB).  Now I learn there is an MOB-1 and an MOB-2.

I didn't learn a lot and there was very little actual "training" going on, but I did get my feet wet and learned a couple of things and brought home printed material to digest.  I suspect that when I finally start working the job, it will be a matter of learning as I go along, learning the lingo, learning where the relevant materials are kept and which corridors to direct people down when they need help.  A lot of on the job learning will take place.

We started, however, in Human Resources, where I got photographed and had my badge printed.  Now I need to find a lanyard.  Somewhere around here we should have one from Viking.

She took me to an office where I filled out a time card and she tried to get a uniform for me.  I had long ago decided that a vest, as opposed to a shirt, would be better and more likely to fit.  However, she pulled out a medium size vest that would have fit half of me.  Someone told her where the new vests were and she went through every package on the small shelf looking for a large (though the "large" shelf was two shelves above her head).  I told her that I needed at least an extra large and there were none available, so we just went without for now.

There is a lengthy list of things that should happen during training, but a good number involve getting me up and running on the computer, but it turns out only one guy can do that and he's on vacation for the next couple of weeks, so all I could do was sit and watch my trainer mumble about things on the computer that I couldn't get into.

There was a big brouhaha when a woman came in to report a maroon van which had obviously been abandoned in the parking lot.  She was quite upset about it, so since the woman didn't want to go back outside to get the license plate number, my trainer went out herself and came back to call security, which, as it turns out, is private security hired by the hospital and they have no authority to remove a car.  But he would report it to Davis police.  I actually expected something much worse when I went out to the parking lot (it was parked two slots over from me).

It is quite dirty and has a flat tire and has obviously been there for awhile, but we'll see what happens with it.  I almost want to drive out there tomorrow to see if it's still there.

Anyway, I felt pretty useless most of the 3 hours I was there.  I leafed through a binder that seemed to have "how to" information in it and looked at the file drawer, but mostly I just sat there.  Toward 11:30, she decided to give me a tour of the hospital, much of which I knew, but it was nice to put it in perspective.  We ended up in a building that I thought was MOB-2, but turned out to be MOB-1, so redesigned that were it not for the staircase leading up to where my office was, I would not have recognized it (my tour guide wasn't sure right away which building it was, since she is rarely there).

We ended up in the birthing center and the minute we walked through the door I was hit with the lovely familiar smell of women giving birth and new babies and all that goes along with it.  I smiled because I fondly remember visiting my friend Lynn when she was a midwife there. 

When it came noon, I suggested that I leave, and the trainer said she would call me when the computer guy comes back and when she has another trainer for me.  Thank goodness.  I really would like a bit more of an aggressive trainer.  This woman has been there for 12 years and obviously knows the job inside and out and I have no doubt she is wonderful at her job, and is obviously well liked.  She's just not really a very good trainer.

I had to sign out on my new time card and I was pleased that one thing I learned was the security code to get into the sign-out room

I suspect I won't really start volunteering until after we get back from our cruise in November.