It seems to me that for whatever reason, respiratory therapy departments are almost always given the least desirable office space in the hospital.
Where I work now, we have been “homeless” for years and years. For some time the department was decentralized and as such there was no need for an office, but about five years ago we coagulated back into a centralized department. On forming into this new department, we were promised office space on a disused medical floor at the top of the hospital, and construction promptly began on our new office space. There would be windows, workstations, and a small lounge. It would be Respiratory Therapy Paradise, and we were excited.
Until that time came, we were given a conference room which we would use for shift report. Across the hall was a small office which stored our mailboxes and lockers; down the hall was a converted patient room which our managers shared. But the medical floor that we were on hated us. RTs are often loud and social people, especially during shift changes. RTs tend to be outspoken. The nursing staff intensely disliked sharing space with us, and eventually they lobbied hard enough for us to be moved.
While that was going on, the ER stole our promised space on the top floor. Ostensibly they use it for “observation” patients, people who have been admitted but who have not yet been assigned a room. Realistically, nobody knows what they do with it.
So we had no office. Our managers searched long and hard and found a section of the hospital that was unused, in between the ICU and the operating room. We moved our supplies and our space in there and settled in…until there was a Major Mechanical Malfuntion and the floor was condemned. The hospital is working on it but suffice it to say we were moved again, this time to a large space formerly owned by the NICU on the third floor.
After a few months there it was discovered that our office space was chock full o’ asbestos, and we needed to move. The hospital administrators were reluctant to spend a lot of money on us, so…
…we have been moved from our spacious(if asbestos laden)office space to astorage closet.Yes…our 120-therapist department has been moved from a spacious office space to astorage closetthat is scarcely large enough to hold four or five people comfortably.
This is a trend most places, it seems to me. The first place I worked we had a random empty space between units. I have worked in departments that had little more than a blood-gas machine and an alcove. I have worked in departments that shared space with PT/OT/ST, spent time with departments that had no office space but who were forced to spread themselves out over hundreds of tiny stashes. The nicest place I ever worked at had an RT office in a quiet corner between the ER and the ICU with a nice big window looking out over the forest, but that was an aberration in a long string of random offices.
Why is it that we always get the crap office space, RTs? Don’t we deserve better? Wouldn’t life be easier if we could have one centralized office in the hospital with all of our supplies, our lockers, and a small lounge? It seems to me that we are constantly being screwed, office-wise, and I am wondering why.
I guess it’s just ancillary life. Sigh.
It seems to me that for whatever reason, respiratory therapy departments are almost always given the least desirable office space in the hospital.
Where I work now, we have been “homeless” for years and years. For some time the department was decentralized and as such there was no need for an office, but about five years ago we coagulated back into a centralized department. On forming into this new department, we were promised office space on a disused medical floor at the top of the hospital, and construction promptly began on our new office space. There would be windows, workstations, and a small lounge. It would be Respiratory Therapy Paradise, and we were excited.
Until that time came, we were given a conference room which we would use for shift report. Across the hall was a small office which stored our mailboxes and lockers; down the hall was a converted patient room which our managers shared. But the medical floor that we were on hated us. RTs are often loud and social people, especially during shift changes. RTs tend to be outspoken. The nursing staff intensely disliked sharing space with us, and eventually they lobbied hard enough for us to be moved.
While that was going on, the ER stole our promised space on the top floor. Ostensibly they use it for “observation” patients, people who have been admitted but who have not yet been assigned a room. Realistically, nobody knows what they do with it.
So we had no office. Our managers searched long and hard and found a section of the hospital that was unused, in between the ICU and the operating room. We moved our supplies and our space in there and settled in…until there was a Major Mechanical Malfuntion and the floor was condemned. The hospital is working on it but suffice it to say we were moved again, this time to a large space formerly owned by the NICU on the third floor.
After a few months there it was discovered that our office space was chock full o’ asbestos, and we needed to move. The hospital administrators were reluctant to spend a lot of money on us, so…
…we have been moved from our spacious(if asbestos laden)office space to astorage closet.Yes…our 120-therapist department has been moved from a spacious office space to astorage closetthat is scarcely large enough to hold four or five people comfortably.
This is a trend most places, it seems to me. The first place I worked we had a random empty space between units. I have worked in departments that had little more than a blood-gas machine and an alcove. I have worked in departments that shared space with PT/OT/ST, spent time with departments that had no office space but who were forced to spread themselves out over hundreds of tiny stashes. The nicest place I ever worked at had an RT office in a quiet corner between the ER and the ICU with a nice big window looking out over the forest, but that was an aberration in a long string of random offices.
Why is it that we always get the crap office space, RTs? Don’t we deserve better? Wouldn’t life be easier if we could have one centralized office in the hospital with all of our supplies, our lockers, and a small lounge? It seems to me that we are constantly being screwed, office-wise, and I am wondering why.
I guess it’s just ancillary life. Sigh.