Birthing Center Smell

Best part of my day in my second training session at Sutter today was delivering flowers to a new Mom in the birthing center.  Usually the Patient Services people do that, but nobody was working that day, so we took them in.  Walking into the Birthing Center and sniffing that unique fragrance of birthing moms, new babies, and whatever else is mixed in there was as much fun for me as sniffing puppy breath.  I never spent that much time in the birthing center when I was working for Women's Health, but apparently I was there often enough that the smell was a familiar, happy smell for me.

I feel better about training today than I did the last time.  This gal was on her game and took me through a lot of stuff that I should have done last time.  She also introduced herself to me and said "Your name seems very familiar..."  Turns out she's a theater go-er and reads my reviews.  We discussed mutual shows we had loved (and hated).

At some point she introduced me to the lady who was running the gift shop today and she said "Oh, you're the one with all the kids doing theater."  I pointed out that "all the kids" were now pushing 50, and she said she had been in Davis a long time!  Very nice lady.

I got a vest today.  They didn't have one my size when I did my first training day and that trainer was trying to see if I could fit into a medium (maybe one half of me could!).  Today they had an XXL for me and it fits just fine, so I was dressed in my uniform.

This trainer also told me, which the other one did not, that we have to wear closed toed shoes.  No Birkenstocks at the hospital  I wonder why the other woman didn't mention that...

The woman today was more hands on.  She takes people upstairs to the patient rooms, if they are there for the first time, and accompanies delivery men to the office where they should deliver tings rather than just leave them off after giving directions.

Things were fairly quiet today, though I am assured that it's not always like that.  We had a woman who looked like she might be homeless show up for a test that she didn't know the name of, and my trainer was able to find out which test she was having and where she needed to go.  Also a homeless man pushing his worldly goods through the hall told us it doesn't look good to see people sleeping in the halls.  There aren't any, of course.

Nobody complained about the abandoned van which was such a problem last time...it's still there, I saw on my way out.  A thicker layer of dust and dirt, but untouched otherwise.

My trainer told me today that one thing I must do every time I work is check out the gift shop and buy something.  She smiled and said "well, that's what I have to do."  But midway through the morning, I went and bought some almonds to munch on.  I had remembered to bring a bottle of water this time, though I'm sure I could have bought one in the cafeteria.  

The small gift shop is really neat.  I must take more photos sometime  It had the most unusual sox I've seen, so I did take a picture of them.  There are all sorts of baby products, and things to buy for kids who have to pass the time while mom or dad is visiting someone.  The Information desk has a big file of pages to color and a large supply of little boxes of crayons for restless children.  The gift shop also has magazines in both English and Spanish, greeting cards and floral arrangements. Also jewelry and little tsatskes.  A wide variety in a shop so small.

Back at the desk, I learned about the special codes I need to remember:

CODE RED is fire
CODE ORANGE is a hazardous materials incident
CODE YELLOW is a bomb threat
CODE GREEN is evacuation
CODE PINK is the abduction of a child under 2
CODE PURPLE is the abduction of a child over 2
CODE GREY is abusive or assaultive behavior
CODE SILVER is a weapon/hostage situation

I asked her if there had ever been a bomb threat, weapon threat, or child abduction and she assured me she had been working there for 13 years and to the best of her knowledge there had not been.

So I have lots of information floating around in my head and will go back for round 3 when the guy in charge of setting up my account on the computer finally decides he has time for me.  Best of all, I got out of there before the temps reached 100!