We’re currently on our clinical rotations. I have nothing but lovely things to say about our Chain of Command in regards to their genuine concern that we come out of here the best darn Surg Techs in the Fleet. Really, they bend over backwards and go the extra mile to ensure we are getting the best possible education and experience.
That being said. We keep rotating our Clinical slots. Day shifts to Night Shifts to This Hospital to That Hospital yes you still have to Stand Watch and go to PT! It’s a bit wearing on the nerves. Kinda like this:
“When do we pick orders?” is a common question here. It’s what we’ve all been working so hard toward. Our light at the end of the proverbial tunnel. Tragically, we can’t get a straight answer out of anyone. It’s not that the Command is withholding information: they just really have no idea. But instead of manning up and saying “I’m sorry Sailor, it’s a new Command and everything is a little jumbled. We have no clue what your future holds, even though the next two years of your life will be determined within the next month.”, we get the runaround. Just replace "Planet Express" with "Orders" and it kinda goes something like this:
On the plus side, we aren’t Army. They have 0 say in where they wind up. My control issues would really flair up at the thought of that.
We live next to the 68 Whiskey barracks (I don’t know Army slang, but it’s where the Army Combat Medics live), so we see what the Army goes through. It’s shocking. A completely different world from Navy-land. We may bitch and moan, but in general, we’re all quite happy to be here. All the Army personnel I’ve spoken to have a similar story: “I just wanted money for college, I didn’t know it would be like this”, “I can’t believe I signed 8 years of my life away without really thinking it through”. Kinda like this:
Exhaustion.
The Navy is no Army, that’s for sure! But it’s still tiring. Many of us rely on copious amounts of coffee to get us through our day, functioning like anything close to a human being. The Navy and coffee have a special relationship. It’s mentioned in our songs:
“They say that in the Navy, the coffee’s mighty fine”
“It looks like muddy water, and tastes like turpentine”
It’s considered bad luck to wash the coffee ring out of a Chief’s coffee mug. You can only walk around in uniform drinking water… or coffee. We have it brewing in the classrooms because our schedules are so jam-packed (Watch, Duty, Mando PT, Mando Fun, What had happed was), but we still need to be alert to learn.
But something happens when you’re going on NO sleep and 100 cups of coffee a day.
Time slows down.
Your pupils dilate.
You’ve gone so far beyond exhaustion, time and space have actually looped back around and now your mind is an acute tool, a finely tuned instrument able to absorb anything and function at a higher level of intelligence.
Commands are given, but your mind is moving so fast, you know what is coming next. You’re holding the tool the Surgeon needs before he says it. Instead of fumbling with blood-soaked needles, you smoothly hand them the next suture. You are ahead of the game! No, you’re outside the game. You’re floating above yourself, watching. It’s a trip. And it really happens. I would say its “kinda like this”, but it’s not. ITS EXACTLY LIKE THIS:
LEADERSHIP
As I’ve said previously, I have nothing but great things to say about our Chain of Command. They care. They are genuinely interested in our work and progress.
Our Watch leadership on the other hand… arg! They keep changing the game like it’s for our betterment. First watch was 24 hours, once a month. Then, it’s once every 9 days at a random time with random mustering. Now, you can’t leave the barracks if you’re on watch.
It’s not the fact it keeps changing. It’s the fact they’re so pedantic about it. They speak down to us like they are doing us a huge favor, changing the watchbill.
Also, the Watch leaderships HAS NO IDEA about what our Clinical rotations are like, so when they lecture us on the Plan of the Day (literally, the schedule for that day), it’s painfully obvious they have no idea what is going on. Like this:
But that is the difference between “Big Navy”(see sidebar) and a Chain of Command. I know that our Captain is personally horrified by the fact that METC wants us to learn how to do surgery on 3 hours of sleep. But he has no choice. He is a cog in our Chain of Command, and METC is a “Big Navy” Command. When our COC tells us to do something, it usually makes sense.
Watch is part of METC. METC is a part of “Big Navy”. Our COC expects us to put in 110%. We do. Gladly. Our COC expects us to work hard. We do. Gladly. We’re all in this together. “Big Navy” expects us to blindly obey and then threatens us with consequences like docked pay (see previous post). Big Navy is a Hypnotoad. Kinda like this:
No comments:
Post a Comment