Day 14: Employed!

Today was a BIG day---I started my 1st PT job (1st REAL job) at St. Francis hospital in Peoria. I was pretty nervous last night as I lay in bed but actually slept pretty well! :) The day was pretty boring--filled primarily with administrative and human resources paperwork and talks, history of the hospital, mission, values, etc. I sat next to 2 girls that are close to my age which was nice to have someone to talk to during the breaks. They are both from Chicago and kept asking if there was "anything more" to Peoria! Well, sorry gals, but if you are expecting Chicago you won't find it here! I told them about some fun restaurants in the area and also about the downtown since that is what they were wanting to know about. The other girl just kept commenting about all the cornfields and such. I found this quite funny because, yes, you can see some in the surrounding Peoria area but I don't think it's a lot by any means! I would much rather be back in Flanagan where I can see fields everywhere I turn. It's so interesting to see how people can view the same situation and place in such different ways based on their background and life experiences. 2 of the therapists in the department I'll be working in came and picked me up for lunch and we headed to the department break room. It was nice to get to meet a few of my new co-workers before I actually get working. The last 2 hours of the day was spent on insurance and benefits which was probably the most important topic of the day. I was trying to grasp all the information but thought it was poor planning for them to put it at the very end of the day when everyone was already losing energy. I have a big folder now of everything so I will have some homework to fill in the gaps where I zoned out! Tomorrow is another day of boring topics I'm afraid :(.

After we were done with Orientation Day 1, I went to pick up my official work shirts! We had to order very specific shirts in either Navy or Carolina Blue and then they were engraved with the hospital logo. I thought they were kind of pricey but hopefully will last me a long time. My uniform will consist of one of these polo type shirts, khaki pants and tennis shoes! YAY for comfort! After that Steven and I met up for dinner before I headed off to a women's Bible study and he went to one of the guy's house to play games.